Blues fall 4-1 to Devils, now wait for NHL Trade Deadline on Friday

Now, we wait.

What happens next is anybody's guess?

After another uninspiring 4-1 loss against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Thursday, the Blues (32-28-3) will most likely lose ground (Thursday's games weren't completed by this publication's posting) in the Western Conference wild card race. They came in trailing the Nashville Predators, Vegas Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings all by six points with now 19 games remaining.

A plethora of trades have already been made since Wednesday, big-name players on the move, but the Blues have so far been quiet, and that's nothing new for Blues general manager Doug Armstrong, who has on a number on occasions, whether buying or in this case, selling, has been willing to play the waiting game.

As for anything happening, it's been relatively hush on what Armstrong may or may not have on the burner. Pavel Buchnevich's game has been dropped most as a potential to be on the move. I still don't believe he will move, but the ones that should probably be moved, all have full no-trade clauses, so not really sure what can be peddled at this point except pending unrestricted free agents Marco Scandella, Sammy Blais and Kasperi Kapanen.

Scandella may net you a lower-tiered draft pick, but who wants the other two?

So I really believe, and that may change between now and 2 p.m. Friday, is that this roster won't change much, if at all, until the off-season.

Armstrong is someone that's intrigued by hockey trades, and those are hard to make -- although Colorado and Buffalo pulled one off with Casey Mittelstadt for Bowen Byram on Wednesday -- this time of season, but they happen in the off-season.

Now is not the time or place to decipher what they may or may not do, but one thing is certain, the Blues can't win with this roster, and that point was made clear after the 4-2 loss against the New York Islanders on Tuesday. 

As for Thursday, the Blues showed no desperation -- again. Their first period was pretty abysmal. They fell behind 2-0 against a Devils team that had lost three in a row and was playing a goalie (Nico Daws) that, before Thursday, had save percentages of .692, .714, .935, .885, .722 and .729 in his past six starts, and the lone game over .900 was against the last-place San Jose Sharks.

Brandon Saad scored the only goal, Jordan Binnington (29 saves) did what he could (again) to keep this team in the game, but the goalie can't skate out and try to make a tape-to-tape pass, he can't go out and make responsible puck plays and not turn it over, whether in the offensive zone or the d-zone. It's the players on the ice that dictate what they do and it's been the same thing: some guys want to forecheck, some want to play east-west and it makes everything look discombobulated. 

Once Friday at 2 p.m. comes and goes, then everyone will know what group will be here the rest of the season, but until then, we sit and wait and wonder.

Will it change now or will it change in the off-season, but regardless of when it changes, it needs to.