The St. Louis Blues just announced that they have acquired goaltender Ryan Miller and forward Steve Ott from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Jaroslav Halak, Chris Stewart, William Carrier, a first round pick in 2015 and a conditional third round pick in 2016. Update: St. Louis also gives up a 2014 first if the Blues make it to the Western Conference Finals or resign Miller.
This is an interesting move for the Blues as they are currently 11th in the league in save percentage and are giving up a lot for what may very well prove to be a lateral move. Over their careers, Miller and Halak’s numbers are strikingly similar:
Halak career save percentage: .917. Miller career save percentage: .916. Hmmmm.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) February 28, 2014
This trade amps up what has already been a heated rivalry between the Kings and Blues in recent years. LA has eliminated the Blues from the playoffs twice in the last two years.
In his time with the Stars, Steve Ott was one of the more agitating players the Kings regularly faced.
Additionally, there is no love lost between Ryan Miller and Mike Richards:
While this trade looks bad for the Blues on paper, it looks great in terms of the entertainment value of another Kings-Blues playoff series.
