The St. Louis Blues have acquired defenseman Cam Fowler and a fourth-round pick in 2027 from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for defenseman Jeremie Biakabutuka and a second-round pick in 2027.

The Blues receive:

Fowler, who finishes nine games shy of 1000, all with the Ducks. He gives the Blues another blueliner capable of logging top-4 minutes and contributing on the power play.

To make the deal work, Anaheim will also retain $2.5 million of Fowler's salary, which pays $6.5 million per season.

The Ducks receive:

Biakabutuka, a 22-year-old undrafted blueliner who has spent most of his pro career in the ECHL.

Analysis:

Organizationally, the Blues appear to be collecting veteran defensemen. However, Torey Krug is expected to miss the entire season following ankle surgery, while Nick Leddy recently experienced a setback in his lower-body injury with no timetable for his return. Yet following the recent (sudden?) hiring of Jim Montgomery, the Blues appear decisive on making a run for the playoffs. If the Blues can’t climb anywhere close to a playoff position, don’t rule out Fowler being flipped again at the deadline.

A possible near-term St. Louis top four could consist of left/right pairs Fowler – Colton Parayko and Philip Broberg – Justin Faulk. That leaves Ryan Suter with either Pierre-Olivier Joseph or Scott Perunovich to form a third pair that would be all left shot. The only other right-shot defenseman is Matthew Kessel, who in a corresponding move was sent to the AHL.

Fowler has just four points with zero power-play points in 17 games, but it's quite possible that his scoring improves with the Blues. He has considerable prior power-play experience, and the power play is one area that the Blues could improve on. Since the Blues' power play is hardly a fantasy goldmine, Fowler may be given a crack on the top unit just to see what he can do. Faulk has just eight points in 28 games this season, with four of those points with the man advantage.

Fowler's departure from Anaheim means that all of Olen Zellweger, Pavel Mintyukov, and Jackson LaCombe should be in the lineup on a nightly basis going forward. All have recently been healthy scratches in an "odd man out" situation, which became even more of an issue when the Ducks acquired Jacob Trouba a week ago. Zellweger averages the most power-play time out of the young trio, although the Ducks' power play situation should be considered one of the more fluid situations in the league.

Players this helps, in order:

Zellweger/Mintyukov/LaCombe

Fowler

Players this hurts, in order:

Kessel

Joseph/Perunovich

Suter

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