NHL Trade Deadline: St. Louis Blues

February 24 2011 Last updated at 04:00 PM ET

By landing last year's Stanley Cup hero, goaltender Jaroslav Halak, in a deal with the Montreal Canadiens in the offseason, the Blues had hoped for a better year than the previous one which saw them finish ninth in the West. But, alas, some of their key players have been battered by injuries during 2010-11, making their drive for respectability that more arduous.

They've enjoyed a fine season from their young leader, right winger David Backes (right), and center Alexander Steen. After 59 games, St. Louis still has breath, as they are five points out of a playoff spot, but there are also four teams between them and the coveted eighth spot in the wild, wild West.

Cap-wise, the Blues have room to play with and they've been quite busy in the past couple of weeks. But one wonders whether general manager Doug Armstrong has yet another deal up his sleeve.

NEEDS

The Blues have answered some of their pressing needs in recent weeks, unloading defenseman Erik Johnson and forward Jay McClement to Colorado for dynamic forward Chris Stewart, promising rookie defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and a conditional first-round pick They also shipped veteran defenseman Eric Brewer to Tampa Bay for a third-round draft pick and d-man Brock Beukeboom. Brewer will be a UFA at the end of the year and was considered un-signable by the Blues.

But that leaves a rather thin defense, taking away their two minutes leaders on the blue line, so maybe one of the veteran names being bandied about could be attractive. Veteran goaltender Ty Conklin, who is another UFA, would have seemed bait for a team looking for help in the nets, but with the injury to Halak, Conklin has been the pressed into duty at a critical time.

THE VERDICT

Have the Blues bought and sold all they can? They're still close enough that they won't want to do too much dismantling, so the betting is they'll stay the course. But is defenseman Barret Jackman the next to go? Word is, teams have been inquiring about the former Calder Trophy winner.

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