Potential Blues -- Kings trade

[stanw]

NHL Trade Rumors
Why the Los Angeles Kings Are Targeting St. Louis Blues Forward Brayden Schenn
By Rob Ellis -December 22, 20251647
St. Louis Blues captain Brayden Schenn (#10) skates with the puck past tall rink boards featuring a Coca-Cola advertisement. Behind the glass, Los Angeles Kings fans cheer, and a woman holds up a handmade sign that reads "COME TO LOS ANGELES BRAYDEN!".
St. Louis Blues forward Brayden Schenn skates past Los Angeles Kings fans, one of whom is holding a sign imploring him to join the Kings amidst ongoing trade speculation.
When Kings GM Ken Holland moved Phillip Danault to Montreal on Friday, it wasn’t just about clearing cap space in a vacuum—it was about setting the table for a specific target. That target appears to be St. Louis Blues captain Brayden Schenn.

Eric Stephens of The Athletic correctly noted that Los Angeles didn’t get a roster player back for Danault. That’s because the “win-now” roster player is likely coming in the next move. The Kings are currently starved for offense, and the organization still believes their playoff window is wide open with Anze Kopitar continuing to defy his age.

But here’s the catch that makes this complicated: St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong isn’t interested in a full rebuild. He doesn’t want the draft picks LA just acquired. Reports indicate the Blues are seeking a “young NHL player” in return for Schenn to help them retool on the fly.

The “Win-Now” Mandate and Cap Reality
My take is that Ken Holland is far from done. You don’t clear Danault’s $5.5 million cap hit right before the holiday freeze unless you have an immediate plan to utilize it. That move gives the Kings roughly $9.2 million in current cap space.

Brayden Schenn’s contract fits almost perfectly into the slot Danault vacated. This isn’t a coincidence; it’s calculated roster surgery. The Kings need Schenn’s specific brand of versatile, gritty scoring and leadership to punch up their top-nine forward group. They cannot afford another wasted season of offensive struggles while their core is aging.

If the Blues are adamant about getting a young, NHL-ready player rather than futures, the Kings are one of the few contenders with the specific depth to make this deal work.

The Projected Trade Package: What LA Must Sacrifice
Based on the Blues’ desire for a “retool” piece—someone who can step into their lineup immediately but is younger than Schenn—the Kings will have to dip into their surplus of young forwards.

The likely centerpiece: Alex Turcotte.

Turcotte, a former 5th overall pick, has struggled to crack the Kings’ deep center position permanently. However, he possesses the two-way pedigree and grit that Doug Armstrong covets in St. Louis. He fits the “young NHL player” description perfectly and needs a fresh start where he can play significant minutes.

Another option, if the Blues prefer pure shooting, is Samuel Fagemo, who has dominated the AHL but hasn’t found a consistent top-six role in Los Angeles.

A projected trade scenario looks like this:

To St. Louis Blues: Fwd Alex Turcotte + a mid-tier prospect.
To Los Angeles Kings: Fwd Brayden Schenn (with potential slight salary retention depending on the second piece moving to STL).
This moves a blocked asset from LA for immediate help, while giving St. Louis a young piece they can plug into their middle-six for the next five years.

I would be ok with this trade. What do you think ???

[schwartzwatch]

Lots of talk here about cost management and what the Blues need. But I am at a loss. Why would the Kings (or ANY team) lust after Schenn?

[Backesdraft]

Love Schenn, but if the return is Turcotte then the Blues need to make that trade all day long.

[Chris2fer]

Lots of talk here about cost management and what the Blues need. But I am at a loss. Why would the Kings (or ANY team) lust after Schenn?

In the playoffs, especially 2nd round onwards, every team has two solid lines. It's the 3rd line that makes the difference. Schenn is a player that can fit that role superbly without carrying the entire weight of the offense, he's defensively responsible, plays playoff hockey routinely and has won. If you can add him with his contract, to extend a playoff run, you do it.

[crookedfeeder]

....and if he wants to act in movies after his playing career. The guy 'everyone beats up' role.

[smilinjoefission]

I think I'd rather have something other than Turcotte...just ain't sold on him being a stud NHLer. Now Clarke would be something we need.

[Pierre McGuire]

Pass on Turcotte… going on 7 years since he was drafted. As my buddy Ron Caron would say
“He’s starting to look like more of a suspect than a prospect”

[Bubble4427]

Pass on Turcotte… going on 7 years since he was drafted. As my buddy Ron Caron would say
“He’s starting to look like more of a suspect than a prospect”

I completely agree.
Do they even own a 1st rounder? If it was Turcotte and a 1st….I would definitely think about that.

[crookedfeeder]

Koehn Ziemmer and a 1st. Watched a lot of Prince George when Heidt and Ziemmer. Ziemmer always had the size, decent skills; and could turn into a nice power forward (project).


LAK's don't own Samuel Fagemo anymore.

[JoshInFenton]

I'm down to start moving some of the older pieces of our current group, especially if we're going to go away from what makes the team successful.

With that being said, i don't really see anything great in Turcotte. High turnovers, low physicality, and often times just gets shuffled down the lineup after getting a few looks on the top 6. If he can't fight his way through the lineup, it's either a lack of skill or desire, and we have enough of those.

And i know Army wants now talent, but if someone wants to offer enough draft capital, i'm sure another team would be ok with taking multiple picks/mid prospects from us for something we might be more interested in, so if they hit the number we are looking for then he's gotta just go for it i think.

As to why teams like Schenn, he is a perfect example of a good 3rd line C/W that will fight for teammates and be physical in the playoffs. He's the type of glue guy you bring in down the stretch to get you over the top, a guy who you know exactly what you are getting. Teams aren't necessarily looking for top 6 help unless they lose someone. If you are looking for top 6 help, most of the time you aren't close enough to winning anything.

[mph6689new]

From my view from home, I am truly ready to move on from Schenn. He would be great in a 4th line role (ala Steen the year we won the Cup). But I don’t think he would remotely accept it. I hate him on the power play. To be silly, while my wife an I watch the game, we track when Schenn has the puck in the offensive zone, will the puck get to another player cleanly. Almost always Nope.

He has big heart, fights, hits, wants to get there, but he has lost 2 steps at this point. If we can find a team that wants him, sell now while you can.

Monty doesn’t either realize its time, or doesn’t want to rock that boat, and move Schenn down the lineup. Blues are 0-8 in overtime, but let’s keeo throwing Schenn out there to circle back to eventually lose the puck anyhow.

I know, harsh but something needs to change with his role, and I don’t see it actually happening. Trade him, and move on to the future. Let new leaders lead.

[schwartzwatch]

Lots of talk here about cost management and what the Blues need. But I am at a loss. Why would the Kings (or ANY team) lust after Schenn?

In the playoffs, especially 2nd round onwards, every team has two solid lines. It's the 3rd line that makes the difference. Schenn is a player that can fit that role superbly without carrying the entire weight of the offense, he's defensively responsible, plays playoff hockey routinely and has won. If you can add him with his contract, to extend a playoff run, you do it.

Cogent explanation. Thanks.

[bluetunehead]

Turcotte isn’t super enticing at this point, so he cannot be the main piece coming back.

[JoshInFenton]

From my view from home, I am truly ready to move on from Schenn. He would be great in a 4th line role (ala Steen the year we won the Cup). But I don’t think he would remotely accept it. I hate him on the power play. To be silly, while my wife an I watch the game, we track when Schenn has the puck in the offensive zone, will the puck get to another player cleanly. Almost always Nope.

He has big heart, fights, hits, wants to get there, but he has lost 2 steps at this point. If we can find a team that wants him, sell now while you can.

Monty doesn’t either realize its time, or doesn’t want to rock that boat, and move Schenn down the lineup. Blues are 0-8 in overtime, but let’s keeo throwing Schenn out there to circle back to eventually lose the puck anyhow.

I know, harsh but something needs to change with his role, and I don’t see it actually happening. Trade him, and move on to the future. Let new leaders lead.

I agree with some but not all of this.

I think the 3rd line has to be his home from here onwards until he gets moved. He's not really that bad at that role, as long as you give him the winger spot and have someone with more pace at center to get back and make mistakes.

I also agree that he shouldn't really be out there in OT anymore. Not that he is always the problem (in fact, more often than not it's Buch or Thomas out there when the puck goes in that i can recall), but 3 on 3 is a fast mans game, and he's not it.

I Disagree short term with him moving off the powerplay. I think he should be on unit 2 and i want him right in front of the net. Until Sunny stops playing the powerplay, Schenn will never be public enemy #1 for me as far as who should be removed from the powerplay. The guy shouldn't be the bumper guy or the guy distributing, he should be the guy ready to bash in rebounds or block the goalies line of sight. Our powerplay is wildly predictable 9 times out of 10, any time we get removed from the zone the powerplay is largely over, and thats a problem that extends to strategy on entry.

I believe that Monty knows he is slowing down, but it's hard to do that when he is giving you effort and others making more than him aren't. Until some others play like they should, severe demotion down the lineup isn't it. The lack of speed from Schenn isn't the primary reason right now, gotta work on some other things first and then if he's not able to keep up you can slowly phase him down the lineup card. Again, i think 3rd line is the right spot for him anyways, so just gotta shift him back down there.

[a smell of green grass]

Army wants "NOW PLAYERS" because he doesn't want St Louis fans to see what Schenn could actually bring in draft picks.

With "NOW PLAYERS", Army can fluff up the feathers of the new player and many Blues fans will buy the story.

With draft picks, reality cannot be hidden.
- Schenn in return for a Round 2 pick
- Kyrou in return for a Round 2 pick

If Army trades Schenn for a NOW PLAYER, it is BECAUSE Schenn couldn't fetch more than that.

[BleedingBleu]

It’s always fascinating to receive a Forward in a trade from a team seeking offense. Especially when the return is a 24 year old, former Top 5 Overall Pick.

I see that he doesn’t have the NHL minutes, but this guy made his name and became a Top 5 Pick off the production with the 2018/19 U18 squad, where he accumulated the 5th Most Points .

Jack Hughes - 48 points/24 Games (2.00 av)
Matthew Boldy - 43 P/ 28 G (1.54)
Cole Caufield - 41 P/ 28 G (1.46 av)
Trevor Zegras - 40 P / 27 G (1.48 av)
Alex Turcotte - 32 P / 16 G (2.00 av)

Understandable why he was on fire that year, but in fairness, he still produce while surrounded by talent. When you compare it to the rest of his career, including college and the AHL, there’s a similar pattern.

2019/20 Wisconsin stunk (14-20-2) - 26 P / 29 G
2020/21 Ontario Reign stunk (17-19-0-2) - 21 P / 32 G
2021/22 Ontario Reign was great (41-18-0-9) - 18 P / 27 G
2022/23 Ontario Reign was meh (34-32-0-6) - 17 P/32 G
2023/24 Ontario Reign was great (42-23-0-7) - 29 P/37 G

Fun Fact: Turcotte & Dylan Holloway were teammates at Wisconsin along w/Cole Caufield.

I think surrounding this kid with good players will have him producing like a good player. When Snuggy, Kyrou, & Holloway come back, I imagine Schenn is pushed down into that 3rd Line; which would give Turcotte a similar opportunity to the one Dylan had last year.

So, on a line w/Neighbors & Dvorsky? Sign me up

I’m for it. I doubt we get a better return, if the comp is Danault for a late (MTL) 2nd Rounder