Last Minute Blues Podcast | Should Blues Make Trades Now or Wait?

Last Minute Blues Podcast | Should Blues Make Trades Now or Wait?

This is the Last Minute Blues podcast with Alex Ferrari, Donnie Fandango, Jeremy Rutherford and Jeff Burton on 101 ESPN. The Last Minute Blues podcast is presented by Blue Note Roofing. Roofing, siding and gutters. Your St. Louis roofing experts. Visit BlueNoteRoofing.com for free inspection. It is the Last Minute Blues podcast. Donnie Fandango joined in the Jeff Burton studios by my dude Alex Ferrari from 101 ESPN, Jeremy Rutherford from The Athletic. Last Minute Blues podcast is presented by Blue Note Roofing. Roofing, siding and gutters. Your St. Louis roofing experts. Visit BlueNoteRoofingSTL.com for a free inspection. So gentlemen, first and foremost, a happy early Thanksgiving to the brand new colors. That’s right. Gobble gobble ladies and gentlemen. You guys too. And good podcasts. I mean, you guys, good job. It’s great to see you back, man. The numbers are still through the roof. The two of you are soaking. I don’t want to say that the numbers that you couldn’t see were even higher through the roof while you were gone. Yeah. We have some things to talk about. The rumor mill over the course of the last 24 to 48 hours has gotten pretty crazy. So I do want to get to that. There’s not a lot of great things to talk about when it concerns this team. I don’t mean to say that in such a way in which did I do. But in reality, I don’t know what there is. You know what I mean? That was on the road trip and watched them for four games. Yeah. Let’s have some sympathy here. What are you talking about? You had Philly, Toronto and New York. No sympathy for you. Alex, I’ve been doing this for 21 years. You pick your road trips. That’s true. That’s very true. I’m a little surprised you didn’t do the Florida ones. Too close to Christmas. So here’s what we have. All right. Before we get into some hockey talk, we have news of the first ever last minute blues podcast, a holiday food drive live broadcast event. What a title. Dude, I just made that up. I don’t know. You need to add extravaganza at the end of it. Go ahead, Jeff. I was just going to say that he there’s no way that was a real thing. No. He just made it up. You know that scene in the office when they do the charity run and it’s like the Michael Scott for rabies awareness, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, charity run. That’s what Donnie just rifled off here. 100%. That’s what should be on the fly. So here’s what we have. All right. And this is something that we have been talking about for a few weeks now, obviously, as St. Louisans and just, you know, human beings, we see what’s in the news. We see that there is a lot of people that this time of the year, it is really, really, really stressful for them. There have been cuts all over the place and people are really, really suffering out there. And we just simply wanted to do what we could as a podcast to St. Louisans as people to try to get everybody together and have a great time, but also, you know, take in some canned goods and things for Operation Food Search. So here’s what we have going on. Last minute blues podcast, we will be live at Hot Shots in Fenton on Tuesday night, December the 16th from six to seven 30. And again, all in support of Operation Food Search and in our holiday food drive, not only at the point, but I believe ESPN has one as well. So you bring a canned or non-perishable food donation and you can score one of the brand new Last Minute Blues podcast stickers. Yeah, buddy. We got stickers. We got stickers. And the best part about it, none of our faces are on this stick. Oh, that’s the bad part about this. Are you kidding me? You know how much I would love to see one, what they’d come up with our three faces, but two to be driving down somewhere in Arnold and then just see a bumper sticker and it’s JR’s face on the back of it. We don’t want to give some more of that. Let me ask you a question. OK, so you’re on 270. You’re going back home or whatever and you see somebody with a sticker on the car, like in front of you or something like, are you trying to like, you know, move up so that you can kind of look at the person like a point? Like are you doing that? I’m not only doing that, but I’m rolling my window down. I’m honking and going. Thank you. Thank you. You’re right. I think we need to make one of those stickers of all three of us where it’s our face and then our hand goes on the windshield wiper and it just. Oh, dude. That would be fantastic. Right. Well, let’s just hold on. Let’s just see how well the first one does and then we can kind of sort of go from there. Watch everyone at Hot Shots take our stickers and throw them in the trash when they leave. December the 16th, Hot Shots at the beautiful location in Fenton will be there from 6 to 7 30. And for those non-perishable food donations that are going to Operation Food Search. Now here is where it starts to get even more fun. You’ll have the chance to win big like a signed Jordan Bennington jersey tickets to multiple upcoming Blues home games and even a chance and dudes, Alex, please tell us about the game. Good puck, bad puck. Oh, my gosh. Your shot for an autographed puck signed by either a current Blues favorite or Alex, tell us what this is. So on media day at the beginning of every season, we’re there. We’re getting all of our liners for the radio for all the rejoins and all the players. And we have them play some fun games. People that listen to BK and Ferrari play beat the blues. So we also have all of the stuff that are giveaways. So we have them signed jerseys. We have them signed pucks and we have everybody roll through. So what we thought, because we still have a stash of some really good pucks in there where it was Robert Thomas, Jordan, Kairu, Colton, Pareko, you could get your chance to win one of those pucks or you could get your chance to win pucks signed by you. Coop Verona by Cass Ferry, captain and by Sammy Blay. We have some pretty good hidden gems in there. I believe Kevin Hayes was in heaven. Hayes is in there. Can I ask a question? Can you surprise me if Callie Rosen’s floating around in there, maybe? Dude, you have to think, is this mean? Are we mean for enjoying this? I’m going to text those guys on a bit. You’re the bad pucker. Look it could be bad puck for the individual. It could be good. Yes, I got a Yakuza Verona puck. You never know. Whatever you’re into. It’s going to be a big bag and you get to stick your hand in that bag and pull one out. I think you get Thomas. I’ve played good puck bad pucks before. I almost slipped there. That’s what they’ll say if they get the bad puck. No, years ago, somebody would be doing a fundraiser and say, hey, could you grab a signed puck from the Blues if possible? So I’d talk to a guy down there and say, hey, can I swing by your office and grab a puck? And he’d say, yeah, no problem. I’d get down there and he’d flip me a puck and be James Neal. James Neal? Why am I going to do this thing? No one knows who this is. I forgot he even played me. What’s so funny is Matthew Chambers, who has helped us with this whole thing, you know, he has these in his drawer still that we had signed like four years ago. And there was the one time where we were doing beat the Blues and all of these guys were traded before we could play the game. So we would just have them hanging out. What are we supposed to do with these? And well, now we found out you’re going to be bad. Right. Somebody all excited, reach in and pull out in the cap and. But you know what that could. Who knows? There could be trading going on. There could be a really huge raspberry captain and fan. Somebody gets the Verona. Maybe we’re working on trades. Who knows? We could be there facilitating that sort of thing. We’ll be the general managers and we’ll facilitate these trades. A plate of hot wings for us and you get the raspberry captain and puck. All right. So December the 16th, you’re marking your calendar six to seven 30. So you know, from this is how they have it breaking down for us. Six to six forty five. We’re collecting canned goods. We’re going to be giving away some things around six forty five. The three of us knuckleheads will will put me there. The last minute blues podcast will do it live. I would really hope and pardon me, one of the things that we’ve talked about and I think it’s happening is that we’re going to set up a microphone there as well. So that if you were there and you got a question, you could come on up and ask us. So like this is going to be a friggin blast. And for all of you, you know, that have taken the time to email in to listen, to say hello, that you love the podcast. I understand that getting out sometimes during the middle of the week is tough, but I feel like our time is early enough in the evening where you can come on out, have a great time and then still get home in a good time for bed because I’m an old person, too. And I want to be in bed at reasonable care, an old person. But I’m doing this so that my wife can get the three girls down. And by the time I go home, they’re asleep. So this is the perfect opportunity. They actually might come for all I know. Yes. Come and run around. You have room for our bumper sticker on the back here. No, like with your wife, you know, that that that is like the three kids, four kids, five kids, six. Yeah. No, we got half of the windshield is covered by all of the kids. So I’ve got a big one just for Donnie and J.R.’s face on my car. All right. So we’ve got the first holiday food drive event for the Last Minute Blues podcast Tuesday, December the 16th, 6 to 7 30 at the Hot Shots in Fenton. I have to tell you, I feel as though we can be honest here. The prospect of this is super exciting to me and also massively nerve wracking, massively nerve wracking because, you know, I mean, I have the worry. You want to find out how popular you are? No, no, I’m all right with not knowing. You know what I mean? But but we would love to have as many people out there as humanly possible. You know, it’s I don’t know that we it’s tough to sort of look at the gauge of the podcast and things like that. But I mean, I feel like, you know, we’re going to have an opportunity to really I mean, like I would love for there to be so much for Operation Food Search to take back that like at the very end, us three are helping them schlep boxes into the Operation Food Search talk like for real. Yeah. I mean, I would really, really love if nothing else for us to make a huge impact food wise with that. That’s the biggest thing. And, you know, behind the scenes with this, you know, Donnie is the one that came up to me and he was like, man, it’s like, I wish we could do something to do and help Operation Food Search with all of these food pantries going dry. And in the back of my mind, I’ve always wanted to do something like this as well. And it’s like, man, why don’t we do something with the podcast and, you know, trying to come up with the idea of a life. I mean, the three of us can do anything. But you know, you want to make it appealing for somebody to take time out of their busy schedule around the holidays to come out and meet with us. The biggest thing is trying to raise money. But the other thing is to come out and have fun. Like the one bad thing right now is this hockey team is struggling. So I feel like getting out there to do a podcast to get you an opportunity to get with other hockey fans. Come out, hang out with us, because I know we’re going to be there before we even do the podcast. But like Donnie said, my goal, my hope is that we can make so many food donations so that it just gets thrown back into Operation Food Search and they’re overwhelmed by it because the goal with this is, man, let’s make this a yearly thing. Absolutely. Yearly around the holidays, the three of us go out there. The other one, too, is we’re really working hard to try and find a special guest to come out with us. Hold on here one second. I want to interrupt. Dude, JR, Alex has been working. Oh, yes. Yes. I’m on that text thread. I’m trying to get that guest. Oh, my gosh, Alex. Thank you so much. It’s almost like nine days before Christmas. It’s very tough to get a hockey player to want to come and hang out with the hockey players on top of that. So the main blues, like main roster, they’re going back and forth, row to home. So it’s impossible to get something down with them. They’ve got families and then the alumni, unfortunately, they’ve got holiday family stuff. And so we’ve reached out to everyone and we’re going to get somebody. We’re going to get a fun guest for somebody to come out, whether it’s an alumni, whether it’s some other special guest to come out, tell stories, have fun, talk hockey. That’s the main point of this. But we want to try bring as many food cans as possible to make this thing huge. And we listen, this hockey team’s win-loss record be damned. Come the 16th, we’re going to have a good God dang time. We are going to have a lot of frigging fun. And I love the opportunity of us getting a chance to like, you know, hang out in the evening and such. That seems like it could be a good time. JR is a hoot to hang out with past six o’clock. I’ve seen it. He’s like this. All right. So all of the details for the big Last Minute Blues podcast, live broadcast coming at Hot Shots Infant on December the 16th up now, 1057thepoint.com, 101espn.com. It’s all over the place. So we would really, really love for you guys to come out. So listen, let’s take a quick break. Let’s come back. Oh, that rumor mill. Oh, boy, that rumor mill is hot and people are losing their minds, including me. More of the Last Minute Blues podcast coming next. All right, so listen guys, we’re back here last minute blues podcast and As much as I really do try to be a genuinely Intelligent sports fan. There are times there are players There are things that I just know that I am NOT being rational I saw an EMA or we were texting yesterday and there was a report that the Edmonton Oilers are hot and heavy after Our guy Jordan Bennington. Hmm. Now, I want to say a couple of things and then you guys can add the Intelligence into this conversation. All right. I understand where the blues are right now. I understand Jordan Bennington’s age. I understand That the retool whatever is you know, the best of the best blues Might not be at a time in the future where Jordan Bennington is still here. He you know, it Just seems like that timing wasn’t super right. All right, I understand that there could be maybe a decent return for Jordan Bennington But guys, I love that friggin guy. So goddamn much. I love his I just Not only did he did he win us a Stanley Cup? But just his mentality when when you see him interviewed the way that he is he just to me is just an Incredibly likable guy and so it just makes this the possibility of him being moved It just it sucks It breaks my friggin heart and I know that it shouldn’t because it’s sports and that’s the way that it goes But man, we do get attached to some of these guys and dude Benner is one of those guys Like even if they trade him, I will always view him as a blue and I can honestly say if they trade him somewhere I will be Whole-heartedly Rooting for that team to win. So the question in which did I have here guys for you? Is this real is is this? To me it makes it makes sense for the blues I hate to say that but it does but but does that necessarily mean it’s gonna happen. What do you guys think? I Think anything is possible at this point with the blues and their roster. I think that they’re at a crossroads, you know They’ve been retooling they’ve been trying to contend which they did last year And they’ve been trying to build for the future Alex and and you they’ve got some great young players coming in divorce You’ve seen him take off this year snuggler rude, you know, and the list goes on there’s a lot of good prospects that we don’t talk about on a regular basis, I think that Something probably would have happened sooner with a few of these players had that post four nations run didn’t happen last year And we wouldn’t be talking about this because a couple of these guys would already be moved They felt like the team could contend again this year. I thought so too that’s not happening at this moment And so I think Doug Armstrong’s talking to teams and he has to and whether they’re calling about Bennington or shin or fuck or whomever You got to listen and I know some people are saying well, why would you trade now so early? Why don’t you just wait till closer to the trade deadline? You know what that does is maybe you get into a bidding war closer to the trade deadline teams No, they have to add the guy, you know, why do that in November? Well, if Edmonton like they lost and gave up big goals last night Yeah If they want a goaltender before their season gets out of hand Then maybe they’re willing to give you what you want for Jordan Bennington now And so I think that’s a situation I think with Braden Chen there’s you know Exploring going on there. I think that New Jersey is a team that’s been mentioned with him Justin Falk is having a really good season I think and look he’s tied for the team leading goals right now with six So I think the Blues have three or four guys that you can identify as Players who other teams would want who might bring you something and Bennington’s one of those guys So, you know, he’s got this and next year left on his deal I think Shin’s got one more year left on his deal all of these guys are Players that you could trade that could help the future of the Blues and I think when Doug finds a partner I think we’re gonna see a few of those things. Yeah, like for me Shannon Falk I set to the side because I think with Shannon Falk at some point with the team And I don’t like this because I think Braden Chen specifically is an incredible leader and an incredible captain I think sometimes, you know It the welcome wears a little bit if that makes sense to where the team is trying to transition You’ve got that old guard You’ve got your new guard in place and you’re trying to make that transition and for Braden Shen the style of hockey He plays it’s tough to play that way For the next three years and be in a third or second line role And I’m sure he wants a chance to win the Stanley Cup But like you hope and this is the part that I find so weird because if you trade them What are you hoping to get back in return? Not get anything that’s gonna make you better now. You’re getting future assets What are those future assets become? Well, they could become a draft pick. They could become a player future assets Don’t really help a team right now that’s trying to get into that winning window again But with brain Jen with Justin Falk, you wonder if the decision comes look the team is underperformed Well, they’ve had the same narrative for the last four years Maybe it’s time to flush out all of the old guard and bring in the new and let new voices take over The Bittington one for me is the one I’m most confused by and frankly, I just don’t believe I Get that Edmonton’s hot on him I mean, they got a goaltending problem Toronto would be as well who would have thought Edmonton would have had a goaltending problem going into This year let’s stick with the same guy that I’m holding the playoffs because he couldn’t make the big saves for things tweeted in 2020 yeah Seriously, but like with Bittington I get everybody wants and the guy performs at a high level even though he struggled early on But how does that help you as a team? Puts Joe Hofer in the number one spot. Do we think Joe Hofer is ready for the number one spot? Had struggles early on we were talking about concerns You lost Colton Ellis via waivers the next guy up you’re not in true belief that he’s ready to be an NHL goaltender So if you trade Jordan Bittington unless you’re getting something back in return That’s closer to the NHL for you on the goaltending wise, then you got a obvious hole on your team That what are you getting like Edmonton rumors? This is the part that was wild for me the rumor that Donnie’s talking about It was Nick Kiprios that said all well Edmonton’s hot on Jordan Bittington and they would send Stuart Skinner back in return Yeah, first of all, no, please God No, but and they would have to be more than that yeah, they would have to be more But that was my thought process JR was what does Edmonton have that you want that makes you better? I mean frankly you got both of them in the offer sheet I just if you trade Bittington to me you take a step backwards in an organization because yes, you’ve got Joel Hofer Yes, he’s young. Yes, you may think he’s ready for that load, but you don’t have a backup you frankly You don’t know if you’ve got a goaltender that can win the big game for you Like Bittington has shown the ability to and I don’t think you’re getting anything in return that makes you a better team right now No, I don’t disagree and I just want to explain that The Bittington one perhaps makes less sense than the others. Mm-hmm, but You’re at a situation where Bittington has one more year left on the deal Are you gonna re-sign a guy who’s 32 33 probably not so it’s gonna come to an end with Bittington? Anyway at some point soon is he gonna keep you competitive? Yeah, but you know is he the difference in In keeping you competitive and getting you into the playoffs Are you gonna make the playoffs this year next year like so you have a small window of time? I think where Bittington is gonna be the difference which he can be to make you that team and at some point I Don’t I’m not saying Hofer is the guy and he’s gonna be the number one a for the next six years But you have to find out and I think at some point this Blues team Will give him a chance to prove that he is or that he isn’t alright So let me ask the million dollar question here as it is the 26th of November God still so early in the season but yet so late in the season It feels like this season has been going on for a year guys with people People that have the argument that say it’s still not even December the 1st. Why can’t this team go on a run? Why would you even start considering talking? It’s trading some of these these pieces now. What would you say to that to that person? Well, I would say that they have shown the inability for any faith in the team So like if I’m looking at them right now and say well Why would you do that now when you still have three more months before the trade deadline and anything can happen look at what they? Did last year? What have you seen in the first? 23 games that makes you believe that this team’s gonna string seven or eight games together and I know that sounds super negative Man all I’ve heard for the last three weeks from the players from the coaches is out. No, we’re close We’re close to breaking through and then you see a game like they did against the New York Rangers Or you see a game like they had against the Vegas Golden Knights So they’ve been too inconsistent for me to look at their team and say that they’ll figure it out They’ll be fine last year. I mean it got to the point where I was like I don’t know if I believe that until they brought in Jim Montgomery. You can’t fire the coach You’re not firing the coach on top of this the narrative has been there for four years Slow starts don’t start the season out Well get hot late because they fire the coach and then they get close to the playoffs But just miss out and you win with this guy leadership like yeah The core is the are these the right pieces? So why what I would say to somebody that says well, why make moves now Why not wait to see if they could turn it on? Because this has been the same storyline for the blues for four years and at some point you got to stop with the coaches You got to stop with the off-ice up You have to start talking about the guys in the room and say are these the right pieces that can help us be a consistent Winner and this is why I I understand the Shannon Falk and the Bennington rumors because they’re closer to being free agents They’re older But I also think you have to talk about the main pieces that are going to be taking over that team next year because They’re just as much voices in the room now as Braden Shen Justin Falk and Colton Perrico are yeah I got three words for you Donny and you can use it for when you want to do the title this podcast later on It’s you’re you’re delaying the obvious. Well, you’re you’re delaying the obvious because it’s gonna happen You’ve come to the end of the road with this group this core group And you’ve got the guys that that are gonna lead to the future On the team now with divorce key and snugger and some of these players So so I think that you know now is gonna be the time to make that move There’s no reason to hope until January. Let’s hypothetically say this team Let’s say you do hang on to these guys You don’t trade them and in January they won ten straight and they’re you know Two points out of a wild card or what have you like really like you think okay? This is still the group I believe that that we need to you know keep playing with this quarter I just don’t think that the Blues are of that mindset And I think it’s come to their mind that that they’re ready to you know move on from these guys guys I gotta tell you the bigger issue for me right now is not whether you’re moving Shin or whether you’re moving folk like to me I feel like those are moves that are probably going to be made later in the year It just seems like it makes a whole hell of a lot of sense But what the bigger issue for me man as a Blues fan right now is I am laser beam focused on that goddamn core and Figuring out what in the world you need to do to I can’t do this anymore. Yeah, listen man I Strip it down to the bolts which you don’t have to do But I would prefer that knowing that there are 20 some odd guys that are going out there every night and playing their asses Off for the blue note this whatever is happening with this with this core group of guys I don’t know who the problem is. I don’t know if it’s a chemistry thing I don’t know if it’s a but I’m over this conversation. Yeah, how many times do we have to have this over the course of a few years? Well, I’m glad you brought this up because there’s just been a lot of talk the past five ten minutes about you know The shins and the fox and Bennington look you can move those guys Is that really going to solve the blues issues? No turn evil a little bit in terms of moving forward? No, it doesn’t and so again a lot of focus on those guys But where the focus should be and what we should touch on here is okay Let’s say those three guys are moved auction Bennington You still have an issue with the main core group of Robert Thomas Pavl Buchenovich Jordan Cairo and if you’re going to build around those three guys with the snug roots with the divorce keys and eventually those guys will take over but you have to have the leadership and production and the Determination from those three guys in particular is probably a couple more But the blues aren’t going anywhere unless those guys do their job Go ahead and get first-round picks go ahead and get prospects for the veterans that we did. Okay that You still need it from those three guys and and I think there have to be some concerns and some questions, you know I’m not saying individually. Yeah that each one of those guys is an issue But collectively as a group can you win with that group moving? That’s so the question that I’ve been asked so many times for these games is like like what’s going wrong? Watching it. They just don’t have the guy that goes out there and just tries to take it Yeah They’ve got a lot of guys that are just waiting for something to happen Like you watch how the Carolina Hurricanes play you watch how the Winnipeg Jets play heck you watch how the Utah Mammoth play Even though they’ve gone through a cold spell. What do they have? They have guys at the moment. They step on the ice They’re trying to kill the other side with their offense with their skill and the blues feel like they’re waiting for something to take place So that’s why for me You can talk Shen Falk Bennington and get those pieces back that sets you back because if you’re getting first round picks Those don’t affect you for three to four years What you need is you need somebody to come into that locker room and say I am going to go out there and take it And I I don’t know what that happens with Shen Falk and Bennington I think it has to happen with moving one of these core pieces and going out there and bringing a different player in For a change of scenery and I hate saying that because you love watching these guys you love that they’ve developed them But when Thomas and Butch Navec and Kairu have been out there and you could go beyond that as well I mean, I think there’s been times that Holloway’s been silent. I think there’s been times that Shen has been silent That nobody goes out there and says I’m gonna be the best player on this shift right now It’s we’ll see what happens and you can’t you can’t move forward as a young core without Somebody going out there and taking the reins. All right, let’s do this Let’s take our final break come on back for just a couple more minutes last minute blues podcast coming back for our final segment All right, I’m glad that we had that discussion here, guys, because more than anything else, as we’re sitting here talking about the potential trade rumors, again, the thing that really just pops into my mind more than anything else is that we’re four years later, and we’re still talking about this core, and we’re still talking about some of these players, and it’s just insanely, insanely frustrating to me. And I like all of these players. Man, like, as you know, I’ve become a kairu apocalypse. That’s right. You know, I see the things that Robert Thomas can do when he’s locked in, and holy hell, he’s amazing. But at this point, man, like, I’m befuddled why they would give Booch the contract that he did with the term in which that he gives. So it’s just– I don’t want to be crabby about it, but I’m super frigging crabby about it. Like, I just– it just kind of defies logic to me a little bit. And here’s the wild part about this, too. You know, I’m looking around because the Blues aren’t the only one that’s doing this right now. Like, the Rangers are doing this, the Canucks are doing this, the Predators are doing this, the Maple Leafs. All of these teams that you thought they had the core in place that was like, oh, yeah, these– this is going to be a– I mean, a couple of years ago, guys, we were talking about the Vancouver Canucks looking like they were going to win the Stanley Cup. And now they’re talking about a fire sale. Nashville, when they signed Stamkos and Marcheso, we were saying, oh, geez, watch out for this team. Now they’re fire sailing it. Can I– can I– I read a rumor that the Predators were looking for a player in the first round draft pick for Ryan O’Reilly. It’s an A-level prospect, they said. That just keeps giving in terms of when you move him. He’s still worth it a couple years down the road. But you think– but you think Ryan O’Reilly could get that at this stage of the game? The thing is, you always ask hi. Yeah. So that’s one thing. And if you have to come down a little bit, you have to come down. But the other thing is, if you’re a contending team and you’ve got everything in place, except for you need that veteran guy to come and pop here, then he can be that guy. And at that point, if you’re that close, OK, I’ll give you the front round pick. Yeah, all right. The other one, the other one, too, for me, guys, the Rangers, a year ago, said this team’s not good enough. What did they do? They shipped out Crider, they shipped out Truba, and now they’re stuck with a bunch of 32-year-olds and they don’t have any up-and-coming talent. This is a problem for these teams right now, and it all goes back to, well, they just don’t have the right core of players. Well, and I want to say this, because I don’t want to sound like I’m defending decisions. But a lot of this is a projection. So when Jordan Kairu and Robert Thomas are a year or two away from needing contracts, and you see a Matthew Kuchuck orchestrate his way out of Calgary to go to Florida, well, guess what? Robert Thomas and Jordan Kairu could have done the same thing at that point. And I know you say, OK, well, good for them. Let them do it. Well, listen, we’re going back three years when they were putting up– Kairu was scoring 37 goals. And you think he could be a 40-50-guy goal at some point, so you’ve got to get them locked up. Guess what? The players are all wanting eight-year deals. And so you’ve got to give them an eight-year deal. At that point, is there any guarantee of what they’re going to be down the road? Now, Butch Nevich, obviously a different situation. He’s 30 years old. You decide to sign him to a six-year term. You know, I go back to– I picked him as a player who I thought would have a good year this year. He is having the exact opposite of that. And so, yes, there’s room for criticism with the Pavo-Butch Nevich contract. But I guess the Blues are looking at it in terms of, well, if we don’t re-sign him, who are we going out to get? Who’s scored 30 goals in this league before? And guess what the going rate is for a six-year deal for a Pavo-Butch Nevich? It’s $8 million. And that’s what they do. So all I’m saying is, when you mention all those other teams, that should go to prove how hard it is to, A, project, give the players the type of term that they’re all asking for, and then just cross your fingers that they’re going to produce. Because it comes down to the player. Like, the organization bets on a guy, and they rightfully did, with Thomas and Kairu. And I’m not saying that they shouldn’t have. I just want to make sure that that’s clear. Like, anybody is. It’s just where they’re at right now. You’re not getting the results that you thought when you signed them to that extension. You’re in that prime, 26 for Robert Thomas, 27 for Jordan and Kairu. And you’re wanting to see steps forward. And this season has felt like a step backwards. But you’re not wrong. I mean, if you don’t– and Doug joked about this a couple of years ago when they struggled. And he’s like, look, if you wanted me to tear this thing down to the studs, I can. I chose not to, because we feel we have the right pieces in place. And I think they do. You’re just missing something else. And I don’t know what that is. Maybe it’s just a top line goal score, because Kairu, there’s nothing wrong with an $8 million guy who’s a second line winger. You’re missing that top line score. Maybe it’s Snuggaroo. Maybe it’s Dvorsky. But it just feels like, once again, they’re stuck. And I feel like for the last four years, we’ve been saying this to you. Well, I think you nailed it earlier, you have to have a player or two or three who tell themselves when they step on that, I’m going to be the best player on the ice tonight. And I’m not saying that these guys don’t do it, but it’s not showing. Yeah. They’re good. They’re talented. You know, the Blues had every right to think that they can be those players. But when you watch this team, that’s not what those are. That’s not the vibe we’re getting from a lot of these riders. Absolutely not. Well, listen, guys, we have to wrap this up, because I have to go on the radio. Alex has to go on the radio. And there are articles everywhere that JR needs to end. So here, though, I do, before we get done, I do want to plug it one more time. Live episode, Last Minute Blues podcast, part of our first ever holiday food drive with Operation Food Search is on Tuesday, December the 16th, 6 to 7.30 at the Hot Shots and Fenton details. Avoid the Point website and the Arch website. And you can also email us as well if you have any questions. All right, we’ve got to wrap this thing up. The podcast brought to you by Blue Note Roofing, Roofing, Citing and Gutters, your St. Louis roofing experts. Visit bluenoteroofingstl.com for a free inspection. Jeremy Rutherford from the Athletic, Alex Ferrari from 101 ESPN. I’m Donnie Fandango, live from the Jeff Burton studios. It’s the Last Minute Blues– Last Minute Blues– damn it, I was on a roll. I friggin’ had it. Last Minute Blues podcast. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. Gobble, gobble. The Last Minute Blues podcast on 101 ESPN. Is presented by Blue Note Roofing, Roofing, Citing, and Gutters. You’re St. Louis roofing experts. Visit bluenoteroofing.com for a free inspection.

The fellas are back with BIG NEWS for all of their listeners! They also dive into the trade rumors that are floating around the Blues, why Binnington’s name is even coming up, and the concern over the core’s continued struggles.

Last Minute Blues Podcast is presented by Blue Note Roofing!

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