NYI STL fans in here.

Teams can't talk to JT before July 1 without getting his rights though right? If NYI shops his rights and we pay up with Thompson (I'd even toss Jake Allen in to give them a starter), what happens if JT already made his mind up and was going to sign in San Jose or Colorado or somewhere? That's the snag IMO. If we were to get any indication that JT would want to play here for 7 years, I'd easily toss Tage and whoever else out there to lock him in. Might save some money over his open market price as well. I just don't think that's how it will play out. For NYI sake, they would be smart to get JT's opinion (and I guess since he has a NTC they would have to get his blessing) but I'm legit not sure if it's possible.

Ya I'd think DA would have to condition the deal on getting the agent to state what the requirements are, and if they include something STL can meet. If JT91 has no interest here we wouldn't do it - but if the requirements are only contractual - say he wants XYZ in signing bonus, XYZ in term and salary, and GMDA thinks we can make that happen, then is it worth TT to beat out MTL, SJS, etc.

Why would we shop Johnny T's rights? I mean, he's a super solid player and generally not someone to shop, and now that he's publicly saying he's very interested in talks with NY, and with Snow gone and Lou in charge I seriously doubt T's gone. I think the JT hype is over and he stays here. Just saying.

I wouldn't do that from the Blues perspective. If JT is going to be hitting the market, then he is more than likely going to field options from multiple teams no matter what. Trading a recent 1st round pick and one of the only RHS prospects we have just to talk to him a little earlier is too much of a risk.

Even with adding JT to the lineup, the blues are still going to be looking for a top6 RW and Kostin/TT + 2018 1st could be the start for that player. A better option for the blues would be to use TT + 1st for RW help and then pitch JT that he will be the "missing piece" we need to really compete.

If we were to receive a requirements list and fulfilling it meant he was almost certain to sign, then I would make the trade as a sign of good faith to JT about how much we wanted him, but just to increase the time we can talk to him by a couple weeks isn't worth that risk.

Right, that's the part that I don't know whether is legal or not... but it's definitely in JT's best interest to hit the open market (more money, go where he wants), so if NYI isn't going to re-sign him, not sure if he'd want to do them any favors. Plus he'd be crippling the team that he is joining if he gets traded. That said, he has an 8-team no-trade list so I guess it's not completely up to him.