St. Louis Blues 2012 NHL Trade Deadline Coverage

The trade deadline day is very, very rarely a day chock full of excitement for St. Louis Blues fans. Last season's trade deadline saw Brad Winchester get shipped out to the Anaheim Ducks for a third round draft pick. Also, the night before the deadline involved a trade between the Blues and the Buffalo Sabres, sending underperforming forward Brad Boyes out east for a second round draft pick.

And that was it.

The Blues aren't at the center of any fun trade rumors this year -- during Tuesday night's broadcast, Darren Pang reported that Doug Armstrong, the Blues general manager, said that Rick Nash isn't in the team's budget. There dies the one intriguing story of this season's trade deadline, at least as far as the Blues're concerned. This isn't the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes, folks. The Blues were the other team that hung in to the end for him, but in 2010 there were assets to be traded and team chemistry wasn't a huge issue. This season? The Blues' biggest issue isn't chemistry, it's health. Why make a trade when you can add guys for free? Matt D'Agostini, Jason Arnott, and Alexander Steen are all sitting on the IR, and are all what the team needs.

Are there underperforming forwards? Sure. I looked at some of the potential trade bait last week, but all signs point to either Armstrong keeping them, or him being the most tight-lipped GM ever. Face it, folks. The Blues don't have deep pockets until the purchase of the team by Tom Stillman's group is done.

I'll be keeping up with rumors and transactions here as the days tick down. Will we see another blockbuster trade like the one that brought Chris Stewart and Kevin Shattenkirk to St. Louis? Who knows, but if something does go down, it'll be up here. Happy Hockey Christmas, everyone!