Confirmed with Link: Gunnarson resigns with Blues - 3 yrs 8.7mil

[2 Minute Minor]

I'd prefer 2 years, but the salary is a fair deal.

Why are people calling him 3rd pairing? He's second pairing (4th) with Edmundson as 3rd pairing. I see Shattenkirk moved in the offseason and Parayko paired with Gunnarsson or Bouwmeester next year.

Lindbohm has a chance to fight for the 7th D, but he's going to have some tough competition for a roster spot.

 

[Vladys Gumption]

If Shattenkirk is indeed moved, I would like to see Gunnarsson with Pietrangelo and Bouwmeester with Parayko.

 

[Lord Helix]

2.9 million is without a doubt...a pretty fair deal.

 

[Ranksu]

Gunnar - Pietro has viewed already and it sucked. Gunnar is worse then Jbo and same type of player then Pietro. I hate how easily Gunnar get caught 'cus lack of leg speed and mediocre at d-zone, I wouldn't even think about Gunnar pairing with Pietro again. We know Pietro need stay-at-home type of dmen not his 'clone'.

Gunnar is tolerable 2nd pair dmen, but on 3rd pair with that cap he's overpayed. I just assume Edmundson and Lindbohm both will overperform compare to Gunnar coming to next season, at least Edmunson will, but Lindbohm is questionmark.

I just hope this too hasty extension don't bite in the arse too heavily like Lehterä's odd extension.

I do understand this extension if Shattery will be out and Lindbohm for example cannot develope and crack on Blues heavily deep roster, but before that this is horrendous extension and this 3 years of him here is...

 

[EastonBlues22]

The NTC inclusion is probably why the AAV is as low as it is. Pretty sure Gunnarsson could have made more on the open market, but it's fairly unlikely he would have gotten a NTC included as well.

As Alklha mentioned, it's tough to judge this signing base upon how it fits into the bigger picture until we see what happens with everyone else.

Personally, I think the financial value is fine. The timing is a bit weird, though. Shattenkirk and the center situation are the obvious priorities. You would expect Armstrong to have dealt with them first when he has as much financial flexibility as possible, and then fill in the gaps around them afterwards. Gunnarsson isn't such a great asset to our second pairing that he couldn't have waited. Even if we miss out on him as a result, it's hardly a franchise crippling event.

Since he went in this order, he's basically backed himself into a corner where someone more important will need to go, or he needs to make a cap clearing move of some sort (i.e. Berglund cap dump) where he'll likely get pennies on the dollar. That part doesn't make much sense to me. It also worries me a bit, since he hasn't exactly come out of similar situations that he's backed himself into smelling like roses.

Overall, pretty mixed feelings on this one.

 

[Vincenzo Arelliti]

We'll be even more mad when we hear that he's re-signed Brouwer before the playoffs to a 3.75M/3 deal.

 

[Ranksu]

EB22 summed up it perfectly, particularly that part about the timing and priority wise.

 

[Overkamp]

Everybody on Twitter hates this deal

$3 million for a cap heavy team who has depth and cost controlled guys to play bottom pairing minutes and contribute almost nothing offensively (no PK or PP either) is a terrible deal.

The writing is on the wall for Shatty. This isn't a good move.

Surprised he didn't get a NTC.

 

[Overkamp]

I'd prefer 2 years, but the salary is a fair deal.

Why are people calling him 3rd pairing? He's second pairing (4th) with Edmundson as 3rd pairing. I see Shattenkirk moved in the offseason and Parayko paired with Gunnarsson or Bouwmeester next year.

Lindbohm has a chance to fight for the 7th D, but he's going to have some tough competition for a roster spot.

What

 

[Bluesfan54]

The NTC inclusion is probably why the AAV is as low as it is. Pretty sure Gunnarsson could have made more on the open market, but it's fairly unlikely he would have gotten a NTC included as well.

As Alklha mentioned, it's tough to judge this signing base upon how it fits into the bigger picture until we see what happens with everyone else.

Personally, I think the financial value is fine. The timing is a bit weird, though. Shattenkirk and the center situation are the obvious priorities. You would expect Armstrong to have dealt with them first when he has as much financial flexibility as possible, and then fill in the gaps around them afterwards. Gunnarsson isn't such a great asset to our second pairing that he couldn't have waited. Even if we miss out on him as a result, it's hardly a franchise crippling event.

Since he went in this order, he's basically backed himself into a corner where someone more important will need to go, or he needs to make a cap clearing move of some sort (i.e. Berglund cap dump) where he'll likely get pennies on the dollar. That part doesn't make much sense to me. It also worries me a bit, since he hasn't exactly come out of similar situations that he's backed himself into smelling like roses.

Overall, pretty mixed feelings on this one.

The timing is a little surprising, but we don't know what could be going on behind the scene. For all we know Army already has a deal or two lined up for the summer that couldn't be finalized at the deadline for one reason or the other. Just gonna have to wait and see what happens.

 

[MissouriMook]

I really like the timing of the deal in that both this deal and Bouwmeester's will be expiring when Dunn and Walman are roughly Parayko's age. Until one or both of those two are ready to assume NHL level responsibilities, it makes sense to bolster that side of the D with a player that fits both on the ice and in the locker room, especially at such a discounted price. I expect Gunnar would have probably gotten at least $4M a year and probably 4-5 years on the open market.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

What

I'm not sure which part isn't clear. Are so many people convinced Edmundson is going to play ahead of Gunnarsson? I don't think that's true next season yet. Maybe the year after.

 

[Celtic Note]

Just found out he has a NTC. Not a fan of this deal anymore.

Not liking the timing either.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Just found out he has a NYC. Not a fan of this deal anymore.

What type of NTC? You can still trade a player with a NTC you know.

 

[Alklha]

What type of NTC? You can still trade a player with a NTC you know.

Renaud Lavoie said he had a NTC, but no other information.

Any NTC is problematic. The most likely reason we would look to move Gunnarsson before the end of the contract is for cap reasons. Teams that have cap space tend to be the same teams that find themselves on lots of NTC lists. The other teams would need to send salary back.

 

[Robb_K]

What type of NTC? You can still trade a player with a NTC you know.

I hope it's a short list of teams Gunnarsson refuses to go to (Leafs, Canes, Yotes). At least it's not a NMC!

 

[Vincenzo Arelliti]

The timing of this deal is frightening, and it's probably why the AAV is so favorable. If we had waited until Closer to FA to re-sign him, then we wouldn't have got this deal. I fear that this means either
Backes and/or Shattenkirk will be out the door, and I'm extra worried it won't be Backes. We need to be conserving cap space and keeping flexible so we can have the Resources to get a great offensive center.

 

[Frenzy31]

The NTC inclusion is probably why the AAV is as low as it is. Pretty sure Gunnarsson could have made more on the open market, but it's fairly unlikely he would have gotten a NTC included as well.

As Alklha mentioned, it's tough to judge this signing base upon how it fits into the bigger picture until we see what happens with everyone else.

Personally, I think the financial value is fine. The timing is a bit weird, though. Shattenkirk and the center situation are the obvious priorities. You would expect Armstrong to have dealt with them first when he has as much financial flexibility as possible, and then fill in the gaps around them afterwards. Gunnarsson isn't such a great asset to our second pairing that he couldn't have waited. Even if we miss out on him as a result, it's hardly a franchise crippling event.

Since he went in this order, he's basically backed himself into a corner where someone more important will need to go, or he needs to make a cap clearing move of some sort (i.e. Berglund cap dump) where he'll likely get pennies on the dollar. That part doesn't make much sense to me. It also worries me a bit, since he hasn't exactly come out of similar situations that he's backed himself into smelling like roses.

Overall, pretty mixed feelings on this one.

I would rather spend less on the second pairing by signing a solid dman to a cheaper contract then wait to free agency and pay more. While you say that we have other priorities, we would still need to address the 2nd pairing LHD. This is completely independent from what happens regarding the center position.

He has a pretty good chemistry with CP.

 

[Alklha]

The timing of this deal is frightening, and it's probably why the AAV is so favorable. If we had waited until Closer to FA to re-sign him, then we wouldn't have got this deal. I fear that this means either
Backes and/or Shattenkirk will be out the door, and I'm extra worried it won't be Backes. We need to be conserving cap space and keeping flexible so we can have the Resources to get a great offensive center.

The timing of the deal is somewhat logical. The NHL spoke to all 30 GM's last month about salary cap projections for next season, so they have a much better grasp of where they are going forward.

The salary cap limitations actually reduce the incentives for players to test UFA. The fact is that the top players get the money and the mid/low-range players get squeezed. Gunnarsson could have got more in UFA, but would he have been playing for a competitive team? If he waits, he could have been forced to sign a 1 year deal at $3m. The risks in UFA are higher when there isn't as much money going around.

Does that increase our the likelihood that we extend Backes or Brouwer? Yes. However, I doubt the previous offer to Backes (if true) would still be on the table. I don't want Backes getting an extension for the simple reason that I don't think he will be worth what it would realistically take. 4 years at $4.5m? Sure. But he isn't signing that.

Brouwer is different. I expect him to be offered a very similar deal to what Gunnarsson has just signed, it's just whether or not he chooses to sign. I'm not a fan, but at that price you can see him providing value.

 

[Ranksu]

Majority of ppl looks ridiculous who thought this extension was good. Booked this thread.

 

[yogintheaveragebears]

I don't get it? What's so bad about the deal?

 

[Alklha]

I don't get it? What's so bad about the deal?

Gunnarsson at $2.9m is absolutely fine.

The problems are another NTC and what is means for our defensive group going forward. We don't know how big a factor either is because we don't know the NTC details or the plans Armstrong has in the summer.

 

[PiggySmalls]

Gunnarsson at $2.9m is absolutely fine.

The problems are another NTC and what is means for our defensive group going forward. We don't know how big a factor either is because we don't know the NTC details or the plans Armstrong has in the summer.

according to general fanager, his NTC was added to his current contract and expires August 2016. Sounds like he didn't want to be dealt in a sign and trade.

 

[yogintheaveragebears]

So to put things in perspective... how many NTCs do we actually have?

 

[Ranksu]

So to put things in perspective... how many NTCs do we actually have?

David Backes
Patrik Berglund (limited; can list up to 7 teams he will not accept trade to)
Jay Bouwmeester
Troy Brouwer (limited; details unknown)
Paul Stastny
Alexander Steen

and Gunnar