NHL Commerce Grades: Cam Fowler to the Blues

Change of surroundings trades do occur round this time of yr. This one feels weightier than normal. Cam Fowler, who has been within the Anaheim Geese group for the reason that crew drafted him twelfth total in 2010, is all of the sudden in St. Louis.

In the meantime, the St. Louis Blues, at the moment sitting outdoors the playoff image, will not be buying a 33-year-old defenseman as a long-term venture. That is an try to repair instant points on protection.

Why would Anaheim half methods with their all-time chief in video games performed on protection mid-season? Does Fowler handle the Blues’ wants on protection? Let’s analyze this commerce for each groups and hand out grades.

Do the St. Louis Blues want a left-handed defenseman? Undoubtedly. Philip Broberg, who spent years in Edmonton pivoting between the NHL and AHL, appears to have lastly made his huge league spot everlasting in St. Louis however he is nonetheless tough defensively and has been uncovered in top-pairing minutes even alongside the regular hand of Colton Parayko.

The Blues’ different choices go away rather a lot to be desired. Ryan Suter is almost 40 and belongs on the backside of the depth chart. The identical is true for Pierre-Olivier Joseph.

However is Cam Fowler, 33 years outdated, the reply? Perhaps 5 years in the past. In his prime, the American defenseman bordered on top-pairing skill. He was one of many prime puck-movers within the Western Convention. Sure, he was a degree producer. Simply two seasons in the past he tallied 48. However he additionally was excellent at beginning breakouts and transitioning the puck up the ice.

Fowler nonetheless showcases the puck-moving talents occasionally, however he now not is a constant driver of offense, and his defensive sport, by no means a energy, has hit rock-bottom.

Now let’s be honest. The Geese, total, have been terrible the previous few seasons. Defensively specifically. The rebuilding crew with few respectable NHLers on the blueline pressured Fowler to play a task nicely above his means at this stage of his profession. Any first rate defenseman pressured to play 24 minutes with little assist goes to get demolished.

The Blues are a greater crew and he will not be shoved right into a heavy PK function. Anticipate Fowler to play higher than he had in Anaheim.

Here is the larger drawback. The Blues had restricted flexibility over the summer time particularly as a result of they had been caught with too many elderly, costly defensemen. Torey Krug, Justin Faulk, and Nick Leddy are all on multi-year contracts and possibly maintain damaging worth on the commerce market. All three are also puck-moving defensemen. Now Fowler is added to the combination for roughly $4M via subsequent season.

If — and it is a huge if — the Blues may also help Fowler regain some type, it will not be sufficient to justify additional entrenching themselves with an outdated, costly, and underwhelming protection.

Grade: C-

This transfer was a very long time coming for Anaheim. Fowler was a constant producer and revered presence for years however it was nicely previous time to maneuver on. Fowler, 33, now not takes on a demanding function. He was getting eaten alive on the prime of the depth chart. They requested him to play the PK regardless of it being nowhere in his wheelhouse. The 15-year NHL veteran was presumably getting sick of perennial dropping and it will be exhausting to fault him for dropping a aggressive edge on a crew whose season has been over earlier than December for the final 5 years.

This transfer would have come sooner if not for Fowler’s prohibitive $6.5M cap hit. It is somewhat shocking they had been in a position to make this transfer occur with out the utmost 50-percent retention.

Successfully, the Geese transfer up from spherical 4 to spherical two within the 2027 NHL Draft.

The larger affect for Anaheim is that they want to determine how you can allocate Fowler’s minutes across the roster. As poorly as he performed in that function, his absorption of ugly shifts allowed head coach Greg Cronin to shelter the crew’s younger, growing defensemen. It is going to now fall on Olen Zellweger, Pavel Mintukov, and Jackson LaCombe to carry down the left facet of the protection collectively. All three are proficient defensemen with upside however all are nonetheless younger and really inexperienced.

Grade: B