Forward Alexandre Texier makes the Blues’ middle 6 younger.
Being a father means I haven’t been able to keep up to date on the most recent rumors and goings-on in Blues world lately. So I was surprised to read the news that the Blues had acquired center/winter Alexandre Texier from the Blue Jackets.
Honestly, I hadn’t heard that name before, so I had to do some homework. I’m happy to learn he’s a young player with decent point production for a middle forward, and he has upside for more.
I was also surprised about the nature of this move. I assumed the Blues would fade into free agency to fill the need for 2nd-line center. Now, I don’t think Texier fills that need at all, hence the surprise. But it all starts to make sense when the next move came – the trade of center Kevin Hayes to Pittsburgh.
Hayes was certainly disappointing last year. He had 13 goals and 29 total points, far off the 39 point-average of his 4 years with the Philadelphia Flyers. The Blues hoped they were getting a reliable center who could play more in the top 6 group than he actually did. He got relegated to the third line, which went for vast stretches without putting points on the scoreboard. That wasn’t entirely his fault because Kasperi Kapanen also massively disappointed. So did Sammy Blais. Both of this guys are gone from the Blues, by way of becoming free agents.
Maybe Hayes’ light offensive production was an outlier, but evidently Doug Armstrong didn’t want to take that chance. So now the Blues have a younger player – Texier – at a cheaper price ($2.1 mil).
The forwards, without any free agent additions, could look like this:
| Left Wing | Center | Right Wing |
| Pavel Buchnevich | Robert Thomas | Jordan Kyrou |
| Jake Neighbours | Brayden Schenn | Brandon Saad |
| Zach Bolduc | Alexandre Texier | Alexey Toropchenko |
| Nathan Walker | Oskar Sundqvist | Nikita Alexandrov |
I think the bottom 6 looks a little thin, as does the center position. The Blues may dip into free agency for something, although a recent article in The Athletic seemed to pour cold water on the idea of a top-tier guy. Still, I would expect the Blues to kick the tires on a number of guys. They do need another middle six forward to make up for the departures of Blais, Hayes, and Kapanen, not to mention the absence of Vrana for virtually all of last season.
Free agency, like always, will be exciting to watch.
Open Ice Notes 