Quote:
Originally Posted by GAGLine
This trade assumes Drury would waive his NMC and probably would be dependent on St. Louis not bringing back Tkachuk.
Drury and Zherdev
for
Kariya and a 2nd
Drury can play center or wing, is good on the PK and he's 2 years younger than Kariya. Plus Kariya is coming off injury. Drury has 3 years left on his deal.
Zherdev fills Tkachuk's spot.
Overall, the money is about the same as Kariya and Tkachuk made last year.
If Kariya is/remains healthy, maybe he will click with Gomez. If not, he's gone in a year and the Rangers have some cap space.
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Which is great for the Rangers, but not for the Blues. Drury isn't worth his cap hit and in the cap era, that is all that really matters. Paul K. isn't worth his either, but it comes off the books after this season, which is 2 years sooner then Drury. (The Blues have 10 million coming of the books next year - that gives the team a lot of flexibility to resign their core players - when the cap drops or go out and be active and add a little salary).
No reason to take on a 2nd line center that is overpaid. This doesn't address a need for the Blues which would be a
sniper,
backup goalie, or an offensive dman (which again we may not need).
Z is inconsistent, and will be seeking a large raise this year as an RFA. I am not sure he would fit into the St. Louis system.
And finally, KT is working out a deal to come back to the Blues for 1 more season. (Per Strickland or Rutherford - forgot which).