During today’s insider trading segment on TSN, Darren Dreger reported the St Louis Blues have paid considerable attention to Jimmy Howard as of late.

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? Why Blues are paying close attention to Jimmy Howard

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Dreger states that the Blues were at the Red Wings game on Monday when they played the Blue Jackets and appeared to be paying significant attention to Howard. The Red Wings asking price would be very high and the Blues are without a first round pick as they traded it in the Ryan O’Reilly trade. Dreger then questions whether St Louis would give up a prized prospect such as Thomas or Kyrou in a Howard trade. Many on Twitter are already taking that to mean that the Red Wings have already asked for Robert Thomas or Jordan Kyrou or it’s no deal, but it appeared as if Dreger was just mentioning the high-end Blues prospects as a point of reference for the discussion.

Even if prospects like Thomas and Kyrou are off the table, the Blues still have a few prospects that could get a trade done such as 2018 1st round pick forward Dominik Bokk, 2018 2nd round pick defenseman Scott Perunovich, 2017 1st round pick Klim Kostin, and the currently concussed 2015 3rd round pick Erik Foley, who the Blues acquired in the Paul Stastny trade. For cap reasons, the Blues would likely have to include their backup goalie pending UFA Chad Johnson, a reliable backup goalie throughout his career. The Blues certainly have assets that would further advance the Red Wings rebuilding efforts, but they’d have to decide to step up and pay the Red Wings high ask.

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From a Red Wings point of view, they don’t have to trade Howard. The Red Wings organization is the only one that Howard’s known and they’re a very loyal organization. Though if the Red Wings received an offer they couldn’t refuse, they’d be foolish to pass it up and feel foolish doing so, hence the reported high ask.