It is that time of year where NHL trade rumors hit the highway and start to move at remarkable speeds, confounding fans and whipping teams’ faithful units into agitated frenzies.  Some say it’s good for fans to mix it up in the heat of the battle while others complain about blood pressures hitting the roof.   I prefer to observe, show restraint and wait  for the actual suits to make things happen.   With that said, I think we can still circle the situation and present our take.  Being faithful supporters of the St. Louis Blues, we owe ourselves that much.  So let’s look at it.

The million dollar question is quite simple.   Do the St. Louis Blues need to make a serious play for Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller?  The two parties have circled each other like attractive parties at a ballroom dance session for years, so the hype isn’t premature.  Buffalo and St. Louis have talked about this before and part of me suggests Doug Armstrong had played out many scenarios in his head of how this could go down.  Let me weigh in here with my decent amount of knowledge on hockey and the Blues needs.

First, let me state that I am not completely for the deal or entirely against it.   I stand in the middle, contemplating each play here as the days pass.   My belief is that Jaro Halak and Brian Elliot are each pretty good goaltenders and make a solid duo but may not be able to stand alone during a time of need.   Neither has shown over a decent amount of time that they can handle the #1 job but have very solid stats to back up their cases.   If I had to choose one for the playoff run, I would stand with Halak.  It can’t be forgotten what he did in Montreal in 2010 during the playoffs.  He earned the 4 year deal with the Blues by playing that well in place of Carey Price.   Elliot can play well for a certain period of time but has come up short in back to back playoff appearances against the Blues new nemesis, the Los Angeles Kings.  Part of that was a result of overall team letdown, but Elliot self destructed when the rest of the team needed him to stand on his head.

The Blues also have a hot rookie waiting down with the Chicago Wolves, in Jake Allen.   About this time last year, Halak went down with an injury and Elliot self destructed during the season and Allen stepped into the net for the Blues.  For the better part of February, Allen was amazing in net, showing the hunger and ability that created the possibility that the Blues had in their own system a true #1 goaltender.

Allen is the biggest reason I think Ryan Miller isn’t needed.  I can see Halak or Elliot being moved before the deadline for talent, but I am not sure we need another goaltender.  If you have two pretty good goalies on your roster and another potential franchise stopper in your minor league system who got a taste of NHL action last season, why trade away valuable pieces for Miller?   Buffalo isn’t going to hand their premiere goalie away without prying draft picks, good established players and possibly the IMOS Pizza franchise from St. Louis.  In the immortal words of Timothy Olyphant in the underrated film Girl Next Door, “Is the juice worth the squeeze” here?

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