NHL Trade Buzz: Blues seeking offense, not interested in rentals

Welcome to the NHL Trade Buzz. There are nine days remaining until the 2018 NHL Trade Deadline (3 p.m. ET; Feb. 26). The St. Louis Blues are scouring the market in a search for offense, and general manager Doug Armstrong believes he will be active before the deadline. Here's a look around the League at the latest deadline doings:

St. Louis Blues

General manager Doug Armstrong may be busy before the trade deadline, but continues to indicate he doesn't have much interest in the rental market.
"I think we're going to be active on hockey trades more than rental trades," Armstrong told Sportsnet. "The reality is if you're trading an unrestricted free agent at that time, you're going to get what you can get and sometimes that won't come until the last second.
"I think it's actually going to be a really busy time though."
St. Louis made a trade on Thursday, sending a fourth-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft to the Toronto Maple Leafs for forward Nikita Soshnikov, but other talks reportedly have made no progress. Armstrong told NHL.com last month that he's leery of overpaying for a rental player.
"I don't see us involved in the rental market," he said. "Now that can always change with the proper phone call and a scenario in which the assets we have to give up are something we can live with. But to get a player for six weeks and hope you are going to go on a run; well, the teams that have done that recently really haven't been that successful."
Armstrong saw one of those not-that-successful moves from the other side last season, trading pending free agent defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk to the Washington Capitals for forwards Zach Sanford (who was activated from injured reserve Friday) and Brad Malone, a 2017 first-round pick and a conditional pick. Although Shattenkirk helped the Capitals win the Presidents' Trophy as the NHL's regular-season champion, Washington was eliminated by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Second Round -- and Shattenkirk signed with the New York Rangers on July 1.
Although the Blues could use help on offense -- they are 20th in the NHL with 2.80 goals per game -- that would seem to indicate St. Louis may not push hard to acquire forward Rick Nash of the New York Rangers or forward Evander Kane of the Buffalo Sabres. Each can become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
Players like Ottawa's Mike Hoffman (two more years), Derick Brassard (one more year) or Montreal's Max Pacioretty (one more year), who've been rumored to be available, might be a better fit on Armstrong's wish list because they have term remaining beyond this season.
The Blues (34-22-4), are tied for third in the Central Division with the Dallas Stars after losing 2-1 at Dallas on Friday. St. Louis is 13-14-2 since Dec. 10.

Calgary Flames

Center Mikael Backlund signed a six-year, $32.1 million contract with the Flames on Friday, removing another potential unrestricted free agent from the market July 1.
Backlund, 28, has 34 points (10 goals, 24 assists) in 58 games this season, and 262 points (104 goals, 158 assists) in 519 games with Calgary, which selected him in the first round (No. 24) in the 2007 NHL Draft.
His best season with the Flames was 2016-17, when he had 52 points (22 goals, 31 assists) centering a shutdown line between Michael Frolik and Matthew Tkachuk.
The signing adds more stability to the lineup before the trade deadline and gives general manager Brad Treliving one less concern.
"He's an important player at an important position, and they're hard to find," Treliving said. "When you've got him, you hold on to him.
"In simple terms, you keep your good players and add to them, especially at that position. You look at teams that win and you do it through the middle of the ice. I'm convinced of it."
The Flames (30-20-8, 68 points) are third in the Pacific Division and play the Florida Panthers at Scotiabank Saddledome on Saturday (10 p.m. ET; CITY, SNW, FS-F, NHL.TV).

Arizona Coyotes

General manager John Chayka reportedly is listening to offers for any of his players except defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and rookie forward Clayton Keller, but he's not inflating expectations that the Coyotes will do much before the deadline.
"I think if people are expecting us to be major players at the trade deadline, they may be disappointed," Chayka told ArizonaSports.com.
One player who has heard his name mentioned in rumors is forward Max Domi, though most speculation is that other teams are inquiring, rather than that Chayka is shopping him.
"I don't know where anyone gets this information from, to be completely honest with you," Domi told ArizonaSports.com on Friday. "For the most part, it's all just rumors and that's not up to me, it's up to John and the management staff. I enjoy playing for the Coyotes, I love living here and hopefully I can stay for a long time."
Domi's production is down sharply this season. Entering Arizona's game against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday (4 p.m. ET; FS-A, SNW, NHL.TV), Domi had 26 points (four goals, 22 assists) and is shooting 3.6 percent in 58 games. He had 38 points (nine goals, 29 assists) and scored on 8.3 percent of his shots in 59 games last season; as a rookie 2015-16, Domi had 52 points (18 goals, 34 assists) and shot 11.5 percent in 82 games.
The Coyotes, last in the Pacific Division (16-32-10, 42 points) and 26 points behind the third-place Calgary Flames, are willing to be patient with Domi.
"Max is a good young player," he said. "We're building our team around good young players."