The Vegas Golden Knights have acquired forward Ivan Barbashev from the St. Louis Blues for prospect Zach Dean.

The Blues continue to clean house, as Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan O'Reilly, and now Barbashev have been traded away. The 27-year-old Barbashev has 29 points (10 G, 19 A) in 59 games this season. His pace is down from last season, when he scored a career-high 60 points (26 G, 34 A) in 81 games, although that was aided by a higher-than-normal 23.4 SH%. Prior to that, Barbashev had never reached 30 points – let alone 60 – in his career, so a 40-50-point pace might be more within reach. Although Barbashev may not provide enough scoring to be relevant in shallower points leagues, he has added value in bangers leagues with at least 100 hits in three different seasons.

Vegas is believed to be in the hunt for Timo Meier as well. This trade doesn't necessarily take them out of their pursuit of Meier, given their LTIR space. If they don't land Meier, the Golden Knights are always aggressive in attempting to upgrade their roster, so their roster after this trade should hardly be considered a finished product. Regardless, Barbashev likely fits in as a middle-six forward who helps the Knights with scoring depth as they try to assert themselves as the team to beat in the Pacific Division. Vegas tends to spread out its scoring over its first three lines, so it seems unlikely that Barbashev's value is impacted much with the trade. As well, he likely projects as a PP2 option, knocking out a player like Michael Amadio or William Carrier out of the power play entirely.

Dean was the Golden Knights' first-round pick (30^th overall) in 2021. He is currently playing for the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL, where he has 49 points in 38 games. He also played for Canada at the most recent World Junior Championship.

Players this helps:

No one in particular

Players this hurts, in order:

Amadio

Carrier