The St. Louis Blues had a busy 2026 NHL Trade Deadline. They sent captain Brayden Schenn to the New York Islanders and traded defenseman Justin Faulk to the Detroit Red Wings. However, they had another trade lined up that would have sent Colton Parayko to the Buffalo Sabres.
Parayko was set to go to the Sabres in a deal that would have sent defensive prospect Radim Mrtka and a first-round pick to St. Louis. The teams needed Parayko's approval on this, as he had no-trade protection in his contract. Before this approval could be given, the trade leaked to insiders, who relayed the news to fans on social media.
Parayko ended up declining the move to the Sabres. After the deadline passed on Friday, general manager Doug Armstrong spoke about the leak with reporters.
“Any time there's a trade leak, I find it very disappointing. For the people that know me, we run a pretty tight ship as far as communication coming in and out. We did some due diligence as soon as that happened,” the Blues general manager said, via NHL.com's Lou Korac.
“We checked the phone records of all of our staff, texts, and emails and everybody passed the test not surprisingly. So I was disappointed it got out. I know it didn't come from us,” he continued.
Parayko has spent his entire 11-year career in St. Louis. He won a Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019 and has 89 games of playoff experience under his belt. The Blues defenseman has four years left on his contract at a $6.5 million cap hit. Given the term on his deal, the Blues and Sabres could revisit trade talks over the summer.
