Thumbs up from Det

Why would STL do that trade with DET?? Best example of a really bad trade. You weaken your G (AND 5 years older) and litterally give away a good prospect/borderline NHLer. HARD NO

Please explain to me why in hell would WPG do that trade for Steen without sending money back? They're already in a cap crunch situation and next year, they need to re-up Wheeler and Myers. You need to think from both organisation perspective when you do those AGM thing...

PLUS : WPG already have Connor, Laine, Wheeler, Ehlers, Perreault, Lowry, Tanev, Petan on the wing. Sorry pal, this isn't happening

StL would do that because the team gives up in front of Allen, and they're ready to move him if they can find a capable stop gap to give Husso one more year to develop. Howard has one year remaining, which works fine--and he has performed well playing in front of a less than stellar DET defense. I think he would excel in StL--and he certainly wouldn't be a downgrade. As for Barbashev, he was a handy player to have, but barring a slue of injuries, there is nowhere for him on the roster. Thomas is more or less supplanting him. Makes sense to package him and get some value for him now, than bury him in the minors, where he becomes waiver fodder.

WPG may be in a cap crunch situation, but they have a lot of salary off the books, with not everyone returning. They could use a two-way veteran utility forward. Steen can play literally anywhere in the top-9, is excellent on special teams, and his family has history with the franchise. He would be an upgrade over several of the players you mentioned.

Don't misunderstand me--I don't think this scenario is likely. I just don't think it's as far fetched as you are making out. I suspect the Blues are looking to deal him, and there are very few teams for which he would consider waiving his trade protections. I think WPG would be one of them. If so, I think they would find a way to make the salary work.

One thing WPG is NOT trying to do is getting a 36 years old player on the downslope since the last 3 years and definitely not getting any younger..and also overpaid for what he's giving you now. Maybe STL is trying to move him (which is a good idea in order to obtain something in return instead of losing him for nothing), but WPG is surely not the right destination/fit for him, no matter if his father played there before (it really doesn't matter at all). And no teams think Howard is a true #1 goalie. He still have maybe 3 years left in the show, tops. He's a good backup who can help you if your #1 gets hurt for something like 6 weeks, but not a starter G. Bad trade, plain and simple

--Steen is 34, not 36. You are probably right that WPG won't want him. It's a moot point, because he probably won't waive his NMC for anybody. My point was to play with what the roster might look like if we somehow miraculously dealt him. Given that all we're asking for is a swap of defensive prospects and a second rounder, I don't think it's a bad deal for WPG, whether they "need" him or not. I think he would pair fantastically with Bryan Little. But we can agree that it is most likely that we'll never know.

--Howard has 1 year remaining on his contract. We really wouldn't care if he had 3 years left or not. We just need him for one, if that, to give Husso a bit more time. No matter how "bad" he may be as a starter, the team would be better off having him rather than keeping Allen. I don't think any trade where we deal Allen and get back a 1 year contract on a serviceable netminder is a "bad deal".