2021 Off Season Discussion Thread

[AjaxManifesto]

I haven’t seen any rumors with Bozak so I’m gonna ride this theory until it changes lol

What's the theory?

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

What's the theory?

I think there is an agreement between Bozak and the Blues, but they can’t sign/fit him until Tarasenko is moved. So, that tells me Armstrong is close enough to a deal he can hold his nose and complete that he can make contingency moves. That’s the theory.

 

[WeWentBlues]

I think there is an agreement between Bozak and the Blues, but they can’t sign/fit him until Tarasenko is moved. So, that tells me Armstrong is close enough to a deal he can hold his nose and complete that he can make contingency moves. That’s the theory.

I can somewhat buy it from a leverage standpoint. Technically though Blues can sign Bozak now.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I can somewhat buy it from a leverage standpoint. Technically though Blues can sign Bozak now.

I think the RFA contracts may have more time sensitivity. Does the team need to be able to cover the qualifying offers?

 

[kimzey59]

I think the RFA contracts may have more time sensitivity. Does the team need to be able to cover the qualifying offers?

We're allowed to go 10% over the Cap during the offseason.
So long as we're compliant on opening day.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

I can somewhat buy it from a leverage standpoint. Technically though Blues can sign Bozak now.

Technically yes, but not knowing how much cap space we are gonna have or if we can actually get a deal done could mess everything up.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

I think there is an agreement between Bozak and the Blues, but they can’t sign/fit him until Tarasenko is moved. So, that tells me Armstrong is close enough to a deal he can hold his nose and complete that he can make contingency moves. That’s the theory.

Perhaps, but I think it possible that they told Bozo they need to deal Tank first bc it depends on return as to whether we have space for Bozo.

 

[Brockon]

Kase to the Leafs for 1.5m seems like a bargain. I was hoping the Blues would take a flyer on him

It's 1.25m, the exact amount that a team can bury in their minors without salary cap implications in the NHL...

That said you're talking about a guy who has played ~42% of the available regular season games in the past 3 seasons and 56% of the regular season games over the past 5 years (details here 2021 Offseason Discussion Part II )... Everyone rants about how injury prone Schwartz was for us and he missed 53 games over the past 5 seasons (playing 320/373 games for 86%).

I'm content passing on a player that is likely to dress for ~41 games next season.

 

[stl76]

If the Blues do move Tarasenko and open up some cap space, I wouldn't mind offering Ryan Murray a short/cheap "prove you can stay healthy" contract. He's a good dman when healthy...

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

If the Blues do move Tarasenko and open up some cap space, I wouldn't mind offering Ryan Murray a short/cheap "prove you can stay healthy" contract. He's a good dman when healthy...

He’s my top choice on remaining D. Add him and Bozo, deal Tank, and we are ready.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

If the Blues do move Tarasenko and open up some cap space, I wouldn't mind offering Ryan Murray a short/cheap "prove you can stay healthy" contract. He's a good dman when healthy...

I wouldn’t mind this one bit. Would be nice to grab him and/or Chara on cheap deals, especially if we end up moving Scandella.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Trade Tarasenko, add Murray, Bozak, and Tatar(if he is cheap enough)

 

[Celtic Note]

You guys are being awfully generous for Thomas and Kyrou. They have no arbitration rights. I can see both coming in closer to 1.5M.

I would rather pay people a fair wage early than bend them over the fence.

 

[Spektre]

It's 1.25m, the exact amount that a team can bury in their minors without salary cap implications in the NHL...

That said you're talking about a guy who has played ~42% of the available regular season games in the past 3 seasons and 56% of the regular season games over the past 5 years (details here 2021 Offseason Discussion Part II )... Everyone rants about how injury prone Schwartz was for us and he missed 53 games over the past 5 seasons (playing 320/373 games for 86%).

I'm content passing on a player that is likely to dress for ~41 games next season.

I get it but there’s a big difference between paying a player like Schwartz 5+ million vs Kase @1.5. The expectations are not the same

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Looks like some Avs fans are hoping Sakic signs Bozak.

 

[Mike Liut]

If Tarasenko stays and scores 30, how many teams have 4 lines as good as the Blues? You can probably count on one hand

 

[EastVillageBlues]

He’s my top choice on remaining D. Add him and Bozo, deal Tank, and we are ready.

We need to dump the Scandella contract first; which I am all for.

Scandella is probably one of Army's worst mistakes. Such a warm body and does nothing for the lineup.

 

[TheDizee]

Saad-ROR-Perron
Kostin-Schenn-Tarasenko
Kyrou-Thomas-Buchnevich
Sunny-Barbie-Sanford

Faulk-Walman
Scandella-Parayko
Krug-Bortuzzo

Binner

 

[ezcreepin]

We need to dump the Scandella contract first; which I am all for.

Scandella is probably one of Army's worst mistakes. Such a warm body and does nothing for the lineup.

You know, I hear this argument a lot and for a while I was kind of in the same mindset that Scandella doesn’t do a whole lot. But if you look at his advanced stats, I think it paints a much different picture. His defensive starts are super crazy, like 63% are starting in the d-zone. So obviously we should expect probably 1 of 2 things: he’s either a) blocking a bunch of shots (spoiler he is) or b) he is great at moving the puck out, or in other words a high corsi guy (he isn’t at all). So if we take just those into account, you have a defensive defenseman who is blocking shots like he should, but he isn’t necessarily the one helping the rush or the one taking the puck out of the zone. You can contextualize this in a few ways, but the easiest seems to be that he starts in the d-zone, blocks shots, and leaves once the puck is out of the zone.

The thing that throws me off though is that, he gives up the puck way more that he takes it away, and I don’t know if that was because of the awful transition game we had this past season or he’s just not good and moving the puck (his career stats are pretty lopsided for the latter). The one final thing that really speaks to his play is his plus/minus. How can someone who starts in the d-zone 63% of the time, have below 40% corsi, AND gives up the puck almost double the amount he takes away have the 2nd best plus/minus? Generally you don’t have those types of numbers by chance, especially on the team we had last year. Idk I find it hard to believe that a guy who is consistently a + player is just a warm body. We can generalize and say plus/minus is a stupid stat, but it is valuable for things like these. Scandella is a good defenseman when he’s the 2nd/3rd pairing defenseman, which is what he is here.

 

[Brockon]

Saad-ROR-Perron
Kostin-Schenn-Tarasenko
Kyrou-Thomas-Buchnevich
Sunny-Barbie-Sanford

Faulk-Walman
Scandella-Parayko
Krug-Bortuzzo

Binner

From what I remember Faulk was terrible playing his offside. A big part of his improvement came after he slotted onto the right hand side...

Why would you put him back on his offside and throw him with a partner that couldn't force his way into everyday NHL usage and run them as your top pairing?

I get Walkman impressed in short stints. But impressing in short stints doesn't equate top pair dman and displacing your best all-around dman into a suboptimal deployment...

 

[Vincenzo Arelliti]

What about adding Hampus Lindholm now (post-Tarasenko/Scandella), or at the TDL? How expensive would he be from the Ducks?

 

[simon IC]

What about adding Hampus Lindholm now (post-Tarasenko/Scandella), or at the TDL? How expensive would he be from the Ducks?

Probably at least a 1st at the TDL, but why not just try and sign him in the off-season next year?

 

[Vincenzo Arelliti]

Probably at least a 1st at the TDL, but why not just try and sign him in the off-season next year?

Because I believe this team is a top-4 LHD from serious contention, and Colton Parayko needs a raise next year.

 

[Beauterham]

Because I believe this team is a top-4 LHD from serious contention, and Colton Parayko needs a raise next year.

Haven't looked at Capfriendly yet, but isn't there a good top-4 lefthanded defender to be found who is either underperforming, payed a little bit too much or is just in need of a change of scenery we can swap for Tarasenko (/and possibly Scandella)?

I agree that that position is probably our biggest necessity at the moment.

 

[WeWentBlues]

Haven't looked at Capfriendly yet, but isn't there a good top-4 lefthanded defender to be found who is either underperforming, payed a little bit too much or is just in need of a change of scenery we can swap for Tarasenko (/and possibly Scandella)?

I agree that that position is probably our biggest necessity at the moment.

His name was Nate Schmidt