What Can Blues Offer Sharks for Meier? (+)

The St. Louis Blues’ entry into the Timo Meier sweepstakes might be a game-changer for the San Jose Sharks.

Before the surprise St. Louis drop into the Meier derby, the only team reported to be sure about making a long-term commitment to the pending RFA was the New Jersey Devils.

REPORT: Blues Want Meier, Willing to Trade 2 First-Rounders?

That’s not any discredit to the power winger, by the way, on pace to score over 40 goals this season – it’s normal for any organization to take a deep breath before offering an eight-year contract to any player.

In that case, the Devils were perhaps only bidding against teams that saw Meier as a wait-and-see commitment – the 26-year-old winger is set to become a UFA after the 2023-24 campaign – essentially, a two-year “rental”.

Naturally, that put the Devils as the lead horse in race that reportedly included the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights, Winnipeg Jets, and Carolina Hurricanes.

The Rangers and Leafs are believed to not be in the hunt for Meier anymore after their acquisitions of rentals Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan O’Reilly, respectively, because of GM Mike Grier’s high asking price for Meier.

But the Blues, after trading 30-something stars Tarasenko and O’Reilly for first-round picks, let it be known that they weren’t looking to rebuild.

“We need to retrench with players 25, 26 and under that have term on their contracts,” St. Louis GM Doug Armstrong told reporters last week, “so they can grow with that next core of players we have.”

If the Blues can sign him to an extension, that sounds like Meier. Grier may now be able to play New Jersey and St. Louis off each other.

So what could the Blues offer the San Jose Sharks in a potential Meier trade? I spoke with two NHL sources with a solid knowledge of their farm system.