Berglund, Stewart, Pietrangelo, Shattenkirk, Allen - Blues can't sign them all.
Looks like Jaskin or Rattie will get the Stewart spot - hello first and third round picks for St. Louis.
There's room under the Cap to sign them all, as other posters have projected on this board. Allen's role/salary remain to be seen. There's a decent chance he's still in the AHL (and not counted against the Cap) regardless of his contract (which won't be that big anyway).
The biggest question is how close to the Cap does the team spend. I think that may depend in part on how this post-season goes.
Its going to be fun to see how Armstrong shapes this team going forward. He's got plenty of building blocks to maneuver with, and with the trade for Bouwmeester, the front office is indicating they will raise the team's budget.
I think there is certainly space to sign everyone. I don't think we are going to see us move anyone over the summer because of an internal budget. If we were to go out an aquire another big contract, that changes things and 2 players would need to be moved for cap reasons.
I'll probably be proven wrong, but I'm not expecting any significant moves over the summer. Armstrong will likely lay the groundwork for another mid-season trade, that will create a roster spot for Jaškin and address a need.
Berglund, Stewart, Pietrangelo, Shattenkirk, Allen - Blues can't sign them all.
Looks like Jaskin or Rattie will get the Stewart spot - hello first and third round picks for St. Louis.
Yes a player with zero NHL games makes our leading scorer expendable. I personally don't see Jaskin next season having much more of an impact then Schwartz is having this season. If Stewart it is moved it will most likly be for a direct upgrade at center not because Jaskin makes him expendable.
Last edited by HooliganX2: 04-11-2013 at 11:01 AM.
Berglund, Stewart, Pietrangelo, Shattenkirk, Allen - Blues can't sign them all.
Looks like Jaskin or Rattie will get the Stewart spot - hello first and third round picks for St. Louis.
They can and they will. It will, however, come at the expense of one of our other wingers (Perron/Oshie/Steen). One of those will be packed for a center or a young left defenseman to replace Leopold (and provide some insurance if we cannot re-sign Bouwmeester).
The Cap will go back up. It's just going down for the next year or two. After that we'll see it slowly rise back up. So we just have to make sure we don't do anything stupid until that wiggle room starts becoming available.
Remember that there's a very good chance we can resign Jay-Bo for less then the current cap hit he has as well.
Man it's nice to say we can worry about the cap being our limiting factor instead of worrying about our internal budget of bread-and-water.
I think one of Perron or Berglund is getting traded. I can't see us letting Stewart go. We need his size too much.
The problem is we are so stacked on the RW. Stewart, Oshie, Tarasenko, Jaskin (he can play RW or LW) and Rattie. And with how well Jaskin and Rattie have been progressing, it's hard to say who will go and who will stay.
Yes a player with zero NHL games makes our leading scorer expendable. I personally don't see Jaskin next season having much more of an impact then Schwartz is having this season. If Stewart it is moved it will most likly be for a direct upgrade at center not because Jaskin makes him expendable.
Do I detect a hint of sarcasm?
I just mean the Blues can't afford to keep everyone. Not that Stewart should be moved to make room for anyone. I'm a big fan of Stewart. Would love to see him stay.
Did I miss something? Is there any reason to believe the Blues will spend to the cap next year? Seems like there is likely to be limits to the payroll below the cap, right?
I just mean the Blues can't afford to keep everyone. Not that Stewart should be moved to make room for anyone. I'm a big fan of Stewart. Would love to see him stay.
Did I miss something? Is there any reason to believe the Blues will spend to the cap next year? Seems like there is likely to be limits to the payroll below the cap, right?
We don't know, but public statements by the front office about wanting to re-sign Bouwmeester long-term (and the fact they acquired him in the first place), statements about raising ticket prices, etc.....I think its pretty clear the internal budget has gone up. (At least they're spending more money on player salary and less in other areas, like the AHL team.)
I don't see any indication that they can't or don't plan to re-sign all the RFAs. I think if someone is gone it will have more to do with the make-up of the team. The front office seems to clearly feel the window of contention is NOW, and they're not going to fritter it away by being too frugal.
I think Perron could be moved, but it has more to do with finding someone that plays that role and stays within the system more consistently than his salary.
I just mean the Blues can't afford to keep everyone. Not that Stewart should be moved to make room for anyone. I'm a big fan of Stewart. Would love to see him stay.
Did I miss something? Is there any reason to believe the Blues will spend to the cap next year? Seems like there is likely to be limits to the payroll below the cap, right?
We really have no idea on what the contracts are going to be. Each player there is almost at least a million dollar range they can get. Just Pietrangelo IMO can range from 5.8 million to 7.5 million a season. Shattenkirk also could be from 4 million to 5.5 million. Berglund could be from 2.5 million to 3.5 million. Stewart could be from 4 million to 5 million.
It really will say a lot about our budget after our playoff run where we stand. Also what players are willing to sign for will have a huge impact on who may stay or go. Also Halak Elliott and Allen situation is really unsure if one might go.
Who knows a team like philly might through a 6 million offer sheet at Shattenkirk or 8 million for Pietrangelo.
I'm really hoping we get some signings done sooner then later.
Basically I don't think we should count on Stewart being the one to go there are so many directions this team could go. We do know Stewart is a player Armstrong traded for so he is an Armstrong type of player.
Last edited by HooliganX2: 04-11-2013 at 06:58 PM.
I'm not too worried they won't get things done relatively quickly after the season. Pietrangelo and Shattenkirk come first. I'm confident they'll be locked up long before hitting July 1. I could see Berglund and/or Stewart negotiations lasting a little longer, or as we've often discussed, one of them being part of a trade package for a center upgrade. But I could also see Berglund settling relatively quickly for something with an AAV of 3.5M. How Stewart's negotiations go is anyone's guess. That guy better get nowhere near 5M though. He's a burst scorer, and when he's cold he's not doing much.
I'm not too worried they won't get things done relatively quickly after the season. Pietrangelo and Shattenkirk come first. I'm confident they'll be locked up long before hitting July 1. I could see Berglund and/or Stewart negotiations lasting a little longer, or as we've often discussed, one of them being part of a trade package for a center upgrade. But I could also see Berglund settling relatively quickly for something with an AAV of 3.5M. How Stewart's negotiations go is anyone's guess. That guy better get nowhere near 5M though. He's a burst scorer, and when he's cold he's not doing much.
I actually get the feeling Stewart likes being a Blue and he will be willing to make something workout so he can stay.
Toronto should sign Berglund to an 8.5M offer sheet.
Sorry dont see Berglund being worth more then Perry and Getzlaf And since when does Toronto have the Cap Space to sign a single player to a $8.5M deal dont think so.
I just mean the Blues can't afford to keep everyone. Not that Stewart should be moved to make room for anyone. I'm a big fan of Stewart. Would love to see him stay.
Did I miss something? Is there any reason to believe the Blues will spend to the cap next year? Seems like there is likely to be limits to the payroll below the cap, right?
Technically speaking the blues CAN afford just about all of their RFAs. it would limit a lot of things including UFA spending, but they for sure have the cap room to do it.
Sorry dont see Berglund being worth more then Perry and Getzlaf And since when does Toronto have the Cap Space to sign a single player to a $8.5M deal dont think so.
Oh okay good point that makes sense I appreciate you clearing that up.
Sorry dont see Berglund being worth more then Perry and Getzlaf And since when does Toronto have the Cap Space to sign a single player to a $8.5M deal dont think so.
Maybe it's just me but I could see the poster's location being a good explanation for the post?
Clearly Berglund is worth around 9.375-9.425 million per year.
More serious though, it's not a question of whether the Blues have the cap space to sign all the RFA's. It's the question of can they spend that much money. I don't see them being in a financial position to do so. If the Blues win the cup by some freak magic crazy run then maybe, maybe they do have the funds along with hype. But I don't expect a run in the playoffs let alone the cup.
I'm expecting some teams to come knocking on Stewart's door. I could see him realistically signing for as much as 5-5.5 mil/yr. I don't think he's worth that kind of money but he may cash in from this short season's performance.
There's some teams that have a need at RW that like to spend money. Detroit comes to mind, even Toronto fits the bill.
Tor has Kessel & who else? Det has Franzen & Cleary but I think they'd rather have Stewart than Cleary. Cleary will be a UFA after this season.
That's the thing though, I find it hard to believe that the blues will ever be in better financial terms. I feel as if letting one or two of these players go will therefore hurt the team, and put them in a worse spot. Teams like the rangers and kings are not afraid to spend, which is where we need to be. Winning a cup is no easy task.
And there are no other funds than just the salary cap. Winning the cup would help, but without the blues can and should sign everyone.
I don't think it would make too much sense for us not to be close to the cap next season. We seen a significant rise in ticket prices this season, and there is going to be another significant rise in prices going into next season. Yes, the Blues tickets are below League average, but that isn't really the point. Trading away players for solely financial reasons, while raising tickets prices is a good idea on paper, but not in practice. As "unfair" as the view might be, the general fan is going to see it as we are losing 3 or 4 players and not bringing anyone else in and yet raising prices.
There are 3 reasons why a player will be traded in the summer... his demands are outrageous, we are moving him for an upgrade or we are making way for someone like Jaškin. That's it. We'll backload contracts, with the view of moving them in a year or two, long before we consider moving players for financial reasons.
