Zach Sanford may spare St. Louis Blues some hard decisions at NHL trade deadline
In the run-up to the NHL trade deadline later this month, the St. Louis Blues will be forced to decide whether their need for supplementary scoring is so dire that it will require spending both financial and player assets in order to make a significant addition.
If the recent play of a player already in the organization continues, that decision becomes a great deal simpler.
Winger Zach Sanford, 25, has recorded at least one point in six consecutive games, and has tallied 11 (five goals, six assists) in his last nine appearances. His two-goal performance on Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes marked the first time in his young career that he’s scored more than once in a single game, and he looked more than comfortable on a line with Ryan O’Reilly and David Perron.
Sanford’s arrival from Washington in 2017 was somewhat unheralded.
Though he was part of the trade which saw Kevin Shattenkirk leave the Blues, many considered him to be a throw-in as opposed to a player of real potential. At the time, he had a mere two goals in 26 career games and was relinquished by the Capitals for a so-called rental player in Shattenkirk despite Washington’s own search for reliable forward depth.
The 2017-18 season was a lost year for Sanford, as a freak accident in the first half hour of training camp saw him hit a bad rut on soft ice and tumble into the boards, leading to major shoulder surgery. He wouldn’t make it back to the NHL that season, and started the 2018-19 season on a somber note when his father, Mike, died unexpectedly during training camp at age 54.
Sanford’s time away from the team during training camp created opportunities for players like Sammy Blais and Jordan Kyrou, and by the time he returned, he was destined for the team’s American Hockey League affiliate in San Antonio. He would make it back to the NHL early in the year, but was shuffled throughout the lineup and, occasionally, to the press box.
Size and skill form a potent combination for an NHL forward, and at 6-4, Sanford’s long frame tends to make him appear leaner than his listed weight of 207 pounds. That size is also the cause of some of the frustration around Sanford’s game; his reluctance to use physicality to stay engaged when suffering through bad puck luck can create the impression of a player floating or caught in between plays.
The search for a complimentary player to skate with O’Reilly and Perron has been one of the rare frustrations the Blues have dealt with over the last calendar year. Coach Craig Berube generally has kept the two as a duo, as he has with Brayden Schenn and Jaden Schwartz. Injured winger Vladimir Tarasenko has a successful history with Schenn and Schwartz, but O’Reilly and Perron have seen a variety of teammates cycle through the third spot on their line.
Robert Thomas represents one possibility for that spot, but moving him to the wing means sacrificing his value as a reliable player at center ice. With Tarasenko still convalescing from his own shoulder injury, Thomas has also seen increased reps with Schenn and Schwartz, so moving him around the lineup doesn’t fill a hole so much as relocate it.
Kyrou is highly skilled but has been inconsistent. Blais’s physicality can disrupt games for better or worse, and perhaps doesn’t contribute sufficiently to a seamless offensive game. Alexander Steen has had stretches of strong play, but age and experience have worn down some of his speed and skill. None of the many options Berube has tried has been a seamless fit.
That opportunity is now firmly within Sanford’s grasp, and it will be up to him to seize it.
He scored the Blues’ last goal of their Stanley Cup-clinching game seven in Boston, burying a pinpoint pass from Perron into a largely open net. The flashes of chemistry — much like those of Sanford’s skill level — have been bright and intense, but haven’t yet had the duration which would allow the Blues to permanently entrust such a vital role to a still developing player.
The decision to pursue a scoring forward from outside the organization could have a number of consequences. Not only would such a deal have a cost in terms of talent, but it might also paint the Blues into a difficult salary cap position which would require them to hold Tarasenko out of the lineup for the remainder of the regular season. Finding an internal solution would provide the team with the necessary flexibility to seek Tarasenko’s return in time for a late-season tune-up.
Some players begin their NHL careers as highly regarded prospects who are expected to seize a place atop the depth chart and make immediate contributions. Others, like Sanford, tread more difficult paths which require waiting for an opportunity and, if none arises, forming one where none may exist.
Sanford’s opportunity may have been delayed, but now he has every chance to assure that it will not be denied.
