Nashville just signed Hannan. I thought he'd be a better depth guy than Woywitka. Just sayin' ...
I would agree. Hannan would be a definite upgrade... I'm thinking it had something early in the signing process to do with signing a 2-way contract possibly. The Blues already signed Chorney and Ford too and have Fairchild. Not so sure Hannan wants to be a 7-8 at this point in his career either. I'm thinking they are going to give Cole every opportunity to prove he belongs in the top 6, and have enough faith in Fairchild to be given every chance to prove he belongs if Cole doesn't. Otherwise, Woywitka, Chorney, etc. can be the 7-8 guys or injury fill ins.
In keeping with Blues tradition, Colaiacovo finally plays a fully healthy season, scores over 50 points, finishes in the top 10 for the Norris, and Detroit wins the Cup. That would make the curse official.
In keeping with Blues tradition, Colaiacovo finally plays a fully healthy season, scores over 50 points, finishes in the top 10 for the Norris, and Detroit wins the Cup. That would make the curse official.
I honestly don't see what is wrong with Colaiacovo at that price. I'd feel much better starting the season with Cole as the 7th defenseman over Wyowitka.
Injuries will happen. The Blues top six last season missed a combined 53 games. More than that the year before. Even as the seventh defenseman, Cole should still see plenty of games. Then next season we can make a choice between Cole and Russell if we have to.
The Blues had the best defense in the league last season. When healthy, Colaiacovo was a big part of that. Pietrangelo was fifth in scoring for defensemen, and finished fourth in the Norris trophy voting. How detrimental could Colaiacovo really have been?
Does he have his issues? Yes. The biggest is health. While his defense is still questionable, it is significantly improved since he arrived in St. Louis. He is able to transition the puck well, and offers a decent option on the power play. Is he a fantastic player? Nope. Is he a bit out of place on the top pairing? Yep. But is he currently better than Jeff Wyowitka? Yes. I think Colaiacovo at $2.5 M per for two years is a good deal.
(Plus, with Colaiacovo's bad luck, he can attract the wrath of the Blues' curse away from the rest of the team keeping them healthy! )
All of that said, I understand why the Blues are moving on. I just wish the financial realities were different such that the Blue could afford to sign a guy to a $2.5 M contract for depth. But they can't.
If Detroit uses him on their second pairing, which is likely, he will do fine. Detroit has a good pipeline of defensive prospects to fill in for the ~20 games that Colaiacovo will likely miss.
The reason it is (or will be) a good move is that:
1) Colaiacovo would be overpaid for his appropriate role.
2) The Blues now have room and salary to bring in a true top pairing guy to put with Pietro. Cole may yet become the 7th man. However, the deal hasn't been there to date so we'll have to roll with what we've got into the season. It appears that's Armstrong's plan anyway.
The reason it is (or will be) a good move is that:
1) Colaiacovo would be overpaid for his appropriate role.
2) The Blues now have room and salary to bring in a true top pairing guy to put with Pietro. Cole may yet become the 7th man. However, the deal hasn't been there to date so we'll have to roll with what we've got into the season. It appears that's Armstrong's plan anyway.
This is it. Armstrong needs the budget room to pick up a better defenceman than Colaiacovo. He's still looking to acquire one. Colaiacovo isn't a disaster at $2,5 million. But, The Blues can do better, and need that to go far in the playoffs.
This is it. Armstrong needs the budget room to pick up a better defenceman than Colaiacovo. He's still looking to acquire one. Colaiacovo isn't a disaster at $2,5 million. But, The Blues can do better, and need that to go far in the playoffs.
The Blues may just have enough faith in Cade Fairchild that they felt Carlo could go too. Cade will play alot in Peoria. Another year of seasoning would do him some good. If the Blues get hit with an injury...and they will, then they may feel that Cade is up to the task. Just throwin' that out there.
1. It made sense for the Blues to not sign him. Cola is ideally a 2nd/3rd pairing d-man and the Blues already have plenty of those. I still think they need to add a legit partner for Petro but Cola wasn't it.
2. It made sense for the Wings to sign him. Cola will likely be used as a 2nd/3rd pairing d-man there so it should be a good fit for him. Some Blues fans seem to think of Cola as being useless or only good enough to be a 7th d-man but he's not. As long as he's not being asked to do more than he's capable of, he's fine.
3. I expect the Wings to still be a good team this season...whenever that is. Yes, they lost Lidstrom so they're hurting at D but they still have Datsyuk, Zetterburg, Franzen, etc. up front and Howard in net. AND they're a team always willing to spend to the cap so depending on what kind of cap room they end up with depending on the details of the agreement the two sides eventually agree upon, I could very well see the Wings add a d-man at the deadline to take them back to elite level.
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