2021-2022 S Blues Multi-Purpose Thread Part 3

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Regarding Krug being traded to Boston, the big question is if he really would waive his NTC to go back there. Sure he's got familiarity with their organization, but I feel like he does want to be a competitive team and they are at least going to be in a retool mode the next few seasons.

Bergeron is back, Krecji is back, they’re going for it.

 

[Spektre]

If we move Scandella, it's to get a whelming middle-six forward. Despite Perron's loss, we still have a TON of offensive firepower on the roster. Getting a cheap, defense-first RW makes for a bonkers Saad-ROR-?? shutdown line.

If we somehow move Krug, we're shooting for the fences.

That sounds like a Stastny special

 

[BlueDream]

I understand moving Krug's contract but the problem with that is that he's still a good player, and moving him again weakens the team and creates another hole.

Leddy-Parayko and Krug-Faulk is the top 4. I think we are locked into that and when healthy, they showed promise together. Then you have 4 guys vying for 3 spots. Bortuzzo just re-signed and is a glue guy, he's not leaving. Mikkola and Perunovich have potential and moving them doesn't really solve anything cap-wise. We need to give them more games and see what we've got.

I keep going back to it but the only option to me is Scandella. You have to attach a prospect or do whatever it takes to get him out of here, IMO. The flexibility it opens up is worth it. I don't think we would even have to trade a very good prospect, I'm talking about someone like Kostin. I think a team that isn't up against the Cap would take Scandella if it meant they got a flyer on Kostin for free to go along with it, and for us it would be no loss because I'm not even counting on Kostin to compete for a roster spot in camp. Maybe you even attach a mid-round pick to those two for the cherry on top. Scandella, Kostin and a 4th to a team for nothing in return. I would be completely fine with that because we have nothing to lose there. I can't believe Scandella's contract is so bad that no team would take Kostin and a 4th for free, there's gotta be someone with the way I see other teams moving bad contracts.

 

[Spektre]

Boston have $4,758,333 in space with 21 roster spots filled. They still have to sign Zacha so I don’t know how they could fit Krug in.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

I understand moving Krug's contract but the problem with that is that he's still a good player, and moving him again weakens the team and creates another hole.

Leddy-Parayko and Krug-Faulk is the top 4. I think we are locked into that and when healthy, they showed promise together. Then you have 4 guys vying for 3 spots. Bortuzzo just re-signed and is a glue guy, he's not leaving. Mikkola and Perunovich have potential and moving them doesn't really solve anything cap-wise. We need to give them more games and see what we've got.

I keep going back to it but the only option to me is Scandella. You have to attach a prospect or do whatever it takes to get him out of here, IMO. The flexibility it opens up is worth it. I don't think we would even have to trade a very good prospect, I'm talking about someone like Kostin. I think a team that isn't up against the Cap would take Scandella if it meant they got a flyer on Kostin for free to go along with it, and for us it would be no loss because I'm not even counting on Kostin to compete for a roster spot in camp. Maybe you even attach a mid-round pick to those two for the cherry on top. Scandella, Kostin and a 4th to a team for nothing in return. I would be completely fine with that because we have nothing to lose there. I can't believe Scandella's contract is so bad that no team would take Kostin and a 4th for free, there's gotta be someone with the way I see other teams moving bad contracts.

You don’t have to move Scandella unless you have use for the space. He’s still one of our 6 best d. So unless there is guy we want to add this year, no urgency.

 

[BlueDream]

You don’t have to move Scandella unless you have use for the space. He’s still one of our 6 best d. So unless there is guy we want to add this year, no urgency.

I don’t agree.

We do have a need for cap space. As it stands right now, we currently need another forward. Either another strong 4th liner, or a top 9 guy to push Barbashev or Neighbours onto the 4th line.

And I’m not a fan of paying a #6 defenseman that much money regardless, so yeah based on that principle, I want him moved no matter what. You can find guys that provide what he does for a fraction of the price, so it wouldn’t be very hard to maintain depth.

 

[LetsGoBLUES91]

I'm sorry, we're saying that at least 2 of Mikkola, Rosen and Perunovich are NHL D men but at least two of Aciari, Walker, Brown, Torpo, and Neighbours aren't NHL forwards?

And we're also saying that we will for sure reach deals with 1 of D we don't currently have under contract and saying that we for sure won't grab a cheap depth forward between the 2nd day of free agency and the start of camp?

It's just not true to act like the offense is suddenly in shambles. It's probably a bit worse then last year's near-NHL best group. But it's still returning eight 20 goal scorers and is going to be supported by a D group that is better at moving the puck up ice than what we had for 90% of last season. And our 2 closest NHL ready prospects (that can plausibly turn into difference makers) are forwards.

We can still plug holes and improve, but the offense is still going to be damn good.

Yes we are saying Walker and Brown shouldn’t be playing every night. And Barbashev shouldn’t be in a top 9 role.

If Neighbors gets 30 goals and 30 assists next year we’ll be fine.

I like Leddy. If you think Leddy and Brown in the lineup is better than Perron and Mikkola/Perunovich i can’t help you.

If you want to say it’s too early that’s fine. He has time to fix the mess he has created. But at this point I doubt anything changes by October.

You don’t have to move Scandella unless you have use for the space. He’s still one of our 6 best d. So unless there is guy we want to add this year, no urgency.

He is our 8th best defenseman.

 

[WeWentBlues]

If there was ever a player to bend on, it was Perron. I still can't believe the reality of DP57 wearing a Wings sweater...

Not sure what Armstrong was thinking on this one. Perron is irreplaceable on this team far beyond the goals he scores. I also wonder how this might impact O'Reilly extending.

 

[LetsGoBLUES91]

I understand moving Krug's contract but the problem with that is that he's still a good player, and moving him again weakens the team and creates another hole.

Leddy-Parayko and Krug-Faulk is the top 4. I think we are locked into that and when healthy, they showed promise together. Then you have 4 guys vying for 3 spots. Bortuzzo just re-signed and is a glue guy, he's not leaving. Mikkola and Perunovich have potential and moving them doesn't really solve anything cap-wise. We need to give them more games and see what we've got.

I keep going back to it but the only option to me is Scandella. You have to attach a prospect or do whatever it takes to get him out of here, IMO. The flexibility it opens up is worth it. I don't think we would even have to trade a very good prospect, I'm talking about someone like Kostin. I think a team that isn't up against the Cap would take Scandella if it meant they got a flyer on Kostin for free to go along with it, and for us it would be no loss because I'm not even counting on Kostin to compete for a roster spot in camp. Maybe you even attach a mid-round pick to those two for the cherry on top. Scandella, Kostin and a 4th to a team for nothing in return. I would be completely fine with that because we have nothing to lose there. I can't believe Scandella's contract is so bad that no team would take Kostin and a 4th for free, there's gotta be someone with the way I see other teams moving bad contracts.

This is all brilliant and it’s exactly what a competent person WOULD have done. It’s too late now. We get rid of Scandella to sign who? Kyle Turris? Loui Erickson?

 

[Beauterham]

Boston have $4,758,333 in space with 21 roster spots filled. They still have to sign Zacha so I don’t know how they could fit Krug in.

If there would ever be a Krug trade involving Boston, we would probably need to take back capspace. Maybe someone like DeBrusk with a pick/prospect as we were apparantly interested in him a while ago? And hopefully we can trade Scandella for a better defenseman in a side deal in that case.

Not saying I would do it (as I rate Krug a lot higher than DeBrusk), but I can imagine the Bruins would try to set-up something like that.

 

[Reality Czech]

I like every signing we made today. The contracts are all fair. I like that we didn’t spend significantly on a backup goalie. Greiss is good for a million. He was one of the best backups in the NHL before going to an awful Detroit team.

But that is all in a vacuum. What I don’t get, and will never get, is why we gave Perrons money to Leddy.

The only way any of this makes sense is if we are trading defense for a forward at some point. We have 8 NHL level defensemen and we are missing a top 9 forward. They either need to dump Scandella and picks to sign a Palat, or they need to Trade Krug for a second line winger. I prefer option 1.

If this is it—-why would you give Leddy Perrons money? Even if it’s fair value for what Leddy brings.

Good post. The Perron thing is a bitter pill to swallow but Armstrong always has a reason for this actions. You mentioned he might be trading defense for offense, or maybe just keeping his options open to make a bigger trade for a defenseman at a later time. Perhaps signing Perron would have handcuffed him too much.

It still sucks and is hard to understand. Considering all Perron has done for the organization, he at least deserved a fair offer. If Army really low-balled him, he is more cold-blooded than I thought. I also wonder how ROR will feel about it considering his contact situation since we know him and Perron are BFFs.

 

[Brian39]

Yes we are saying Walker and Brown shouldn’t be playing every night. And Barbashev shouldn’t be in a top 9 role.

If Neighbors gets 30 goals and 30 assists next year we’ll be fine.

I like Leddy. If you think Leddy and Brown in the lineup is better than Perron and Mikkola/Perunovich i can’t help you.

If you want to say it’s too early that’s fine. He has time to fix the mess he has created. But at this point I doubt anything changes by October.



He is our 8th best defenseman.

It is ridiculous to claim Scandella is our 8th best D man. He played the 4th most minutes and 5th most ATOI for us last year. He got the 2nd hardest usage on the team. In that time, he was the lead penalty killer for one of the league's best PKs and he was a +17.

Mikkola was healthy scratched more than a dozen times. Same thing with Perunovich. Both of them were minus players who played several fewer minutes each night. Bortz was massively sheltered compared to Scandella and got worse outcomes. Rosen was in the AHL almost all year. Scandella is overpaid. He shouldn't be playing top 4 minutes. I think the D can withstand losing him. But he's absolutely not worse than all these guys.

If Brown and Walker aren't NHL players because they shouldn't be in the lineup every night, then you have to hold Perunovich and Rosen to the same standard.

Barby had 26 goals and 60 points in the top 9 last season. Both those numbers are 5th on the team. His 49 even strength points were also 5th on the team and were a whopping 18 points ahead of Perron's 31. I have no clue what to tell you if you don't believe that's a top 9 player.

Why on Earth does Neighbours have to nearly double Perron's even strength production for the team to be fine? Surely you don't believe he is just going to get penciled into Perron's spot on the PP next year and be expected to match his production? I'd wager that one of our two point per game players who were on the 2nd unit will be asked to slide onto the top unit, which would mean that we definitely won't be expecting Neoghbours to match Perron's PP output.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

Day 2 without Perron and I'm still pissed.

 

[Vladys Gumption]

 

[bleedblue1223]

As a fan, it sucks, but it's a business. To me, Army is making the calculation that Tarasenko is the better 1-year internal rental, and we need to maximize cap space for next season with Thomas/Kyrou/ROR. And Tkachuk is a potential x-factor in all this, where if he's open to a reasonable deal here, we don't want to be in a position like Philly was with Gaudreau, where you can't even compete for him because of cap issues.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

I don’t agree.

We do have a need for cap space. As it stands right now, we currently need another forward. Either another strong 4th liner, or a top 9 guy to push Barbashev or Neighbours onto the 4th line.

And I’m not a fan of paying a #6 defenseman that much money regardless, so yeah based on that principle, I want him moved no matter what. You can find guys that provide what he does for a fraction of the price, so it wouldn’t be very hard to maintain depth.

Barbie scored 60 points last year. There isn’t a team in league that would view him as 4th liner.

 

[Thallis]

As a fan, it sucks, but it's a business. To me, Army is making the calculation that Tarasenko is the better 1-year internal rental, and we need to maximize cap space for next season with Thomas/Kyrou/ROR. And Tkachuk is a potential x-factor in all this, where if he's open to a reasonable deal here, we don't want to be in a position like Philly was with Gaudreau, where you can't even compete for him because of cap issues.

Very much do not like the idea of keeping a guy who requested a trade a year and a half ago over a guy who has always wanted to be here and has given everything to the org.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

Very much do not like the idea of keeping a guy who requested a trade a year and a half ago over a guy who has always wanted to be here and has given everything to the org.

I’d prefer to keep the better player and make sure we have the cap flexibility to extend our most important pieces.

 

[WeWentBlues]

Armstrong really messed this one up. If you treat David Perron like this, might be time to start looking for a new GM. Armstrong is easily a top 5 GM in the league but to not even make a formal offer? Can't imagine this sits well with the players either.

 

[jmwc95]

I'm unhappy about letting Perron walk over that amount of term/money. However, I fully agree that this means Army intends to extend ROR and Kyrou. And I do like that.

I think that we could have accomplished that goal AND signed Perron to this deal, but I understand not being confident about being able to do so.

Screw 2023-2024. We would have been a top 3 Cup favorite next year. And you don’t think we could have traded Perron after next year with a measly $4.75M or less cap hit if we needed the space?

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

The players realize that this is a business and sometimes tough decisions have to be made to make the team better 2-3 years down the line.

 

[The Note]

If the plan is really to maximize cap space for extensions/trades next year I would rather they just fully commit to that plan. Trade Tarasenko for the best futures deal you can, explore the market for Barbashev, use part of the proceeds from those deals to get Scandella off the books. Treading water this year just to let those guys walk for nothing but cap space doesn't make a ton of sense to me.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I don’t agree.

We do have a need for cap space. As it stands right now, we currently need another forward. Either another strong 4th liner, or a top 9 guy to push Barbashev or Neighbours onto the 4th line.

And I’m not a fan of paying a #6 defenseman that much money regardless, so yeah based on that principle, I want him moved no matter what. You can find guys that provide what he does for a fraction of the price, so it wouldn’t be very hard to maintain depth.

I kind of interpret these moves as the team expecting Neighbors and his ELC pricetag to slot into the Top 9 next year. Or at least that would be Plan A. I don't see the team putting him on the 4th line for more than just a temporary situation.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

I kind of interpret these moves as the team expecting Neighbors and his ELC pricetag to slot into the Top 9 next year. Or at least that would be Plan A. I don't see the team putting him on the 4th line for more than just a temporary situation.

It’s clear they’re expecting a big contribution from Neighbors next season. I think he settles in as our third line RW for most of the year.

 

[PocketNines]

I am never going to be ok with how Armstrong treated Perron. Armstrong led fans to believe there was high mutual interest in bringing back one of the organization's most beloved players. 34 or not, also one of the players currently capable of leading the team against Colorado while other more well paid players simply failed. Let's be honest, Robert Thomas was totally brutal against them and a big part of why the Blues were beaten.. Not even giving Perron a formal offer? That is disgusting, in a situation where Armstrong has brutally f***ed the dog with this utterly ridiculous defense he has built. What a stupid design for a defense Doug, is this a joke? Big shot who treats Perron like that. Fix your defense Doug.