NHL Trade Deadline: St. Louis Blues Trade Erik Johnson to Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche have made a big late-night move, trading Kevin Shattenkirk, Chris Stewart and a second-round draft pick to St. Louis in exchange for Erik Johnson, Jay McClement and a first-round draft pick.

I'm not quite certain what to make of this trade, especially since the Avs were supposedly so determined to "build from within" after last year. 

Obviously, the addition of Erik Johnson is a very good one. Johnson was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2006. In 203 career games, he has 91 points (20 goals and 71 assists). He's only 22 and has a lot of good years ahead of him.

Johnson is 6'4" and 232 pounds, bringing some size and toughness to a defense that has been overmatched and dominated all year long. It would be nice to see somebody who doesn't get pushed out of the way like a rag doll every time an opposing player comes to the net. 

The perplexing part of this trade, to me, is Chris Stewart. At the start of the year, Chris Stewart was figuring to be a major fixture in this lineup for a long time. He led the team in goals last year, and was on pace to do it again at the time of his injury. 

Since returning from his injury, Stewart has been almost invisible, and has scored only two goals. He was benched by Avalanche head coach Joe Sacco a couple of games ago, against Nashville, and it is possible that Sacco had given up on him as well. 

In the end, I think this is a pretty good trade for the Avs. They definitely got the better end on defense, also adding a player in McClement who can help out on the penalty kill.  Stewart's loss will be considerable once he gets back to his full ability. Then the addition of another first-round draft pick will give the Avalanche another solid prospect to add to the roster and build for the future.

The Avs currently seem to be in a spot where they have realized that their current personnel isn't going to do the job, and look as if they are "blowing up" their roster. Most people figured that Stewart wouldn't be traded no matter what, but now that he has, it's almost as if anybody could be traded. We can only hope that whatever moves are made will help the Avs build for the future.