2024-2025 Blues Multi-Purpose Thread.

[A Real Barn Burner]

Agreed, but that's because his choices were to cancel the contract or ride the bus in Springdale and still be away from his family for the rest of this year and likely next. Saad didn't go to management and say, "Hey, can you waive me and then cancel my contract, I really want to play in Vegas for 33% as much money," I'm just saying, let's not act like he didn't lose anything. He was asked to pick the lesser of two negative outcomes because the Blues wanted someone to make an example out of. He was not the most deserving of being waived, he just made the money and was a big message.

He could have chose to pull his head of his….before that was necessary. They might be making an example of him but it’s not like it wasn’t deserved. If he continues to not produce in Vegas then next year’s contract will be smaller or harder to come by altogether. Vegas made a smart gamble got a very motivated player for cheap. Management should be commended for taking action sends a message to guys on the team to either play to your contract or we will see you out the door. I don’t think this message was meant to be sent to just our young or upcoming players either imho.

 

[Majorityof1]

He could have chose to pull his head of his….before that was necessary. They might be making an example of him but it’s not like it wasn’t deserved. If he continues to not produce in Vegas then next year’s contract will be smaller or harder to come by altogether. Vegas made a smart gamble got very motivated player for cheap. Management should be commended for taking action sends a message to guys on the team to either play to your contract or we will see you out the door. I don’t think this message was meant to be sent to just our young or upcoming players either imho.

I don't disagree that he was bad this year. Again, I am not defending him. I am just looking at how this is perceived in the room, and beyond the room. It definitely wasn't just aimed at the kids. But how will the message land? When management is not giving you the tools to do your job, then punishing employees for not meeting quotas, that never leads to increased production. Maybe it works in hockey. We will see.

Beyond the room, do you want to join a team that does not give a NMC and will waive a perennial 20-20 guy for struggling half a season? Did we land on a few more modified NTCs? Again, I do not know. I am legitimately asking the question.

 

[Xerloris]

Where did anyone say he didn't lose anything, obviously he lost money, and obviously the money wasn't that important to him, mainly because of his career earnings. I think we are splitting hairs on who was the most deserving of being waived. In his 43 games, he only scored goals in 3 of them. He's no longer someone that can be relied on in a shutdown role. And assuming Army knew a contract termination was likely or a possibility, his higher cap compared to guys like Joseph or Texier made him a more attractive option to cut bait from. Seems like we are forgetting that Saad was also healthy scratched at points and had games with reduced minutes.

Is Saad currently better than Texier, sure, but we are at the point where we know we want to dump Saad, and we at least want to find out if we should dump Texier or not. Most likely, we'll still want to dump Texier, but might as well find out.

At the end of the day, a good portion of the bottom 6 could be waived for all I care, few of them have been good enough.

I don't think it had anything to do with him deserving to be waived, IMO I think he asked for a trade and no one wanted to pay so we hoped someone would take him for free and when that failed to he was wiling to terminate his contract.

 

[stl76]

Where is the upside that you're seeing? I'm watching most games, but I'd like to see actual highlights of his potential. Bolduc has played 65+ games in the NHL so far, and we aren't even seeing flashes of high-end skill. I understand that he doesn't have the best linemates, but he has only scored in 4 different games out of 42 this season. When Schwartz and Tarasenko entered the league, they had moments of brilliance almost instantly. They could generate high-danger chances on their own but struggled with consistency their first couple of years. I'm not counting Bolduc out yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him traded next year.

I believe in Bolduc's IQ and internal drive. He's a damn smart player and I think that his natural goal scoring ability will translate once he becomes more comfortable/confident. He needs to learn to manage the puck better at times, but his defensive game is advanced for his age. It may take him longer than Schwartz or Tarasenko to figure things out at the NHL level, but his development so far is in line with plenty of other good NHL players.

 

[A Real Barn Burner]

I don't disagree that he was bad this year. Again, I am not defending him. I am just looking at how this is perceived in the room, and beyond the room. It definitely wasn't just aimed at the kids. But how will the message land? When management is not giving you the tools to do your job, then punishing employees for not meeting quotas, that never leads to increased production. Maybe it works in hockey. We will see.

Beyond the room, do you want to join a team that does not give a NMC and will waive a perennial 20-20 guy for struggling half a season? Did we land on a few more modified NTCs? Again, I do not know. I am legitimately asking the question.

I can see your point. I think those are question worth asking. There are things management can control like how they treat players, and what contracts they give out. There are also things they can not like climate, and state taxes. As the saying goes reputation is everything.

Overall, I think Armstrong and the Blues are well respected and have a history of treating players well. Fabri, Cole, Walman, and Edmundson are some example where we moved the player in a respected way that allowed them to find a better fit. Stewart, Lethra, Hayes, and Saad are examples where it didn’t work out. Also, Berglund happened as an outlier and that didn’t seem to negatively affect our reputation. I don’t think Saad treatment will cost us UFA options in the future but that’s just my opinion and I can see your argument in that regard.

How do you balance how much time we give a player to bounce back and how much you allow disengagement like that that to set a tone of mediocrity in the dressing room. Although I would beg to differ that Saad did have ample tools to meet 20 and 20. He has done more with worse line mates and didn’t produce on either Thomas or Schenn wing at the beginning of the season. Benching him didn’t wake him up. But as you say you’re not defending Saad so perhaps that is moot. I will say this the Blues had every reason to want for Saad to turn himself around and prove he was worth his contract. It would have meant he worth dealing at this or the next deadline. The fact that his play and attitude warranted a contract terminations says something.

We will have to see how the message lands. Hopefully this bunch isn’t so disengaged and they respond to the stimulus.