On this board, I might've been Hater #1, but mostly because 1) he truly did suck last year and for 6.68M which is the complete opposite of what the Blues needed and 2) when I watched the Blues lose to LA last year in the playoffs I thought, they'd just hit that guy and he'd cough up the puck so could we please not get him. I coveted Giordano instead.
I couldn't watch the last two games, so today is the first time I'll get to see him in a Blue uniform. I'm a sane person so I want him to be good for my team, help them win and me be wrong. He's still way overpaid but that was reflected in the cheap payment the Blues made to get him, and that Detroit wasn't even willing to go higher than a 2d and some middling prospects.
The real judgment is coming in the postseason. Let me put it this way. I've been a Blues fan all my life, and I've seen enough first and second round exits that I never need to see any again to know what that experience is like. With a long, slow, steady rebuild since the 04-05 lockout, the Blues had methodically put the right pieces in place. The last huge piece was the LHD, so it became extra huge that they didn't get right to the end and screw everything up by picking the wrong player at the clearly wrong price. If Bouwmeester does turn out to be the wrong guy in the playoffs, the Blues' rebuild is screwed, and it'll be another 10-20 years before another strong contending chance comes around again based on historical cycles.
In other words, a lot of the intensity around not getting him was a real fear that it would be another case of so close, yet so far away from true contention (given the way his salary would have ripple effects throughout the organization). Like I say, let's see him in the playoffs against LA or Chicago and make our judgment then. Would love to hang a lantern on how wrong I was about him being the final big piece. We shall see.