I expected the Blues to sign Pitlick once he was healthy because it was a safe play; nobody else was likely to sign him and he played to a sufficient level to contribute during the season at some point. The injury obviously wasn't something major to cause concern but it was enough to derail getting signed right away.
Here’s the actual tweet:
It doesn't until he signs a contract. He can essentially travel and practice with the club, but he can't play until he signs an actual contract.
He doesn’t count at all against the cap. In fact, he likely isn’t even getting paid, but would be getting his per diem, team meals and a hotel covered though. And now a free trip to Seattle!
after 1 game not likely he's just tired. he's likely got some injury, regardless of what club is saying. hopefully won't hinder him too much.
Not a ton for those of us who follow the team regularly. Pretty standard GM speak about the schedule. Praise of Thomas/Kyrou and a bit of a defense of their extensions. He differentiated them from some of the speculative deals given out to guys coming off an ELC and talked about how these contracts will age just fine even if they don't develop any further. He praises Neighbours and talked about how he will stay here if he can stick in the top 9 but they don't want to stunt his development by siting him if not. Some discussion about how a flat cap creates tough decisions, but he ducked the question about the future of ROR and Tarasenko.
I don’t want my goalie fighting even if it was entertaining at one point in time (CuJo v Chevelde anyone?), but especially when our backup isn’t a tandem guy.
It's clear Binnington is one of the most hated players in the NHL, but he hasn't actually delivered cheap shots or hit anyone. There isn't some grudge of actual damage behind all the hate. It's just that his flavor of self-confidence is like nails on a chalkboard to some people, so his ordinary goalie struggles get amplified and dogpiled by enemies and Blues fans themselves. If Binnington's opening move hadn't been "I'm super confident and I'm bringing the Cup to St. Louis" and then doing it, I might not be on his side. But it was and I am.
This shit is not just a flavor of self-confidence.
But he pretended to try to hit a guy with his stick! And he threw a water bottle in someone's vicinity!!
You played the position, I have not. But I can't get excited about someone popping Jamie Been in the side of the head, or a "get your attention" slash on Bishop's stick. I've never seen anything that was a cheapshot or intent to injure. Those are the kinds of guys that I think belong in the 'hated player' category.
Usually when you do that stuff as a goalie, it leads to one of your teammates getting punched in the face several times. Coaches ask skaters to take a lot of pain in order to 'protect our goalie.' Guys lay down to block shots while wearing a hell of a lot less gear than I have on. Guys take a lot of punches, cross checks, and slashes pulling attackers away from me when they crash the crease or jam at loose pucks. When I go out and start shit with an opposing skater, there is an expectation that my teammates are going to jump in and aggressively have my back. And the guy I'm going after knows damn well that if he retaliates in kind, he is likely going to get immediately mugged by multiple guys and is likely to get the extra penalty unless I was way over the top.
The self-confidence came first. His overall demeanor and confidence was initially polarizing. He was hated by people well before his two incidents with Dubnyk and Kadri, a player who has deliberately injured multiple people.
