Are Brayden Schenn, Jordan Kyrou And Tage Thompson Trade Bait?

Brayden Schenn resurfaced in the rumor
mill earlier this week as his St. Louis Blues remain mired near the
bottom of the NHL standings.

Since then, the Blues have a three-game
points streak going, sitting only five points out of a wild-card
berth in the Western Conference approaching Friday’s game against the
Philadelphia Flyers.

Nevertheless, Schenn remains the focus
of media trade chatter.

On Tuesday, Jeremy Rutherford of The
Athletic confirmed a report by Bleacher Report’s Frank Seravalli last
week that Blues GM Doug Armstrong had informed his peers
that he’s “open for business.†However, he pointed out that
Armstrong has done this regularly in recent years without making a
significant subtraction from his roster, suggesting it may be more to
motivate his players to improve their performance.

Rutherford mentioned Schenn as a trade
possibility. He pointed out that the 34-year-old center attracted
plenty of attention leading up to last season’s trade deadline, but
he told the Blues he wanted to stay put. Rutherford wondered if
Schenn might reconsider, given the club’s recent struggles. He no
longer has a full no-trade clause, as it reverted to a 15-team
no-trade list on July 1.

Jordan Kyrou also came up as a trade
candidate. Rutherford reminded us that the 27-year-old right winger was the
subject of trade conjecture last June before his no-trade clause
kicked in on July 1.

Rutherford cited a league source who
claimed that a team contacted the Blues about Kyrou after he was
scratched from their lineup for their game last Thursday against the
Buffalo Sabres. However, it’s not known if the Blues are shopping
Kyrou or what the interested club might have offered up.

Seravalli considered Schenn the more
likely to be traded. He pointed to the interest in the Blues captain
at last season’s trade deadline and the limited number of available
centers in the trade market. If the Blues make a trade, Seravalli
believes it should be to bolster their blueline.

Turning to the Buffalo Sabres, Matthew
Fairburn of The Athletic wondered if GM Kevyn Adams might turn to the
trade market to boost his injury-ravaged team. He doesn’t anticipate
a major move and acknowledged the difficulty of making trades this
early in the season, but he felt that Adams should at least try to do
something.

Meanwhile, some teams are checking to
see if Adams is ready to become a seller.

RG.Org’s Marco D’Amico reported
Wednesday that the Vancouver Canucks and Montreal Canadiens were
among several teams to contact the Sabres about the availability of
Tage Thompson. However, Adams has informed those clubs that the
high-scoring forward isn’t available.

TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie claimed the
Canadiens never spoke to the Sabres about Thompson. He doesn’t see
Adams moving out any of his core players.

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