In the immortal words of The Joker, Ryan Miller coming to the St. Louis Blues tonight in a blockbuster trade with the Buffalo Sabres changes things. A team that had the best win percentage in the league and ranked in the top five in goals per game, goals allowed per game, penalty kill and power play efficiency still had a small leak. Their goaltenders produced a save percentage that ranked 17th in the NHL. Sure, Wednesday night, Jaro Halak made 34 saves in a 1-0 loss on the road in Vancouver. However, that doesn’t mean there was consistency there or an ability to take over a series of games in net. In short, the Blues had a need that wasn’t glaring but utterly apparent from a short distance, so general manager Doug Armstrong made a move and pushed this team into Stanley Cup contention.

Blues fans have been frustrated by a strong regular season team the past few seasons but one that couldn’t excel in the playoffs. The last two times the Blues made it into the playoffs, they ran into a goaltender in Kings’ stopper Jonathan Quick who was a lot better than their guy. With no hard smack to the likes of Brian Elliot or Halak, they will never be Quick and that was the mountain the team could not climb. Halak and Elliot were serviceable goaltenders alone and strong as a duo but in order to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals, a team needs one man in net who can be spectacular at any given moment. With this trade, Armstrong is telling his team, “Here is your guy, so please go win one for this city now”. The expectations have officially gone through the roof now. As I noted earlier, things have changed for the St. Louis Blues. That is the nature of the business of pro sports. One night you call a man a teammate. The next he is shipped to another team for a player who hopefully makes you a better team.

The official deal looks like this. Miller and Steve Ott come to the Blues in exchange for Chris Stewart, Halak, prospect William Carrier, a first round pick in 2015 and a third round pick in 2016. It’s a very good deal. Stewart, except for a few games in December, has been a huge disappointment for the Blues this season. A guy wearing the jersey because he can score and provide tenacity has done very little this year in terms of mere production. Carrier doesn’t rank too high on the upcoming depth chart train and the two draft picks aren’t easily offered but stand as unknown quantities at this current juncture.

Ott is a solid grinder, a 31 year old former first round draft pick and center who served as Captain of the Sabres and will provide more punch to the Blues depth. He isn’t going to light up the lamp but that wasn’t the Blues particular need. Once again. The Blues can score goals. They have maintained a goals per game average that ranked at the top of the NHL and have a lot of young talent. Ott is a guy who will give it all every single night and is a player other teams and their fanbases love to hate. Just ask Blues fans before 6 p.m. this evening how they felt about him. He will help this team currently struggling with injuries to key players.

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