The Blues have been faced with an interesting dilemma heading into Tuesday’s NHL trade deadline.

The club has two of their most durable defensemen ready to hit the free-agency market in Barret Jackman and Bryce Salvador.

Should the Blues re-sign one or both of them and leave the club with limited wiggle room to sign offensive help? Or should the Blues trade Jackman and/or Salvador and begin to work in some of their young defensive talent . . . such as Erik Johnson, Roman Polak, Steve Wagner and Jeff Woywitka?

Well, the Blues gave at least part of their answer with Monday night’s re-signing of Jackman to a multi-year contract extension. By giving Jackman a four-year deal that likely averages somewhere near $3.5 annually, the Blues are telling us that they will continue to rebuild the team with a defense-first mentality.

“He’s a lifer . . . he’s a Blues,” team president John Davidson said. ”He’s a person that can obviously give us some minutes, kills penalties. He has seen some power-play time. He’s got a presence. There was some legitimate interest in him throughout the league. But with us going forward, he’s a person we wanted in our lineup. He’s young and he’s got upside. He’s going to become a better player than he is already.”

The Blues were in a peculiar spot with Jackman. If they could pick two or three defensemen to start their team, he would be one of them. However, the Blues are in a bind with the $8 million left on Jay McKee’s contract, and the $3.4 million owed to Christian Backman next season.

So while they wanted to bring Jackman back, his situation presented the Blues one of their only opportunities to trade defense for offense.

Some fans will probably like the signing because it keeps intact the Blues’ defensive depth and brings back a fan favorite. But others are probably wondering where the club will go for scoring now that they’ve once again invested heavily on a blue-liner.

The Blues have nearly 39 percent of their payroll invested in defensemen this season, which is among the top-five highest percentages in the NHL for that position.

Meanwhile, they are are 27th in the league in goals this season with 159. They were 28th last season with 201. The club needs 42 goals in the final 20 games to match last year’s anemic total.

The Blues are 29th in the league on the power play this season, converting 14 percent. They were 29th last year at 12.1 percent.

The Blues had 85 shots on goal during their three-game road trip to Los Angeles, Anaheim and Phoenix and mustered just two goals. They were shutout Sunday against the Coyotes on 35 shots.

In the midst of a tight playoff race this month, the Blues have allowed two goals or fewer in eight of their last nine games. But they are 4-2-3 in that stretch.

The Blues need goals in a bad way.

JD will tell you that they expect more goals next year from a number of players. But that’s wishful thinking at this point.

Can the Blues find a player before the 2 p.m. trading deadline who can help them? Or will the team wait until the offseason to look for offensive help. Either way, scoring needs to be addressed.

JR