It's not often that a team goes up and tells a player directly he won't be re-signed.
However, Frank Seravalli has reported that the St. Louis Blues have told Ivan Barbashev they won't be re-signing him. They equally told him he will almost definitely be traded in the next few weeks.
The 27-year-old has spent the past 7 seasons with the Blues, and has a cap-hit of $2.25-million. If the Blues retain half of his salary, his $1.125-million cap-hit will be very desirable for cap-strapped playoff teams.