Dbrownss
Registered User
- Jan 5, 2014
- 31,359
- 8,734
The Blues and Pens are 2 different teams. Brouwer was a fit for the Blues last year and Hagelin was what Pittsburgh wanted. Just pointed out that Hagelin was a great fit for Pittsburgh and Phil Kessel found himself after that trade. Since the Blues were more geared to size and grit, obviously I want to stay in that direction.
Armstrong could of gotten Ward or Williams if he wanted them and knew what he wanted to do from the very beginning. But he came out and said he wanted apples for apples. Remember? He flat out said he didn't want picks..........I mean, I just don't get it.
I agree, there's nothing written that Boston offered the 14th pick & Spooner, it was mentioned that a 1st rounder was offered from Boston, but you'd got to think that a deal like that would go thru if Armstrong wanted it. I mean Boston wanted Shattenkirk and they tried to strike a deal with us. That is legit. Why DA passes up a potential deal like this on draft day is frustrating.
To me Steen is expendable. You get rid of Steen & Shatty, and forget about tying up cap space for Sobotka and the Blues have more than enough money to improve the team. I'd rather keep Backes & Brouwer, and improve the roster off of that blueprint. Backes & Brouwer was this teams identity and backbone.
And yes Armstrong was set up to succeed. Backes, Oshie, Perron, Berglund, Peitrangelo, Erik Johnson and Steen were already here. And Tarasenko and Schwartz were just drafted. Yes, he was set up to succeed. Giving him credit for signing those guys to contracts is over doing it, I mean those guys were restricted free agents. It's easier to sign those guys to long term contracts at less money per year because the kids can't pass up the security. The fact that these guys were all young made Armstrong's job easier...........now those contracts have expired and the job is getting harder and we're seeing some peculiar moves in my opinion.
1st bold: absolutely BS. Williams was always going to sign in Washington. He wanted to play there. I distinctly remember an interview with him saying how his son wanted him to play with Ovechkin, who is his favorite player.
2nd bold: because they didnt offer enough, pretty simple. Boston fans were pretty adamant that the 14th wasn't on the table. Can't remember if sources were cited or not.
3rd bold: pay more attention to what's going on with RFAs around the league.