Confirmed with Link: Suter signs 1 year

[BleedBlue14]

I’m not sure why anyone would be upset about this. If anything it gives a bar for the young guys to surpass, and brings in a wealth of experience. Worst case scenario I’d imagine he’s cut.

Not to mention who is he really blocking?

POJ hasn’t really proved a whole lot, it’s a good thing if he outplays Suter into the lineup. Perunovich and Krug are always injured. Tucker can’t really keep up with NHL speed.

It’s a 1 year min contract bonus laden. If anyone outplays him, I’m not sure the front office would care to limit ice time and save money.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

BTW, the Suter signing puts us at 50/50 contracts with Alexandrov qualified, but not signed yet. So either the Blues aren't planning on signing him anymore or there is a trade coming up to free a contractspot. That, and the fact we have 6 LHD signed to 1-way contracts making that very plausible.

Just hoping Army isn't using our 1sts as sweetener but can see anything happen after the Hayes move. Eventhough it would really feel stupid to do.

I'm like 90% sure that since he was Qualified he already counts as 1 of the 50 contracts

 

[Majorityof1]

BTW, the Suter signing puts us at 50/50 contracts with Alexandrov qualified, but not signed yet. So either the Blues aren't planning on signing him anymore or there is a trade coming up to free a contractspot. That, and the fact we have 6 LHD signed to 1-way contracts making that very plausible.

Just hoping Army isn't using our 1sts as sweetener but can see anything happen after the Hayes move. Eventhough it would really feel stupid to do.

Doesn't a qualifying offer count in the contact #? I may be wrong. I cannot go to cap friendly to check. But I thought they counted it so this doesn't happen. You don't want a team to hit 50, and then when an RFA accepts have no spot for him.

Also, I am mostly judging the timing on when the contract counts on EA's NHL video game, a generally terrible guide. So I am probably wrong here.

Edit: Leaving this here, to prove I'm dumb. But we are at 50, not counting Alexabdrov. Several will be exempt like Stenberg, Lindstein and Jiricek. We will be fine.

 

[Brian39]

The 50 contract limit only applies during the season. The number of LHD we have tells me another move might be coming, but the 50 contract limit isn't an issue here. We have 5 guys who will absolutely be going back to junior before the season starts, so we are functionally sitting at 45 contracts.

 

[simon IC]

I’m not sure why anyone would be upset about this. If anything it gives a bar for the young guys to surpass, and brings in a wealth of experience. Worst case scenario I’d imagine he’s cut.

Not to mention who is he really blocking?

POJ hasn’t really proved a whole lot, it’s a good thing if he outplays Suter into the lineup. Perunovich and Krug are always injured. Tucker can’t really keep up with NHL speed.

It’s a 1 year min contract bonus laden. If anyone outplays him, I’m not sure the front office would care to limit ice time and save money.

This. I already prefer Suter over Perunovich for the last LD spot. I don't think Tucker is an NHL defenseman. If POJ can beat out Suter, great. I honestly do not see how this is a bad move.

 

[shpongle falls]

Looking at Suter’s hockey db page he played all 82 games the last three seasons and hasn’t missed many games his entire career, pretty impressive.

I would think Peru and POJ will get opportunity to play and Suter is cheap insurance in case they falter or get injured. Or maybe Army has a plan cooking for a trade.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

When Suter entered the league in 2005, our Captain Brayden Schenn was 13.

This is a San Jose or Buffalo type move, where you sign an old fogey to show the new guys the ropes. But 4-5/6 of our projected starting D are over 30 already. Mix in the contract cap and this is a very strange move indeed.

 

[Thallis]

I’m not sure why anyone would be upset about this. If anything it gives a bar for the young guys to surpass, and brings in a wealth of experience. Worst case scenario I’d imagine he’s cut.

Not to mention who is he really blocking?

POJ hasn’t really proved a whole lot, it’s a good thing if he outplays Suter into the lineup. Perunovich and Krug are always injured. Tucker can’t really keep up with NHL speed.

It’s a 1 year min contract bonus laden. If anyone outplays him, I’m not sure the front office would care to limit ice time and save money.

Because he's a notorious ass. Also if you care about this team winning games, he sucks.

 

[LogosBlue]

I think we'll see him get limited use like Borts his last year here. His contract structure kinda confirms that too. I mean, he's 39 and serviceable in a limited role i guess. I don't personally see the need for this signing unless others are getting shipped out before training camp. Just seems like a logjam now on defense.

 

[TurgPavs]

I’m not sure why anyone would be upset about this. If anything it gives a bar for the young guys to surpass, and brings in a wealth of experience. Worst case scenario I’d imagine he’s cut.

Not to mention who is he really blocking?

POJ hasn’t really proved a whole lot, it’s a good thing if he outplays Suter into the lineup. Perunovich and Krug are always injured. Tucker can’t really keep up with NHL speed.

It’s a 1 year min contract bonus laden. If anyone outplays him, I’m not sure the front office would care to limit ice time and save money.

Agree with this. (Age when season starts)
Peru (26), POJ (25), Tucker (24), have all struggled to stay on an NHL Roster. You have a major issue in your own end with Krug and Peru, and most of the younger defensemen are not ready for the jump.
Suter hasnt missed a regular season game in 3 years, has 74 points and a +15 over the last 3 seasons.

He is not going to be a "7th" defensemen.

 

[PocketNines]

same reaction as most - putting my wtf into "maybe Krug is finally gone"

that one hit on Robert Thomas in the final crippled the franchise because it made our GM erect and certain he had identified a real hockey player. he looked and was like "that guy can play" which ranks with some of the worst hockey judgment in history

 

[ezcreepin]

same reaction as most - putting my wtf into "maybe Krug is finally gone"

that one hit on Robert Thomas in the final crippled the franchise because it made our GM erect and certain he had identified a real hockey player. he looked and was like "that guy can play" which ranks with some of the worst hockey judgment in history

I think I'd have to disagree with that. I'm sure plenty of GMs were goo-gahing over the hit and physical play of Krug, but if you look back on the free agents that summer, there are only like 4 defenseman worth signing -- Petro, Krug, Brodie, Tanev. We already had Parayko and Faulk, though I guess you could argue that we should have signed Petro and traded one of Faulk (recently extended) or Parayko (a year removed from neutralizing every team in the playoffs).

That trade for Faulk makes me think that Army sensed something would happen with either Parayko or Petro, but I can never know that. In any case, you're not going to sign Tanev as another right handed shot, and you've lost Bouw due to health reasons. So you have to replace that top pair with either Krug or Brodie, and I'm not entirely sure Brodie would've came here, not to mention we needed a puck mover on the backend with the departure of Petro. All logical signs at the time pointed towards Krug if you were letting Petro walk. It definitely wasn't the right decision, but it does follow logical thinking.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I’m not sure why anyone would be upset about this. If anything it gives a bar for the young guys to surpass, and brings in a wealth of experience. Worst case scenario I’d imagine he’s cut.

Not to mention who is he really blocking?

POJ hasn’t really proved a whole lot, it’s a good thing if he outplays Suter into the lineup. Perunovich and Krug are always injured. Tucker can’t really keep up with NHL speed.

It’s a 1 year min contract bonus laden. If anyone outplays him, I’m not sure the front office would care to limit ice time and save money.

I don’t like it for the following reasons:

He’s pretty much washed up. I watched some of Dallas in the playoffs and he was bad in a 3rd paring role. I’d much rather just see what Krug, POJ, Peru and Tucker can do than add another guy to the mix and muddy the waters.

He’s supposedly a douche. Wild fans here hate the guy with a passion. He didn’t just burn bridges but napalmed them. Sounds like he wasn’t good in the locker room in Dallas either. I see no reason to invite those potential issues into our room.

He’s getting paid for past performance. He used to be good but the bonus structure is going to make it pretty easy for him to hit bonuses.

He could block some development. This sort of ties to my first point but this is probably what I dislike the most about what the Blues are doing. What’s the plan here? Are we re-tooling? Trying to compete? Bleh. This is a move a mushy middle team would make. I don’t want to be in the mushy middle. Pick a lane! I’d much rather see Peru and POJ be put into a bit of a sink or swim situation to see if they can grow. Instead we’re essentially doing the same thing we did with Cole, Dunn, Walman etc. Not being willing to go through the inconsistencies of a young d-man.

Some praise him for hardly ever missing games but IMO it’s because his effort level is meh. He plays. Gives solid effort. But has never ever gone balls to the wall. It’s a smart strategy in terms of staying in the lineup and having a long career but it’s not a winners mentality IMO. Just not the right guy to add to the mix IMO.

 

[PocketNines]

I think I'd have to disagree with that. I'm sure plenty of GMs were goo-gahing over the hit and physical play of Krug, but if you look back on the free agents that summer, there are only like 4 defenseman worth signing -- Petro, Krug, Brodie, Tanev. We already had Parayko and Faulk, though I guess you could argue that we should have signed Petro and traded one of Faulk (recently extended) or Parayko (a year removed from neutralizing every team in the playoffs).

That trade for Faulk makes me think that Army sensed something would happen with either Parayko or Petro, but I can never know that. In any case, you're not going to sign Tanev as another right handed shot, and you've lost Bouw due to health reasons. So you have to replace that top pair with either Krug or Brodie, and I'm not entirely sure Brodie would've came here, not to mention we needed a puck mover on the backend with the departure of Petro. All logical signs at the time pointed towards Krug if you were letting Petro walk. It definitely wasn't the right decision, but it does follow logical thinking.

The bolded is false. Logical thinking involves "logically, we want to contend for the championship, how do we get players that help us do that." You are defining "logic" as "we have to do SOMETHING" and my entire point is that people who think "we have to do SOMETHING" are so wretchedly inept in their hockey judgment that it crippled the franchise. You saying that you would have done the same thing is not an argument that it's logical. It's a confession that you would have been forced into equally bad judgment. "In no way would I have held my mud either."

 

[Brian39]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1811216598663078015

I have to imagine that Suter wouldn't have agreed to this bonus structure without the team telling him that he was at least genuinely in the running to be one of the top 6 D men entering the season.

Despite a lot of online fans acting like he's the worst player/human to ever exist in the NHL (hyperbole, I know), I think NHL GMs still view him as a serviceable everyday NHL defender. For all the hand wringing, he just played 17:50 a night and went +1 in the playoffs for a team that went to the Conference Final. He's slow and looks behind the play way more than he used to. He shouldn't be out there against elite speed. The offense left his game a while ago. But he still defends pretty well in his own zone and is useful on a PK. I very much believe that he would have had multiple teams telling him that he'd be penciled in to play every night (or at least most nights).

Unless he has pretty good assurance that he's playing 30+ games, I don't think he'd have accepted a deal that only pays him $1M if he falls short of that number. I expect him to be the front-runner to be in our opening night lineup.

 

[Ranksu]

I’m not sure why anyone would be upset about this. If anything it gives a bar for the young guys to surpass, and brings in a wealth of experience. Worst case scenario I’d imagine he’s cut.

Not to mention who is he really blocking?

POJ hasn’t really proved a whole lot, it’s a good thing if he outplays Suter into the lineup. Perunovich and Krug are always injured. Tucker can’t really keep up with NHL speed.

It’s a 1 year min contract bonus laden. If anyone outplays him, I’m not sure the front office would care to limit ice time and save money.

To me its more like what kind of lockerroom cancer Suter is. Blues doesnt need Bad attitides in lockerroom.

 

[SirPaste]

To me its more like what kind of lockerroom cancer Suter is. Blues doesnt need Bad attitides in lockerroom.

I am willing to believe that Army and Co have a better grasp on how he is regarded in the locker room than a bunch of fans speculating on the internet. I doubt they would have signed him if they actually believe that is true, I guess we will find out on way or the other.

 

[Memento]

I just threw up a bit in my mouth when I read the signing.

Locker room issues? Basically a pylon out there? Blocking the younger defensemen (plus Alexandrov, if we're talking about not qualifying him)?

I hate this move.

 

[Majorityof1]

I am willing to believe that Army and Co have a better grasp on how he is regarded in the locker room than a bunch of fans speculating on the internet. I doubt they would have signed him if they actually believe that is true, I guess we will find out on way or the other.

Most likely we won't find out. It's only a 1 year deal for a 39- year old. If there are issues, he just won't re-sign. It's not like we have crack investigative journalists following the team to let us know of any issues.

There has been speculation that Hayes was moved out for locker-room/work-ethic issues. Those were rumored before he joined us as well. That gives me pause in our ability to vet those type of concerns. It may be we just moved Hayes out for performance, fit. Maybe we totally vetted Suter. But like I said, it gives me pause.

 

[piqued]

I'm going to post this directly on the Blues board because I don't feel like arguing with Stars/Wild fans -- The season before last the Stars had a road trip over the holidays to play in St. Paul. On a scheduled practice day instead of skating at Xcel they took a trip to an outdoor rink and had a full practice there instead.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1608179390852075521

Great work by the team's travel staff, right? Nope, completely conceived and organized by none other than Ryan Suter. What a horrible cancer.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I am willing to believe that Army and Co have a better grasp on how he is regarded in the locker room than a bunch of fans speculating on the internet. I doubt they would have signed him if they actually believe that is true, I guess we will find out on way or the other.

To be fair, it’s more than just random fans speculating on the internet. It’s been more than hinted at by both Wild and Stars best writers.

 

[SirPaste]

Most likely we won't find out. It's only a 1 year deal for a 39- year old. If there are issues, he just won't re-sign. It's not like we have crack investigative journalists following the team to let us know of any issues.

There has been speculation that Hayes was moved out for locker-room/work-ethic issues. Those were rumored before he joined us as well. That gives me pause in our ability to vet those type of concerns. It may be we just moved Hayes out for performance, fit. Maybe we totally vetted Suter. But like I said, it gives me pause.

Key word there is speculation. We don't know if thats true and probably never will, I still believe he was just moved out because other than winning faceoffs he was absolute dog****, Army realized he made a mistake and corrected it, even if the cost was a little high he had/has plans on recuperating a similar asset. Army spent a lot of time in the Dallas organization and it would be hard to believe he doesn't still have relationships and contacts in that organization, if he was such a huge cancer in their locker room surely he could have easily found out first hand. I just find it hard to believe a bunch of fans posting on the internet have more inside knowledge than someone who has ties to the front office in question.

Edit: I should add that I am not a fan of the signing and think it is totally unnecessary barring other dmen on the way out, just making a point that I don't really buy into the theory that he is some giant cancer in the locker room who is going to be detrimental to the young players on the team.

 

[Brian39]

To me its more like what kind of lockerroom cancer Suter is. Blues doesnt need Bad attitides in lockerroom.

I'm not terribly concerned about the rumored/believed locker room issues. There's enough smoke that I believe he is a selfish guy who complains too much. The locker room issues I've heard about all paint the picture of the guy who views himself as a special stud who everyone else has to cater to. And he has had the power to get away with that at every stop in his NHL career. He was a 7th overall pick for a newish franchise that had never won a playoff round. He played well his rookie year and was a top 4 guy in year 2. He was a stud on the ice in Nashville, then got 13 year deal with a full NMC from Minnesota. When that got bought out, he got a 4 year deal with a full NMC from Dallas. At every step of the way, his coach/GM had very few mechanisms to tell him to STFU and play. He couldn't be sent to the minors. His cap hit (combined with on-ice ability) made it tough to just start benching him and he would get his money no matter what even if they did bench him. Other than reducing minutes, there was no tool to push back against a cocky attitude.

That is not the case here.

There is no reported trade protection and he certainly won't have a NMC. He has to stay in the lineup to get the bulk of the money from this contract. If he is falling short of his bonuses and the team does decide to move on, there is zero cap consequence to sending him to the AHL.

For the first time ever, Suter is in a situation where the coach and/or GM have actual power to wield over his finances and career beyond simply limiting minutes. That reality might be a wake up call that causes him to STFU when he is told to. And if it's not, this contract allows the team to simply say 'don't let the door hit ya on the way out' in the middle of the season. I have no clue how he'll respond, but I'm pretty confident that he'll get the Vrana treatment if he responds poorly.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

Piggybacking on the boards' Krug speculation, with another vet left-side D-man in the mix, it could put the pressure on Krug to accept any deals that may develop as ice time in the bottom two pairings may come at a premium this season.

Is Krug willing to spend half of his season in the press box?

 

[Brian39]

Key word there is speculation. We don't know if thats true and probably never will, I still believe he was just moved out because other than winning faceoffs he was absolute dog****, Army realized he made a mistake and corrected it, even if the cost was a little high he had/has plans on recuperating a similar asset. Army spent a lot of time in the Dallas organization and it would be hard to believe he doesn't still have relationships and contacts in that organization, if he was such a huge cancer in their locker room surely he could have easily found out first hand. I just find it hard to believe a bunch of fans posting on the internet have more inside knowledge than someone who has ties to the front office in question.

Edit: I should add that I am not a fan of the signing and think it is totally unnecessary barring other dmen on the way out, just making a point that I don't really buy into that he is some giant cancer in the locker room who is going to be detrimental to the young players on the team.

It's not just fans. Jason Arnott (who played multiple seasons with him in Nashville) went on Cam and Strick's podcast after the Minnesota buyout and talked about how he was selfish and a complainer even as a rookie. Minnesota bought him out (taking $25M or so of dead cap) while he was still very clearly a competent 22+ minute a night D man and their explanation was to fully talk about culture. Beat writers from Minnesota and Dallas have hinted at locker room issues.

There is a lot more than just fan speculation about the notion that he is a me-first guy who rubs people the wrong way.

As I detailed in my previous post, the contract we gave him is the first time in his career where his team can very easily cut bait on him mid-season if he is a problem in the room. I don't believe that we think the locker room issues aren't a thing. I believe that we only signed him under the premise that we have all the power in this relationship and will send his ass to the AHL (functionally ending his career) if he becomes a problem.