Kevin Shattenkirk wasn’t traded during the draft last weekend, and that surprised his agent a bit.
But his agent still believes Shattenkirk will be traded.
“I would say at this point, Kevin and I do think it is inevitable that he ultimately will get traded,” Jordan Neumann told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Monday. “So with that in mind, I guess any player in that situation would certainly hope it would be sooner rather than later.”
The Blues went into the weekend with a high price for the 27-year-old defenseman -- ultimately too high to get a deal done. But teams like the Bruins and Oilers still have a pressing need, and there isn’t a right-shooting d-man in free agency who can bring what Shattenkirk brings. (The closest is probably Jason Demers.)
Whoever gets Shattenkirk will need him to sign an extension. He’s only under contract for one more year, after which he can become an unrestricted free agent. That’s why he’s likely to be traded by the Blues, who already have Alex Pietrangelo and Colton Parayko on the right side of the defense.
“Kevin loves it in St. Louis, he’s really enjoyed his time, his career has really taken off there,” said Neumann. “But at the same time, he’s a very smart young man and we completely understand the business. It would be naive to say we didn’t expect it to be coming.”