Confirmed with Link: Nick Leddy signed by Blues (4/$16m)

[Celtic Note]

Contract seems fair, but I am not sure how I feel about it until we know what else happens.

 

[Novacain]

Blues trade for a mediocre over 30 D in desperate situation, and he plays well for a short amount of time before we extended him to a 4 year contract for more money then he's actually going to be worth for a guy who is usually a 3rd pairing defensemen. Where have I heard this story before.

 

[Xerloris]

4 good players. What would you do instead? Please be specific.

Krug and Faulk were crazy good last year and by all accounts Leddy looked damn good with Parayko. Some people just can't be happy.

 

[EastVillageBlues]

This makes a lot of sense, if one of Krug or Scandella is already half way out of the door, actually.

 

[shpongle falls]

4 million for 4 years seems like perfect value for what Leddy brings, good job by Army here.

 

[The Note]

I had basically no desire to see the Blues do this, but I’m not surprised.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

I like the deal. I was expecting $4.5M AAV. There's no way they don't move another D-man though.

Still need a winger!

 

[AjaxManifesto]

DA is half way through the poker game...

 

[jmwc95]

Less than I thought. Now if we can just dump Scandella, we can afford Perron. Then depending on Perron backup goalie, and some other moves, we could actually potentially keep Barbashev too. But we gotta get rid of Scandella’s contract.

 

[ItsOnlytheRiver]

 

[ezcreepin]

Sign RFAs, trade Scandella, let Perunovich get a year under his belt, trade Krug (after 2023) and Tarasenko to free up 14 million for Kyrou and ROR, replenish depth. Wash rinse repeat.

 

[jmwc95]

I'm thinking based on this we might have our group set on defense....

LOL…he’s full of shit. Scandella is gone.

 

[AjaxManifesto]

Poor DA....he should have consulted the Avs fandom before signing Leddy.

 

[Majorityof1]

LOL…he’s full of shit. Scandella is gone.

If he was gone, he'd already be gone. Why would Armstrong wait until 2 hours+ into free agency? Moving him obviously cost more than Armstrong was willing to pay. We may dump him at the deadline, but the chances of him being a Blue when the season starts are good.

 

[EastVillageBlues]

If he was gone, he'd already be gone. Why would Armstrong wait until 2 hours+ into free agency? Moving him obviously cost more than Armstrong was willing to pay. We may dump him at the deadline, but the chances of him being a Blue when the season starts are good.

Because there would be other teams that miss out on their target depth defensemen in UFA.

When they do, they would be looking in the cheap trade route to fill that gap.

 

[Novacain]

Because there would be other teams that miss out on their target depth defensemen in UFA.

When they do, they would be looking in the cheap trade route to fill that gap.

How far down the list would you have to go before you take on a mediocre 3rd pairing, best use 7th defensemen who is making over 3 million a season for the next 2 seasons though? I can't imagine his value isn't negative at this point, and Army has never made a "trade extra resources to get rid of a negative value contract" at any point as a GM.

 

[Majorityof1]

Because there would be other teams that miss out on their target depth defensemen in UFA.

When they do, they would be looking in the cheap trade route to fill that gap.

Whose out there targeting over-paid aging 3rd pairing defensemen? "Damn, there are no more $3M+ 32+ year old 3rd pairing guys. I better give assets for that guy St. Louis is desperate to dump."

 

[EastVillageBlues]

How far down the list would you have to go before you take on a mediocre 3rd pairing, best use 7th defensemen who is making over 3 million a season for the next 2 seasons though? I can't imagine his value isn't negative at this point, and Army has never made a "trade extra resources to get rid of a negative value contract" at any point as a GM.

I mostly agree that his value is likely negative at this point. Army is just trying to reduce the amount he has to pay to move that contract. He would still be worth 2-3M per season on the UFA market today, given those are almost always overpayments. So our assets to send along with him, after the UFA dust settles, might be what needs to make up just around 1M in value.

 

[Frenzy31]

Cheap as can be expected, so that is good. I still despise this deal.

I officially dislike 1/3 of our D. If Perunovich gets a full time spot, it will be half. I am pretty much neutral on Faulk. I only like Bortz and Parry. Uggh. That's tough as I cheer for a team because of the players, not the crest.

How are you only Neutral on Faulk? He has been very good for the past two year and is only making 6,5 per. Sorry, I don't see that.

Leddy is decent. He was very solid for Parry and moved the puck well. This team with a healthy Krug and JB may have given the Aves a run for their money. That is all I am asking for as a fan. Right now, our D is better than it was at this time last year.

 

[Majorityof1]

How are you only Neutral on Faulk? He has been very good for the past two year and is only making 6,5 per. Sorry, I don't see that.

Leddy is decent. He was very solid for Parry and moved the puck well. This team with a healthy Krug and JB may have given the Aves a run for their money. That is all I am asking for as a fan. Right now, our D is better than it was at this time last year.

I've just never been a fan. A good friend lives in Carolina, so I've always followed them as well. Never liked him there, and never really liked him here. It's not all on-ice stuff either. Something just rubs me wrong. Not anything big, like the Kanes, where I would hate him. I just don't jive with his style, on or off the ice.

 

[Frenzy31]

What you’re wondering is what I’m hoping because I’m fairly whelmed with this top-4 as is.

It’s far from bad. But it lacks something more that I think the team desperately needs. What that more is could be a lot of different things depending on how Armstrong envisions the defense to operate. But right now, I still want more.

I think fans are all wanting a Provo or Chech type dman. Which is fine, until you take into the account the assets that need to go back. With Thomas at 8, Kyrou around that, and likely ROR looking at that, we NEED ELC. Nieghbors, Bolduc, and Stu are all huge pieces to extending our cup window the the next 2-3 years.

With a Cap, No TEAM will not have holes in their line up. I really think fans are forgetting about not having Krug healthy in the playoffs. Prunovich helped replace the offense, but Krug is much better in the D zone and has a great pairing with Faulk.

 

[EastVillageBlues]

Whose out there targeting over-paid aging 3rd pairing defensemen? "Damn, there are no more $3M+ 32+ year old 3rd pairing guys. I better give assets for that guy St. Louis is desperate to dump."

I agree, we definitely aren't looking to get assets for him.

I'm thinking more along the lines of scandella + 3rd for a echl player, when he UFA dust settles (when teams that have missed out have motivation to fill out their roster).

 

[TheDizee]

Fire Armstrong. He has done nothing but weaken the team.

 

[ezcreepin]

How far down the list would you have to go before you take on a mediocre 3rd pairing, best use 7th defensemen who is making over 3 million a season for the next 2 seasons though? I can't imagine his value isn't negative at this point, and Army has never made a "trade extra resources to get rid of a negative value contract" at any point as a GM.

Whose out there targeting over-paid aging 3rd pairing defensemen? "Damn, there are no more $3M+ 32+ year old 3rd pairing guys. I better give assets for that guy St. Louis is desperate to dump."

The number of genuinely quality GMs in the league right now probably isn't very high, and there are teams that absolutely have to reach the floor like Arizona, Seattle, Anaheim, etc. Blues are looking for assets right now as opposed to players, so I don't see why we can't recoup a pick for Scandella in a trade with one of those teams, or you could call guys like Chuck Fletcher to con them into taking Scandella.

 

[Novacain]

I think fans are all wanting a Provo or Chech type dman. Which is fine, until you take into the account the assets that need to go back. With Thomas at 8, Kyrou around that, and likely ROR looking at that, we NEED ELC. Nieghbors, Bolduc, and Stu are all huge pieces to extending our cup window the the next 2-3 years.

With a Cap, No TEAM will not have holes in their line up. I really think fans are forgetting about not having Krug healthy in the playoffs. Prunovich helped replace the offense, but Krug is much better in the D zone and has a great pairing with Faulk.

Would that have helped us be a bit better? Sure. Do I think it would have made a difference in the Colorado series, in which we got outshot 220-157? Maybe a little, but not enough that we actually win that series. And unless we make a big shake up, our plan so far just seems to be "Just running it back, but you know, without Perron and Husso" and honestly, that's not an encouraging plan.