Report: Another rental player might be off the trading block.

The trade deadline is approaching faster than it seems.

The St-Louis Blues have a decision to make regarding their captain David Backes, he will be an unrestricted free agent this Summer. Currently being paid $4.5M this season, but scoring only 28 points in 51 games.

Doug Armstrong, the Blues' general manager, doesn't seem to ant to trade the big centerman.

"The least likely scenario would be to trade him because we're trying to win. A first-round pick does us no good when we're going to this year's playoffs. I think we're going to be a good team and he's a big part of being a good team. He's our captain, he's our leader. We've had the most points in the NHL over the last five or six years. I mean, he's doing something right. If we didn't want to keep him, we wouldn't have talked to him in the first place. We've got now until March to find out where we're at."

According to Jeremy Rutherford of the St-Louis Dispatch, both parties have discussed a contract extension back at training camp. The Blues offered Backes a 3 year-deal worth $5.5M per season, which the captain kindly turned down.

David backed does not seem bothered a bit by the fact that he hasn't sign a contract extension yet:

"That's OK, but I think both sides are optimistic and believe something is going to get done. I wish I had a magic 8-ball and I could tell you, but I just can’t. The business side needs to make sense on all fronts. I try to keep the team stuff in the front of my mind. The contract, all that stuff, will all take care of itself.”

Blues' GM Armstrong was also very optimistic:

"I've been led to believe that he'd love to stay here. From my perspective, there's no question that we want him. Now we've just got to see if the business side works. It's not a personal thing, there's no outlining factors of what we need to see or what he needs. I don't want to speak for him, but this is a business decision."

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