Colton Parayko trade: Blues searched all employees’ phones

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Colton Parayko trade: Blues searched all employees’ phones
Credit: Capture d'écran/Twitter

Earlier this week, it was reported that the Blues and Sabres were close to a trade that would send Colton Parayko to Buffalo. The Sabres would then acquire a big right-handed defenseman who would solidify the club's (already solid) defensive corps.

Except that in the end, that's not exactly what happened. Parayko, who has a no-trade clause, refused to leave for Buffalo… and that meant the trade didn't happen.

The existence of the tentative agreement was revealed in the media before Parayko decided whether he would waive his clause. And he ultimately refused.

And clearly, seeing all of this leak to the media did not make Doug Armstrong happy. In response to all of this, the Blues' GM decided to search the phones and emails of everyone in the organization.

Everyone passed the test, Armstrong said.

Except that in reality, all this is reminiscent of what Mike Babcock did in Columbus. We know that at the time, the new coach asked his players to share certain photos… and it took on such proportions that public pressure forced the Blue Jackets to fire him.

It was after all this that Pascal Vincent was brought in at the last minute to replace him.

It's quite unusual to see Armstrong, whom some suspect of being behind the leak, make these statements publicly. It should also be remembered that a few years ago, the Blues found themselves in a situation similar to the one involving Parayko, this time with Torey Krug, who refused to waive his no-trade clause after a trade involving him was leaked to the media.
That doesn't mean Armstrong is the culprit, though. The leak could have come from an agent or a member of the Sabres organization… but clearly, it's not made some people in St. Louis very happy… to such an extent that a massive operation was launched to try to identify whether the person responsible for the leak was within the organization.

What a story.


In brief

– Arber Xhekaj will be back in the lineup tonight.

— Make your predictions.

— To say otherwise would have been surprising after acquiring Brayden Schenn, hehe.

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