Blues Looking To Trade Backes, Berglund, Or Oshie?

At the end of May, Doug Armstrong took the opportunity to break the Blues down into two cores: old guys and young guys. Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Alex Pietrangelo fall into the young guys. The Blues will be built around that core - that's who the future belongs to.

Which leaves the aging core of David Backes, Patrik Berglund, T.J. Oshie, and Alexander Steen (among others) up for discussion. It's taken a few weeks since Armstrong's division of the team comments, but finally whispers are getting out that perhaps Armstrong is open to dealing some of the old guys for the right price.

On his Cross Checks Blog, ESPN's Pierre LeBrun discusses the possibility that these guys are goners, specifically Backes, Berglund, and Oshie. However, they expect an "apples for apples deal," a "hockey trade," or whatever you want to call it. Backes has a year left on his deal; would the Blues get much more than another rental back? Berglund's NMC kicks in on July 1st. Shop him quick. Oshie's post-season disappointment is overshadowing his regular season play; a GM could take a run at him if he has the goods to give up in return.

LeBrun mentions that moves have to be logical, or else the team'll stay status quo. That's a given. What isn't a given is what constitutes logical, and what, if any benefit an "apples for apples" deal will return. You have one player who is a known quantity shipped off for a player who is an unknown quantity who has to learn an entirely new system, and will put up similar numbers as whoever just got traded.

It sounds as if a lateral move is a possibility, but wouldn't that just wind up being a trade for trade's sake as well? Don't be shocked if the Blues make minimal moves this off-season.