Blues make splash for playoff push, land Ryan Miller and Steve Ott

The St. Louis Blues wanted to improve their team going into the playoffs, two of their weak spots were with starting goal-tending and grit. And on Friday evening, the Blues were able to do both in one trade. They traded goalie Jaroslav Halak, forward Chris Stewart, prospect William Carrier, along with a first-round pick in 2015 and a third-round pick in 2016 to the Buffalo Sabers for goalie Ryan Miller and forward Steve Ott.

Miller and Ott could both become free agents after the 2013-2014 season. Miller,33, had played his whole career in Buffalo. until being traded today. In the 2009-2010 season, Ryan Miller won the Vezina Trophy. That award goes to the best goaltender in the NHL. That season, Miller played 69 games and went 41-18-4, with 5 shutouts, and a goals against of 2.22. He's played for team USA two times in the Olympics.

In Miller's twelve years in the NHL, his stats are: 540 games played, 284 wins, 186 losses, 56 (tie/overtime loss), 28 shutouts, 2.60 goals against, .916 save percentage, and 9 assists. His career playoff record is 25-22. Right now Miller, for the 2013-2014 season is 15-22-3. He did the best he could playing behind one of the worst defense's in the NHL. So, coming to the Blues should help improve that record. That's knowing that he's still good and the Blues have a great defense playing in front of him.

Could Ryan Miller end up staying a Blue beyond the season and not just be a rental? Time will tell, but he should be able to help the Blues a lot. He's good at playing the puck, which is something Brian Elliott and Jaroslav Halak aren't that good at doing.

As for Steve Ott, 31, this is his second time being traded in his career. Ott, started his NHL career for the Dallas Stars in the 2002-2003 season. He was traded by the Stars in July, 2012 to the Buffalo Sabers for center Derek Roy (current Blues player this season). Ott can score some, but he's more known for his hard work and toughness. His best season came back in 2009-2010, when he scored 22. In his elven years in the NHL, his stats are: 673 games played, 103 goals, 161 assists, 264 points, 28 power play goals, 1,318 pentalty minutes, and is a minus 35. Right now Ott has 9 goals, 11 assists, and 20 points in 59 games.

Could Ott remain a Blue after the season? There could be a chance that he does re-sign with the Blues long-term. A lot of that is because he knows Blues GM Doug Armstrong and head coach Ken Hitchcock really well. Ott's best friend is current Blues teammate and former Dallas Stars teammate Brenden Morrow.

I wouldn't want to be one of those teams playing the Blues who has given the Blues trouble in the past couple of playoffs. A lot of that is because of the Blues capability, if they all play up to the level that they can play at, and teams gets two players in both Steve Ott and Maxim Lapierre who are good at getting under players skins. They both are the type of player who you like to have when their on your side, but can't stand when their playing against you. Morrow is that type of player also, but can score more. 

As for me, I like this trade a lot for the Blues. It helps them improve a lot, I thought that if Miller was traded the Sabers would get maybe Dmitrij Jaskin or Ty Rattie. Without the Blues giving one of them up, this trade looks like a big steal for GM Doug Armstrong. For the Sabers part, they needed the draft picks when they're rebuilding their team. And there's already word that both Jaroslav Halak and Chris Stewart might not be Sabers for long.