The weeks leading up to the trade deadline were packed with big trades, the biggest being the Vancouver Canucks trading J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers and Mikko Rantanen being traded from the Colorado Avalanche to the Carolina Hurricanes. However, if the St. Louis Blues change their quiet trading mentality and open up to teams on potential trades, we could see three players as part of a key move at the deadline.
Alexandre Texier
A new piece in the offseason to the Blues’ forward roster was Alexandre Texier, who was brought in to add some extra depth to their second and third forward lines. While filling the spots the Blues desperately needed to manage, Texier hasn’t been playing that well through his 27 games this season. He has nine points with four goals and five assists and has an average time on ice per game of 12:35.
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For the minutes he is getting, he does not contribute enough to the lineup offensively and has not even contributed defensively, as he has 15 hits and 10 blocks this season. His lack of presence in the lineup will not be helpful in the remaining two seasons of his contract if he continues playing like this. Texier will be an arbitrarily restricted free agent (RFA) in 2026, so he must pick up his play to increase his average annual salary of $2.1 million.
In his last two seasons, Texier has not scored more than 30 points or more than 12 goals, which is unsuitable for a player who finished with 109 shots last season. He should be one of the top players on the Blues’ trade block to build up their draft picks.
Radek Faksa
In the offseason, Radek Faksa was also added to the Blues’ roster, contributing to the team amassing forward depth.
Faksa also holds a very low point total this season, with 10 points through 44 games; the most points he’s recorded in a season were 33. Outside of that, he’s not a top forward, but has excellent traits as a veteran player who’s played for 10 seasons.
If the Blues were to trade him, they could use his defensive value to gain a fifth- or fourth-round pick. Faksa has 81 hits this season and has been known to finish seasons with 90 or more hits, which would be excellent for a playoff contender. He will be an unrestricted free agent (UFA) after this season.
Right now, Faksa is on a modified no-trade clause (M-NTC), which means the Blues would have to trade him based on a list of several teams he would like to be traded to. If one of those teams on his list is a contending team, it would be worth it to make a move, especially if they have his trade approval. While Faksa is not a star player on the Blues, he still brings some value as a veteran and a role player. It’s enough to make a move to enhance other areas of the team, such as draft picks.
Brayden Schenn
According to TSN’s hockey insider Darren Dreger, Brayden Schenn has been the most rumored out of the three players and has already been inquired about by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sportsnet’s hockey insider Elliotte Friedman said on the Feb. 10 episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast that the Vegas Golden Knights, too, stood out as a playoff contender interested in trading for Schenn.
Although he has spent most of his career with the Blues, Schenn was traded from the Los Angeles Kings to the Philadelphia Flyers and then to the Blues. So, this will not be the first time he will experience being the top consideration to trade. It will sting the most for this fan base, as he was just made captain of the Blues last season and was a big part of their victory in Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final, scoring one of their two goals in the third period to win the game.
This season, Schenn has 32 points in 56 games and is still in great form to compete for a contending team. He’s 33 years old. A contending team needs a veteran of his caliber on their team, so I can see why the Maple Leafs or Golden Knights would be interested in him, as he carries a lot of experience and leadership traits to help fill in the roles that those teams need. For the Maple Leafs, it is bottom offensive-line depth, and for the Golden Knights, it is offensive grit, which Schenn can also bring as a two-way forward.
The only thing holding these two teams from making a deal with the Blues for Schenn is the possibility of holding on to his $6.5 million average annual value (AAV) for the next three seasons, unless they include a retainer in their trade with the Blues. This seems like the more reasonable option, as it would save both teams the cap trouble.
Someone Will Have to Go If the Blues Want Playoff Contention
The Blues’ present contending possibilities are not so good, but that does not mean they can’t build to become a contender in the future. They have a lot of prospects that they can use for their future and build on. To do that, one of Texier, Faksa, or Schenn will have to be traded from the Blues to keep their draft-pick abundance high and make room for their current prospects to play.
This season, they expect forward Jimmy Snuggerud to play after he finishes his last season with the University of Minnesota. The Blues will need the roster space to do that, however. They also have a new general manager, Alex Steen, to expect as of 2026, and it will be essential to keep him from transitioning into a mess.
