DENVER, CO - APRIL 07: Alexander Steen #20 of the St. Louis Blues skates with the puck against the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center on April 7, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Blues 5-2. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)

The St. Louis Blues have a loaded offensive roster, which could leave some players on the outside looking in. This could lead to some trades before the season is over.

The St. Louis Blues overhauled their roster this offseason, acquiring four forwards and a goalie over the summer. The Blues also have many returning players that are on the outside looking in when it comes to playing time.

St. Louis does not a have a lot of wiggle room when it comes to cap space, they only have about $230k left to spend according to capfriendly.com.

There are not any glaring needs for this team as we head into the opening night on October 4th, however, during the course of an 82 game season, players get hurt and underperform which could lead to a change in the roster.

Jaskin has not lived up to his potential when he was drafted back in the 2011 NHL entry draft. Jaskin registered a career-high 18 points in the 2014-2015 season has not scored more than six goals since.

Coming into the year, Jaskin was projected to be on the Blues fourth line, however with young players like Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou coming into the fold, it may limit Jaskin’s involvement with the team.

Moving Jaskin’s contract is not going to be difficult. He is only making $1.1m this season and is an RFA at the end of the year so he still has some team control moving forward.

Jaskin could still serve the Blues well in 2018, he performed well playing substantial minutes internationally over the summer.

There are always teams looking for a young controllable player who could potentially slot into your third line.

Hopefully, for the Blues, Jaskin will live up to his potential and contribute for St. Louis this season.

Gunnarsson, who will turn 32 during the season, is coming off of two surgeries over the offseason. He has split his NHL career with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Blues and has been a very capable defender for his entire career.

His contract would be more difficult to move than that of Jaskin, Gunnarsson is making $2.9m this season and is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year.

The injury history and declining performance is an issue when considering moving on from Gunnarsson. He played in 63 games last season and 56 before that. Not many NHL teams would want to take on that type of player unless they are compensating for an already injured player on their roster.

There is a chance that the young defenseman for the Blues like Jordan Schmaltz, Mitch Reinke, or even a not so young Chris Butler, play well enough at the AHL level to be able to come up to St. Louis and contribute if the team moved on from Gunnarsson.

Robert Bortuzzo and Jay Bouwmeester are also UFAs at the end of the year and both could be candidates to be moved during the season. However, with Gunnarsson’s injury history and declining ability, he may be the odd man out.

3. Alexander Steen

Ah Alex Steen, the whipping boy of Blues fans for the past five or so years. Steen is owed $5.75m a year for the next three years. Just like Gunnarsson, Steen has split his entire NHL career between Toronto and St. Louis.

On the ice, Steen is not the same player he was five years ago when he scored 30+ goals for the Blues. This season though, Steen will take on a new role for the Blues playing on the third line.

Trading Steen would free up the cap space, but this also means that teams up against the cap are not going to be able to acquire him without the Blues retaining some of the salary in return.

Steen has not scored more than 20 goals in a season since the 2014-2015 season but the value that he possesses is on the penalty kill and his ability to play as a defensive forward against other team’s top lines.

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This list could change instantly with an injury or two during the season, however with declining performance, youth, and experience Gunnarsson, Steen, and Jaskin are players to keep an eye on when the trade deadline comes on February.