Washington Gets Jordan Kyrou from St. Louis
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Washington receives: Jordan Kyrou
St. Louis receives: Connor McMichael, Milton Gastrin, 2026 first-round pick (No. 16 overall)
The Washington perspective
This is a huge move for the Capitals and sends a clear message about their goal for the 2026-27 season — they intend to compete and win.
And it might help them do exactly that.
Kyrou is coming off a down year with the Blues, but when he is at his best, he is a 30-goal, 70/80-point player who brings speed, rush offense, and playmaking to the lineup.
The Capitals missing the playoffs in 2025-26 might have been a sign they had taken a step back, but there was a lot of bad luck behind that performance. They still won 43 games and finished with 95 points. In most years, that is a playoff team. It’s almost unheard of that it wasn’t.
They also dealt with several injuries that helped limit them, including top center Pierre-Luc Dubois.
They still have an elite goalie in Logan Thompson; they still have a really good core that has a strong mix of veterans and youth; they have a couple of potential young stars just starting to reach the NHL in Ryan Leonard and Cole Hutson; and they still have a really good defense. Now they have a much-needed top-six forward and a potential impact player that is still signed long-term to a relatively cap-friendly deal, joining that mix.
This has a chance to be a very, very good team this season.
The St. Louis perspective
The Blues have been rumored to be shopping both Kyrou and Robert Thomas for more than a year now (or at least willing to listen to trade calls), and they finally found a taker for Kyrou.
But was it the right move? And was it the right time?
Anytime you are trading a player coming off one of the worst seasons of their career, you are putting yourself at an immediate disadvantage in trade talks.
McMichael is a solid player, but he is going to be 26 this season, eligible for a raise as a restricted free agent, and still has more hope and potential than results. Going from Kyrou to McMichael feels like a downgrade (and it is).
Then there is the matter of the draft pick.
With the addition of the No. 16 pick, the Blues now have four first-round picks in this year’s class at No. 11, 15, 16, and 29.
What are they going to do with those picks?
Try to move up for an impact player at the top?
Kickstart a rebuild and add four prospects into the system?
Do they have a bigger trade brewing where they try to add somebody else to the NHL roster?
The answers to those questions might really help determine the grade of both this trade and the Blues’ offseason in general.
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