AjaxManifesto
Pro sports is becoming predictable and boring
Schwartz probably needed a change of scenery. He went through a LOT of personal stuff over the years (sister, dad, injuries)....
With a Tarasenko exit coming at some point, I think we had a bigger hole in finishing ability than playmaking ability now and moving forward. Thomas is a clear pass first guy. I like Kyrou more as a perimeter passing winger (who can quickly get himself to the net when the defense opens) than I do as a shooter. ROR can do everything, but he is better passing than shooting. Buch and Perron are good shooting threats, but Perron is 33 and will be well out of his prime by the middle of a 5 year deal. Given the roster makeup, I value Saad's edge in finishing ability more than Schwartz's overall production that comes from improved playmaking ability. In the last 3 years, Schwartz has 114 points compared to Saad's 104 (games played are 180 to 182). In the same time, Saad is up 59-41 in goals. All things being equal and given the current and predicted future roster construction, I value Saad's better finishing ability more than I do Schwartz's better playmaking ability.You really like Saad at $4.5 over Schwartz @ $5.5? Is it injuries or consistency? I can buy those arguments. Or do you just value cap that much? Schwartz is better point producer, better defensively, better on the cycle and winning puck battles. Schwartz is .1 ppg better over his career. Plus, barring some unknown drama, you got to think Schwartz would give us some hometown discount over an expansion team. It would probably end up less than $1M over Saad.
I heard somebody call him a bigger better version of Schwartz on the radio. Is that fair?
Okay, but that isn't what happened here.That's a big problem then if a 60 point player would rather go to an expansion team he has no geographical connection with than stay with his current team for the same contract.
Yeah it sounded like that was a big reason why and also the challenge of starting a new franchise.One factor mentioned was Schwartz needed to be closer to home near his family. Father passed away last fall.
That family has been through a lot.
His parents lived in Seattle for a short time, and Schwartz stated that he wanted to move closer to his family.
Did you not read where he has connections to Seattle and wanted to be closer to home?
Okay, but that isn't what happened here.
Schwartz has played at a 52 point pace over the last 3 seasons. He has been on pace to reach 60 in one of those three seasons and to be under 45 in the other two. You can't classify him as a 60 point player. He's hit the 60 point mark once in his career, been on pace for it a couple other times and has been well short of it in 2 of the last 3 seasons.
He has also stated numerous times in the last 24 hours that he wanted to be closer to home after the passing of his father. Seattle is much closer to home for him than St. Louis and being in the Pacific division will put him in Western Canada more often than he was with the Blues.
Next summer's UFA list always looks incredible in July of this year, but the reality is that the vast majority won't make it to UFA. The Blues currently have $24M in cap space for next summer and it will be stunning if that number doesn't grow by $7.5M with a Tarasenko trade. We have people to re-sign and decisions to make, but I don't think it is worth leaving a noticeable hole in this year's roster that could have been filled for $4.5M based on who may or may not hit free agency next summer.This isn't a terrible signing, but...
In the flat cap era I feel like the Blues would have been wise to delay their spending on an UFA until next season. With teams going crazy with multi-year contracts during this years free agency and the cap being stagnant, I think there will be great deals on UFAs next offseason. Also having cap space would have given the Blues a better chance to pounce on opportunistic trades during the season. Also Parayko and Perron will need new contracts as well.
I've listed some players scheduled to be UFAs below. It's loaded with talent. Obviously not all of these players will be available, but because of the cap crunch I think many more will make it to UFA than in years past...
Parayko
Perron
Malkin
Giroux
Berkov
Bergeron
Couturier
Zibanejad
Lindholm
Ekholm
Pulock
Ristolainen
Letang
Klingberg
Rakell
Pavelski
Hertl
Rust
Fluery
Kuemper
Giordano
Gaudreau
Forsberg
Trochek
Strome
Kadri
Palat
Domi
Next summer's UFA list always looks incredible in July of this year, but the reality is that the vast majority won't make it to UFA. The Blues currently have $24M in cap space for next summer and it will be stunning if that number doesn't grow by $7.5M by then. We have people to re-sign and decisions to make, but I don't think it is worth leaving a noticeable hole in this year's roster that could have been filled for $4.5M based on who may or may not hit free agency next summer.
Next summer's UFA list always looks incredible in July of this year, but the reality is that the vast majority won't make it to UFA. The Blues currently have $24M in cap space for next summer and it will be stunning if that number doesn't grow by $7.5M with a Tarasenko trade. We have people to re-sign and decisions to make, but I don't think it is worth leaving a noticeable hole in this year's roster that could have been filled for $4.5M based on who may or may not hit free agency next summer.
Perron is most definitely deserving of more money, but I'd bet that he takes a huge discount again when it comes time to re-sign. The dude clearly loves this city.Perron put up a point per game plus last year. He has averaged .9055 ppg over the last 4 years, or 74.25 points a year, playing the vast majority of games. I don't care how old he is, how many 70+ point guys are signed at $4M?
I don’t think this limits much at all.I disagree! Filling that hole with Saad doesn't move the Blues into contender territory. I think better opportunities exist on the horizon and this signing severely limits the Blues ability to take advantage of that. Armstrong would have been better off going with Bozak and Bonino type players to fill out the roster cheaply and without much term. 24 million sounds like a lot but assuming Parayko and Perron are re-signed and the current RFAs get re-signed that 24 million becomes mostly accounted for.
I'm very happy with the Saad signing. The contract is reasonable for both sides, and he's easily able to be moved off if needed. We are starting to recoup our scoring losses and still able to sign upcoming contracts. All the DA haters constantly eat their words with every year that rolls by...
This is scary seeing as he was the slowest player on the avalancheI like the fact he adds a little more speed to the lineup.
Lol. What are you basing that on?This is scary seeing as he was the slowest player on the avalanche