"But it was additional payments necessary to Buffalo if we signed Ryan. That would have been basically moving back a full round in the draft ... and we just felt at this time, it was better for us to go with Elliott and Jake Allen."

In the deal that brought Miller and Steve Ott to St. Louis, the Blues sent Chris Stewart, Jaroslav Halak, prospect William Carrier, a first-round pick in 2015 and a third-round pick in 2016 to Buffalo.

There were other conditions in the trade as well. If the Blues had advanced to the Western Conference finals, or re-signed Miller prior to the NHL draft in June, the Blues would then have had to give Buffalo their 2014 first-round pick in exchange for the Sabres second- and third-round picks.

So now the Blues will hold onto their first-round selection (No. 24 overall) in this year's draft. But still, the club gave up a lot to get Miller and Ott for only 25 games.

"We gave up quite a bit to get Ryan and we felt as an organization that might be a piece that could push us deep and get us into the Stanley Cup and win us a Stanley Cup," Armstrong said. "That's why the trade was made. It didn't work out that way, obviously.