Looks good

Nice looking team.

I’d like to keep Brown for the 4th line

I like brown too, he changes the shape of the offense quite a bit. I just don’t see him as one of the 11-12 forwards I’d want skating in a game 7.

We are NOT overpaying for anything Vegas has, and we are almost certainly not handing them a cheap, bruising 20 goal scorer we then have to face a bunch of times anyway. Cmon guys, you know Army is not doing a rival any favors.

Hague hasn’t been awesome, but he’s done enough that he’s a relatively solid option now with growth potential. Barbashev just isn’t that good and I will die on that hill. If you can trade him for a 23 year old 6’6” defender who’s actually half decent you do it 100%

Except that's not all being paid. And your Barby thing is just weird. It's an overpay. To a rival that needs help. They won't be getting it from Army.

Brown passed through waives and the pick is late 80’s…

Barbashev just cannot play defense and has a whole career of data to back that up. When you’ve got 8 other 20 goal scorers, you trade him to upgrade other parts of the roster

Bro... he was an important member of the checking line during the Cup run. He's been a strong PKer for years. He forechecks hard and is good at leaving the zone. Nobody said he was Bergeron, but cmon. For some bizarre reason, you just hate the guy.

I don’t even think he killed penalties in the playoffs this year (I’m far too lazy to look.) I can’t deal with the turnovers, the lack of attention to detail, and lapses. He gets filled in defensively and has for his whole career. Berube even gave him the Kyrou treatment a few times this year. He converts and is sneaky creative, but he had a 1-in-1000 season and the blues would be smart to sell high.
Neighbours will replace the physicality.

Yes, he killed penalties. You just regularly disregard his positives, which is your right. But 1 in a 1000? When he finally had a top 9 role and real ice time and PP2 time? When he's already had two shooting seasons at the same high rate? Cmon, dude. It's bordering on pathology at this point. Blues fans just HAVE TO irrationally hate someone on the team. Why I'll never know.

I don’t hate Barbashev, I just think he’s more of what the blues already have and they need a different look in his spot. Someone who can play a better, more responsible possession game and interrupt transitions and cycles. He’s not the type of bottom-6 player I want.

I like it. Hauge could be a huge addition to the team. Think I'd give Kostin 1 more chance is my only critique. I do like the idea of giving Bitten a solid look with the big club too.

I'd hate to play against Barby, but the Note should think hard about acquiring Hague.

Couple of things here:

1. Barbashev absolutely does kill penalties and did this year, but his effectiveness and role as a penalty killer has always been, in my opinion, vastly overstated by people and it's also undeniable that his usage in that role dropped significantly this year. Just to illustrate the role he's performed, since the cup win he was: #4 in SH TOI/GP among forwards (19-20), #3 in SH TOI/GP among forwards (20-21), #6 in SH TOI/GP (21-22). He's never been more than a PK2 guy, and those guys are important, but by the end of this year he was supplanted by Buchnevich, Thomas and Bozak.

2. That said, two of the guys in the top six among forwards in TOI/GP were Sundqvist and Bozak, two guys who are (barring something weird with Bozak) not going to be on the roster next year, meaning that's a role Barbashev is first in line to reclaim. It's also undeniable that Sundqvist and Bozak weren't in the midst of offensive breakout years, and as Barbashev's role increased in other places it makes sense that his role decreased on the PK. That's not really a slight on Barbashev, that's just good player management for a first year offensive star.

3. Barbashev had an unreal offensive season and that rocks. He shot a relatively high 23.4% but as mokumboi pointed out that's not totally off the walls of his career norms. What's more worrying as far as "sustainability" goes is that his previous career high in on-ice shooting percentage (the team's shooting percentage when he's on the ice) was 8.4%, and this year it was 14%. That's going to come down. You can say it's because he played with better linemates, but Crosby's career on ice shooting percentage is 11.9%. It's more than reasonable to suggest the team isn't going to be as offensively capable with Barbashev on the ice next season as this season, even if his individual scoring stays relatively flat (and it is also worth noting that while be has individually shot over 20% before, he's only done it once over a full season and never twice in a row).

4. You have to give to get. The forward group has been great, but this team has been exposed defensively and they desperately need a different mix on the backend and we don't have any cap space to do it. I'm not going to say Hague is or isn't the magic bullet (he probably isn't), but dealing from the forward group is the best way to improve the team, and Barbashev is the player that makes the most sense to move: no trade protection, probably can't afford to keep him, probably at the height of his value, not dealing from your top six forwards, you have a couple of players that can replace his role, even if they may or may not be able to replace his production. That's not a knock on Barbashev as a player, that's just a reality of how this team is constructed.

5. I will truly never understand why we're supposed to hate Vegas beyond the whole "they're a little shady with the whole Dadanov and Fleury thing". Like why, as Blues fans, are they more of a rival than, say, Edmonton or Anaheim or Colorado? They're in a different division. We've never faced them in the playoffs. How are they supposed to be a hated rival? Like is it just because Pietrangelo picked their (better) offer over our (worse) offer? It doesn't make sense. If the Blues believe a trade with Vegas could make them better then who cares, trade with them.

I find his offense good, but more or less very replaceable…Especially when the parts he succeeds at (creative passing and finishing) is replicated by his teammates at a much higher level. Would be much more open to him if he used his physicality to sustain pressure in the offensive zone instead of relying solely on quick strike attacks. His 5v5 defense being among the worst is why everyone should be open to moving him. Championship teams like the Avalanche have nobody in their bottom-6 who are nearly that detrimental to possession and shots against.