After months, even years, of trade speculation, Jordan Kyrou is finally moving on from the St. Louis Blues. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Blues have traded Kyrou to the Washington Capitals. A few moments later, the Capitals announced the trade, sharing that forward Connor McMichael, forward Milton Gästrin, and Washington’s 2026 first-round pick (16th overall) are headed to the Blues.
The Alexander Steen era begins with one of the most expected moves of the Blues’ offseason. It wasn’t an expectation that Kyrou would ultimately land with the Capitals, but there was every reason to believe that he wouldn’t be back in St. Louis next season.
The upside to Kyrou’s game is well known at this point. Last Sunday, PHR’s Gabriel Foley described Kyrou’s offensive abilities at length, saying, “Kyrou’s ability to score is his defining trait. He has scored 149 goals in 389 games since the start of the 2021-22 season – ranked 37th in total goals and 43rd in goals-per-game among the full NHL in that span. Flashier than his goal-scoring is Kyrou’s knack for driving play. He serves as St. Louis’ spark plug, often stepping up as the once to kickoff a change in momentum even in the midst of an 18-goal performance this season. The Blues lean on Kyrou to bring energy into the rush – and an improved ability to keep that energy up without the puck on his stick has earned Selke Trophy votes in each of the last two seasons.”
Unfortunately, Kyrou experienced some serious regression last season. After registering 36 goals and 70 points in 82 games during the 2024-25 campaign, Kyrou’s production fell to 18 goals and 46 points in 72 games last season.
Given his track record beforehand, there’s every reason to believe that Kyrou can rebound. Followed by trade speculation for some time, not every player can handle that noise with grace. Now having a fresh start in Washington, Kyrou will be relied upon to keep up the Capitals’ heavy offense as they transition out of the Alex Ovechkin era.
That isn’t to say that the trade isn’t a gamble on Washington’s end, however. Kyrou is signed through the 2030-31 season at an $8.125MM salary, and if he can’t reach his offensive heights again, let alone the 20-goal mark, that will be a bad-looking contract regardless of the rising upper limit of the salary cap.
For St. Louis, they were able to move out of Kyrou’s hefty contract after a disappointing campaign, without retaining salary, mind you, for a decent collection of assets.
McMichael, 25, will become a restricted free agent on July 1st, giving St. Louis the freedom to sign him to the best contract as they see fit. He had a nearly identical season to the one Kyrou had last year, registering 14 goals and 46 points in 78 games. The previous year, he scored 26 goals and recorded a total of 57 points in 82 games.
Additionally, unlike Kyrou, McMichael plays center. He’s not the best at faceoffs, but it was known that the Blues had an eye on center depth this offseason behind Robert Thomas, and McMichael fits that billing for the time being. His career 43.0% faceoff rate leaves plenty to be desired, but there’s no question that McMichael is a defensively responsible center with the ability to put up points.
St. Louis has also acquired Gästrin, who made his professional debut with the AHL’s Hershey Bears during the 2026 Calder Cup playoffs. Selected with the 37th overall pick of last year’s draft by the Capitals, Gästrin, 19, played his post-draft campaign with the HockeyAllsvenskan’s MoDo Hockey, scoring 10 goals and 24 points in 39 games. Despite being further away in his development, like McMichael, Gästrin is a strong center who plays responsibly in all three zones.
Lastly, unless any of them are flipped before Friday, the Blues now have four picks in the first round of the upcoming 2026 NHL Draft, the highest of which is their own at 11th overall. Given how much interest there has been in moving into the top-five, St. Louis could conceivably package all of these selections to move into the top-five and add a true high-impact player to their organization.
Photo courtesy of James Carey Lauder of Imagn Images.