Trade Rumors and Free Agent TalkTrade rumors, transactions, and free agent talk. Rumors must contain the word RUMOR in post title. Proposals must contain the word PROPOSAL in post title.
With the trade of Eric Brewer at the deadline this season, the Blues opened up a hole across from Alex Pietrangelo on their top pairing.
They have Pietrangelo, Shattenkirk and Polak as their top 3 righty defensemen. They are set on that side.
On the left side they have Jackman, Colaiacovo, Nikitin and Cole. IMO they need to go out and get a shutdown lefty d-man with some experience, find a taker for Colaiacovo and send Cole back to Peoria for one more year. He can take over for Jackman in 2012-13.
It is doubtful that the Blues can afford to go out and sign someone like Joni Pitkanen, Ed Jovanovski or Christian Ehrhoff. I think they will have to trade for someone making between 3-4 million.
Others on a Blues forum have mentioned Braydon Coburn as a possible option. I think he is a solid fit. Much more so than Matt Carle.
What would the Blues have to give up to get Coburn? I'd imagine picks and prospects since the Flyers are up near the cap.
Why would they move Coburn when they can move Versteeg and Carle for cap reasons. To answer your question, Philly should pretty much deplete your farm + prospects if you are going to get Coburn.
Personally Coburn would cost us to much IMO. We would have to make it worth while for Philly to trade him. I have no desire to overpay for a player to give Philly an offer they can't refuse. IMO Free agent or go with what we have.
Why would they move Coburn when they can move Versteeg and Carle for cap reasons. To answer your question, Philly should pretty much deplete your farm + prospects if you are going to get Coburn.
Easy now. He isn't THAT good.
But Coburn can get you a good prospect like an Ian Cole whereas Versteeg and Carle can get you a 2nd round pick.
Personally Coburn would cost us to much IMO. We would have to make it worth while for Philly to trade him. I have no desire to overpay for a player to give Philly an offer they can't refuse. IMO Free agent or go with what we have.
Any free agent that is likely to be worth a top 4 spot is going to be priced out of St. Louis' budget.
We might be able to afford Coburn at 3.2 million for this year while the ownership situation is figured out.
Plus Coburn would be a foundation piece for the Blues. I would give up a lot for 26 year old, top 4 defenseman that fits perfectly across from Pietrangelo or Shattenkirk.
A contract extension would be likely before he hit free agency.
Especially if we can get the new owner by October as was projected.
Well, then he's probably going to be wanting a raise, won't he? There's no guarantee that he'll even want to resign here, much less take a discount to stay here, if it was never his choice to come here in the first place.
Might as well just sign a UFA this year and backload the contract a bit if that's the deal. Still not worth Cole...not even close, IMO.
Would you want Carle instead? Because I am ******* sure that Coburn goes nowhere.
I'm fairly sure he doesn't either.
Carle isn't much different from what we already have in Colaiacovo, except Carle stays healthier and Colaiacovo is a whole lot cheaper. I don't see him being a target for the Blues, honestly.
Coburn + 2nd rounder >>> Carle + Cole for a team looking to win now.
I don't disagree that a team looking to win now would rather have Coburn than Cole, but I'm also willing to bet that you don't know the first thing about Cole as a player.
Throwing around "greater than" signs like they're candy doesn't strengthen your point in the absence of actual knowledge.
I don't disagree that a team looking to win now would rather have Coburn than Cole, but I'm also willing to bet that you don't know the first thing about Cole as a player.
Throwing around "greater than" signs like they're candy doesn't strengthen your point in the absence of actual knowledge.
So I guess it's fortunate for me that at no point did I say anything negative about Cole, only pointing out that losing a proven player like Coburn wouldn't make sense for a "win now" team.
But by all means, enjoy the view from your soap box.
Well, then he's probably going to be wanting a raise, won't he? There's no guarantee that he'll even want to resign here, much less take a discount to stay here, if it was never his choice to come here in the first place.
Might as well just sign a UFA this year and backload the contract a bit if that's the deal. Still not worth Cole...not even close, IMO.
The raise won't be a big deal. I'd say there is a good chance we have a new owner and some more money to spend before the end of next season.
Coburn's price tag for 2011-2012 is a major plus. The Blues can probably swing 3.2 million for 1 year(at least I hope so, especially for a top 4 d-man).
We could probably afford to give Coburn a 5 year extension worth 4 million a year(same contract that Z. Michalek signed) at this time next year. If not, ugh...that is really all I can say as a Blues fan.
If he doesn't want to re-sign here(how many players have hated playing for the Blues?) then use his money on someone else and just pretend that you traded Cole for that defenseman. Not a big deal. Especially if you wind up with an equally good or better d-man.
So I guess it's fortunate for me that at no point did I say anything negative about Cole, only pointing out that losing a proven player like Coburn wouldn't make sense for a "win now" team.
But by all means, enjoy the view from your soap box.
I'm was just pointing out (in a rather polite and non-confrontational way, I thought) that it doesn't make much sense to make value statements, especially e>>>treme ones, if you don't know at least something about all the pieces involved.
The raise won't be a big deal. I'd say there is a good chance we have a new owner and some more money to spend before the end of next season.
Coburn's price tag for 2011-2012 is a major plus. The Blues can probably swing 3.2 million for 1 year(at least I hope so, especially for a top 4 d-man).
We could probably afford to give Coburn a 5 year extension worth 4 million a year(same contract that Z. Michalek signed) at this time next year. If not, ugh...that is really all I can say as a Blues fan.
If he doesn't want to re-sign here(how many players have hated playing for the Blues?) then use his money on someone else and just pretend that you traded Cole for that defenseman. Not a big deal. Especially if you wind up with an equally good or better d-man.
We're not exactly a Cup favorite at this point, and Coburn sure isn't going to elevate us to that level next year, so why not sign a 1 year stopgap and go after him when his contract runs out?
Cole isn't multiple years away from being NHL ready. He's NHL ready now, his upside is every bit as good as Coburn's, and he's going to be cost-controlled for like the next 5 or 6 years. The only reason the Blues have for not simply handing him the job is risk management. There's no need for the Blues to risk one of either Cole or Nikitin having an up and down year in their first full years on the job if they can find some cost-effective insurance to hedge against that possibility (while upgrading the organization's defensive depth at the same time, which is very thin on NHL ready talent beyond the top 7).
The plan (probably) is to sign or trade for a LHD, let Cole and Colaiacovo split time as the third pairing LHD, and let Nikitin be the first call-up when the inevitable injuries hit. When one (or possibly both) of Jackman and Colaiacovo leaves after next year, you still have the LHD you acquired, Cole has a full year plus under his belt and is ready to step onto that middle pairing full time, and Nikitin is there to step onto the third pairing full time if needed. Cole is a huge part of this team's defensive future...the Blues aren't going to be moving him for a short-term upgrade.
