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With Blues in ‘precarious playoff spot,’ it was time for Shattenkirk to go

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The Capitals have made a blockbuster move, trading for Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk ahead of the NHL trade deadline.

If the St. Louis Blues were enjoying another season like they enjoyed last year, they wouldn’t have traded Kevin Shattenkirk.

But in the words of GM Doug Armstrong, the Blues are currently “in a precarious playoff spot,” so yesterday Shattenkirk was dealt to Washington for a haul that included a first-round draft pick in 2017 and 22-year-old forward Zach Sanford.

“It just felt that where we are and where we need to go, it was time to make a move,” Armstrong said.

“I think when we got through last year’s playoffs, knowing that we were going to be entering unrestricted free agency with a number of players over a two- or three-year span, we wanted to turn the tide over to a different core group of players, and this just continues down that path.”

Armstrong listed Alex Pietrangelo, Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz, Colton Parayko, and Robby Fabbri as parts of the new core.

“There’s change in this game,” said Armstrong. “All organizations go through it.”

The Blues enter tonight’s game against the Oilers just two points clear of the Kings for the second wild-card spot in the West.