After the St. Louis Blues dealt forward T.J. Oshie to the Washington Capitals on July 2 for forward Troy Brouwer, goaltender Pheonix Copley and a 2016 third-round pick, many were unsure of whether this move would help the Blues in the long run. While losing Oshie may seem tough for most Blues fans, one should also remember that he was never consistent enough in the postseason to help the Blues get over the hump.

In five career trips to the postseason, Oshie posted a disappointing overall line of five goals and four assists. Many people consider Oshie to be clutch due to his shootout performance against Russia in the 2014 Winter Olympics, but in reality, a situation like that would never occur in the NHL as the Olympic shootouts allow the same player to keep shooting, and the NHL does not. What Oshie did in Sochi was truly remarkable, but to label him as a non-tradable and clutch NHL player is impractical.

The Blues simply haven’t been unable to make a deep playoff run even with extremely talented teams the past few seasons. They had to start be-riding of the pieces who were underperforming and causing these early-round eliminations so that they could gather and re-sign a core group of young players who can hopefully give this team a better chance of bringing a Cup to the Gateway, and that group revolves around the “STL line” (Jaden Schwartz, Vladimir Tarasenko and Jori Lehtera).

The best part of this trade may have been the acquisition of Troy Brouwer, as the 29-year-old power forward should relish while playing alongside David Backes and Alexander Steen. The days of the Backes line being the top gun for the Blues are likely over, as it is now the “STL” line that should be seeing the most ice time on a given night due to their offensive firepower and speed. The Backes/Brouwer line will provide a lot of energy and will produce goals by winning puck battles in the corners, outhitting and outwilling their opponents while battling in front of the net. When you are playing big and physical Central Division teams such as the Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets every week, you are going to need size and toughness to balance out your talent and speed, and that is exactly what Brouwer is going to bring to the table.

If you look at it from pure stats, Brouwer had 198 points the last six seasons compared to Oshie’s 175. There really isn’t much of a difference from a production perspective and they are also relatively at the same point in their careers (Oshie-28, Brouwer-29). Not only did the Blues gain a player with relatively the same amount of years left in his legs, but they also got a young goaltender, a draft pick, cap space to sign important free agents like Tarasenko and Robert Bortuzzo, and the Backes line remains physical. This trade is a win for the Blues, and Brouwer may just turn out to be a way better fit on this team than Oshie ever was.