Blues Acquire Matt D’Agostini from Montreal

Aaron Palushaj - Image via mlive.com

Late night reports from Blues Insider Andy Strickland indicate that the Blues have traded former 2nd Rd Pick Aaron Palushaj to Montreal in exchange for Matt D’Agostini. The deal is also being confirmed by KMOX Blues announcer Chris Kerber.

In Palushaj’s first professional season with the Blues AHL affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen, Aaron has 5 Goals and 22 Points in 44 Games Played. Aaron had a productive training camp with the Blues this past fall. His NHL projection is a skilled “Top 6-ish” scoring winger. Injuries have hampered Aaron’s play time in Peoria this season. The knock on him is size. He has the height, but not the bulk. When I saw him this summer at the Susan G Komen walk, he looked like a SLU soccer player, not a professional hockey player.

Matt D’Agostini - Image via habsnews.ca

Matt D’Agostini, 23, has appeared in 40 NHL games this season, amassing 2 Goals and 4 Points. In the 08-09 Campaign D’Agostini chipped in 12 Goals and 21 Points in 53 Games Played. He is listed as roughly 6’1 and 200 lbs. In his NHL career Matt has 94 Games, 14 Goals, and 25 Points.

With the addition of D’Agonsiti, the Blues have another “Top-9″ type forward on their NHL roster. Could this be a move to add NHL depth to the roster pending a deal to move Brad Boyes or Paul Kariya (or Keith Tkachuk)? D’Agostini has a scoring touch that they hope he can develop in St. Louis.

D’Agostini is a Restricted Free Agent this summer. He should give the Blues another option for a cheap roster filler.