Confirmed with Link: BINNINGTON RE-SIGNED 2YR, 4.4AAV

[Stupendous Yappi]

I really hate this contract. It's a lose/lose. If continues his stellar play, he hits free agency as young as possible and a half dozen teams will be bidding his contract up in two years. If he regresses, than we are paying $9M for an average goalie platoon. I'd rather go shorter term, even if it costs us more, say $6M for 1 year. Or go for 3-4 years at this price. If he wanted 2 years, it should have cost him a lot more on the AAV. 1 year at max we can afford, 2 years at dirt cheap, or 3-4 at $3.5-4.5M. But not 2 @ $4.5. Shesh.

As much as Ranksu is a troll, I suspect he was dead right and the AAV has a lot to do with being paid more than Allen. It is a weird number and too close to Allen for coincidence.. We really need to re-sign Binny as a priority next off-season if he plays well this season.

I’m surprised they took it right to UFA, but if he is playing well and the team want to re-sign him to a fair value contract, what player wants to leave his fan base after that parade if he doesn’t have to? I think one of the advantages of winning is that you can fairly assume most guys want to be here, and are not going to be looking for reasons to leave.

This contract looks like 1) Armstrong bent a lot from what he could have expected from the arbitrator. But that’s better than a poisonous arbitration hearing, and 2) Armstrong is showing respect for Binnington.

Maybe I underestimated the importance of the salary giving Binnington a clear signal that he was viewed as the starter. I was thinking 11-12M for 3 years, so the upper AAV was 4M. I was a little lower than the final numbers.

I agree with Armstrong paying a bit more to keep the term shorter. He must be pretty confident about getting him re-signed when it gets there. Or maybe Husso will make things interesting by then.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I cant wait for @Brian39 and @Stupendous Yappi excuses.

Excuse for what? I gave my honest opinion. I was a little off, but not terribly. I didn’t expect the 2 year term. Evidently Armstrong is comfortable with being able to negotiate the next deal before he walks. Why do you try to make things into personal pissing matches so often?

 

[Pizza!Pizza!]

Not sure why there's so many bummer posts in this thread. Blues brought back Winnington and at a reasonable rate. If Binny had gone to arbitration he probably would have gotten more money and would have soured his relationship with management - which could have affected his play or his willingness to re-sign. This alleviates a lose/lose situation for the Blues and Binnington gets a respectable paycheck for at least 2 years regardless of how he plays. It's a great deal.

 

[simon IC]

Quick question, excuse my ignorance. Are the Blues allowed to renegotiate with, and then extend Binnington next summer,when he is half-way through his contract?

 

[Meatball]

Not sure why there's so many bummer posts in this thread. Blues brought back Winnington and at a reasonable rate. If Binny had gone to arbitration he probably would have gotten more money and would have soured his relationship with management - which could have affected his play or his willingness to re-sign. This alleviates a lose/lose situation for the Blues and Binnington gets a respectable paycheck for at least 2 years regardless of how he plays. It's a great deal.

This is how I see it.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

The only downside to this contract is that it takes him straight to UFA. Outside of that, I think 2 years is the perfect term to get a better sample size to get a long term extension hammered out. So long as we don't take a dump on him, I don't see any reason for him to bolt in UFA.

 

[Itsnotatrap]

We tried to send him to the ECHL just over a year ago, and he was way up on the list of who won us a Cup just over a month ago. The Blues don’t hold as much leverage here as they might in the standard case. It’s not a steal, but it’s the middle ground in what is probably one of the most non-standard cases in NHL history.

 

[execwrite1]

Where are we now - $8 million left, have to sign Edmundson, Barbashev and Sundqvist. (We're keeping Edmundson)

 

[Alklha]

Quick question, excuse my ignorance. Are the Blues allowed to renegotiate with, and then extend Binnington next summer,when he is half-way through his contract?

We can negotiate whenever we want, but he's eligible to sign an extension on July 1 next year.

As uncomfortable as it is walking him directly to UFA, the two year term made a lot of sense in this specific circumstance. A one year term still gave Binnington to option of going directly to UFA and three+ years was added risk, with a higher price on the UFA years based on a small sample size.

If we're using Matt Murray as the comparison then his contract was three years at ~5.14% of the cap. We have Binnington at two years at 5.4% of the cap. The term difference doesn't really matter because both are only buying RFA years. Murray did have a better sv%, but he had only played 34 games compared to 58 for Binnington. With hindsight, once we settle on Binnington being in that 5.2% ($4.25m) of the cap range then it makes sense that it would get pushed up to slightly above Allen.

This is just Armstrong going with what the market said he was worth and a term that makes more sense than it initially seems. I wouldn't read anything more into it.

 

[attackfan71]

Congrats to Jordan binnington. You have earned this pay day. Now go out and play the way you have shown you are capable of next year. and finish top 5-10 in goalie stats and sign your 4 or 5 year contract. Proud to have another owen sound ttack alumni win a cup.

 

[Ranksu]

I really hate this contract. It's a lose/lose. If continues his stellar play, he hits free agency as young as possible and a half dozen teams will be bidding his contract up in two years. If he regresses, than we are paying $9M for an average goalie platoon. I'd rather go shorter term, even if it costs us more, say $6M for 1 year. Or go for 3-4 years at this price. If he wanted 2 years, it should have cost him a lot more on the AAV. 1 year at max we can afford, 2 years at dirt cheap, or 3-4 at $3.5-4.5M. But not 2 @ $4.5. Shesh.

As much as Ranksu is a troll, I suspect he was dead right and the AAV has a lot to do with being paid more than Allen. It is a weird number and too close to Allen for coincidence.. We really need to re-sign Binny as a priority next off-season if he plays well this season.

* * *

I don't believe this is Binnington's peak in his career. I view he has room to grow Vezina finalist and maybe even win it. Well its realistic knowing how impressive his rookie season was. I still can't believe people really thinked Binny doesn't deserve more AAV compare to Allen who was handed in golden plate #1 gig and 4.350mill.$ money. Even that (4.4mill.$) number proves it was crucial case for Binny's team to get more money what Allen had. Indicates Blues keep Binnington in #1 spot for future.

This contract proves so much how wrong people were in here. Deserved money for proven #1 goaltender.

 

[David Dennison]

Probably too much but I am still of the opinion of who gives a f*** we won the Cup give the man whatever he wants.

I think Niemi would probably be the best comparison, a little older, less 'pedigree'. Ward and Murray hit RFA a year after winning the Cup, so they had a full season under their belt. Niemi was given 2.75m in arbitration, Chicago declined it and Sharks signed him for 2m. So this is 60% higher than the arb award and 120% higher than what he actually signed for.

Im still working from the theory that he is a solid goalie playing behind a great defensive team. We will see if he can be that 60+ game guy during the regular season. Im okay with 2 years, let Binnington earn it, Allen will be off the books, we will have a better read on Ville Husso. 1 year deal could get us into trouble if he has another great year and there is downside to 3 years if he is a flash in the pan.

 

[Robb_K]

One year was too much risk on Binnington and 4 or more was too much risk for the Blues. I thought he would get 3 years for around 4m and I guess the getting him to take a 2 year deal added a little AAV. Perfectly fair for everyone.

Exactly! Putting it down to 2 years allowed the AAV to go from $4 to $4.5, and get above Allen's, so Binnington would feel like he's not a starter making less than his back-up. Not a terribel situation for The Blues, as Allen will not feel slighted, and The Blues can reward him with a long-term extension after next season if he performs well (which I'm sure he will). I, too, wanted 3 years at $3.8-$4.0, but I'm okay with this deal.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I’m a little surprised they went 2 years as that walks him right to UFA but the AAV is about what I expected. I said $4.25M if it was 1 year, $4.5M if it was 3 years.

And 2 years makes some sense after thinking about it a bit. He’ll be eligible for an extension a little less than a year from now.

 

[Alklha]

Probably too much but I am still of the opinion of who gives a **** we won the Cup give the man whatever he wants.

I think Niemi would probably be the best comparison, a little older, less 'pedigree'. Ward and Murray hit RFA a year after winning the Cup, so they had a full season under their belt. Niemi was given 2.75m in arbitration, Chicago declined it and Sharks signed him for 2m. So this is 60% higher than the arb award and 120% higher than what he actually signed for.

Im still working from the theory that he is a solid goalie playing behind a great defensive team. We will see if he can be that 60+ game guy during the regular season. Im okay with 2 years, let Binnington earn it, Allen will be off the books, we will have a better read on Ville Husso. 1 year deal could get us into trouble if he has another great year and there is downside to 3 years if he is a flash in the pan.

Murray signed before he played the following season, so it would have been a solid comparable.

As you say, the arbitration award was $2.75m for Niemi, but you need to adjust that for the cap inflation and it is at $3.77m. Then the more recent Murray signing supporting a number above 5% of the cap. Something starting with a 4 was probably a safe bet from arbitration.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Murray signed before he played the following season, so it would have been a solid comparable.

As you say, the arbitration award was $2.75m for Niemi, but you need to adjust that for the cap inflation and it is at $3.77m. Then the more recent Murray signing supporting a number above 5% of the cap. Something starting with a 4 was probably a safe bet from arbitration.

Murray’s contract was always the closest comparable IMO but I will note that he signed that extension on Oct 20, so the Pens waited a couple weeks into the following season to make sure he wasn’t a flash in the pan.

 

[Alklha]

Murray’s contract was always the closest comparable IMO but I will note that he signed that extension on Oct 20, so the Pens waited a couple weeks into the following season to make sure he wasn’t a flash in the pan.

He was injured to start the year, didn't play until November.

 

[CraftyVeteran]

Hopefully he can build on his performance giving Allen value as trade bait. let's not keep doing the revolving carousel of ineffective talent evaluation. Don't need to sink that much money in your goalie situation.

 

[TruBlu]

* * *

I don't believe this is Binnington's peak in his career. I view he has room to grow Vezina finalist and maybe even win it. Well its realistic knowing how impressive his rookie season was. I still can't believe people really thinked Binny doesn't deserve more AAV compare to Allen who was handed in golden plate #1 gig and 4.350mill.$ money. Even that (4.4mill.$) number proves it was crucial case for Binny's team to get more money what Allen had. Indicates Blues keep Binnington in #1 spot for future.

This contract proves so much how wrong people were in here. Deserved money for proven #1 goaltender.

Goddamn, Ranksu. You really, really hate Allen.

 

[Ranksu]

Goddamn, Ranksu. You really, really hate Allen.

I dont hate him. I just hate he is overpaid and handed over in golden plate #1 job. He doesnt have earn anything. He won Stanley Cup f***ing opening bench door. Every back-up goaltender has beat his arse except Chad Johnson.

Put Allen in worse d-core he'll get destroyed there. Allen should be at AHL team not in NHL.

 

[Blanick]

I think this is fair contract for both sides. It doesn't handcuff the Blues if Binny doesn't live up to what he's done so far and if he does it means he gets his big payday while still young. Win-win

I will also say that Binny led us to our first cup and ended a 50 year curse upon our franchise. Even if the kid never wins another game, even if he never makes another save, I am happy to pay him this contract in back pay for that one cup.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Excuse for what? I gave my honest opinion. I was a little off, but not terribly. I didn’t expect the 2 year term. Evidently Armstrong is comfortable with being able to negotiate the next deal before he walks. Why do you try to make things into personal pissing matches so often?

@Ranksu is kinky like that.

 

[Brian39]

I really hate the 2 year term. I have no problem with the money as it is a completely fair AAV for the 2 years he is here. I'd have preferred to roll the dice in arbitration and would have absolutely accepted a higher award from an arbitrator on a 1 year deal than getting this AAV on a 2 year deal. Unfortunately, the only way this contract makes sense to me is if Army either doesn't believe he will play well enough to merit a big raise in 2 years or is fine letting another team give him that raise. I'm not wild about either of those.

I no longer expect Binny to be on the Blues beyond June 30, 2021. Which is absolutely not the outcome I was hoping for and is a pretty likely consequence of walking him directly to UFA. I think this contract puts the Blues in very good shape in goal for the next 2 years, but it also means that we absolutely need to keep Husso from going back to Europe and we need to hope that his disaster in the AHL last season was an injury-induced one off and he can bounce back.

I really, really don't like Army's strategy here. Outside of going 5+ years at big, big money I think a 2 year deal was literally the worst outcome for the Blues (regardless of AAV, which again, I don't have an issue with where we landed). I'm really annoyed that Binny playing as well as we all hope this season will likely mean that we're looking for a new goalie in 2021. That sucks, hard.

If I were Binny's agent, I'd be advising him to go have a great season and then ignore any offer made by the Blues worth anything less than the contract Bob just got from Florida. This contract sets him up perfectly to be in a position to do that

 

[Note Worthy]

I really hate the 2 year term. I have no problem with the money as it is a completely fair AAV for the 2 years he is here. I'd have preferred to roll the dice in arbitration and would have absolutely accepted a higher award from an arbitrator on a 1 year deal than getting this AAV on a 2 year deal. Unfortunately, the only way this contract makes sense to me is if Army either doesn't believe he will play well enough to merit a big raise in 2 years or is fine letting another team give him that raise. I'm not wild about either of those.

I no longer expect Binny to be on the Blues beyond June 30, 2021. Which is absolutely not the outcome I was hoping for and is a pretty likely consequence of walking him directly to UFA. I think this contract puts the Blues in very good shape in goal for the next 2 years, but it also means that we absolutely need to keep Husso from going back to Europe and we need to hope that his disaster in the AHL last season was an injury-induced one off and he can bounce back.

I really, really don't like Army's strategy here. Outside of going 5+ years at big, big money I think a 2 year deal was literally the worst outcome for the Blues (regardless of AAV, which again, I don't have an issue with where we landed). I'm really annoyed that Binny playing as well as we all hope this season will likely mean that we're looking for a new goalie in 2021. That sucks, hard.

If I were Binny's agent, I'd be advising him to go have a great season and then ignore any offer made by the Blues worth anything less than the contract Bob just got from Florida. This contract sets him up perfectly to be in a position to do that

Why are you so certain he won't be here after 2021 and someone else will give him a great contract and not us? Allen's contract comes off the books so say Binnington does have a great couple years we can sign him to a pretty nice contract and get a cheap backup. I don't see the issue.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I really hate the 2 year term. I have no problem with the money as it is a completely fair AAV for the 2 years he is here. I'd have preferred to roll the dice in arbitration and would have absolutely accepted a higher award from an arbitrator on a 1 year deal than getting this AAV on a 2 year deal. Unfortunately, the only way this contract makes sense to me is if Army either doesn't believe he will play well enough to merit a big raise in 2 years or is fine letting another team give him that raise. I'm not wild about either of those.

I no longer expect Binny to be on the Blues beyond June 30, 2021. Which is absolutely not the outcome I was hoping for and is a pretty likely consequence of walking him directly to UFA. I think this contract puts the Blues in very good shape in goal for the next 2 years, but it also means that we absolutely need to keep Husso from going back to Europe and we need to hope that his disaster in the AHL last season was an injury-induced one off and he can bounce back.

I really, really don't like Army's strategy here. Outside of going 5+ years at big, big money I think a 2 year deal was literally the worst outcome for the Blues (regardless of AAV, which again, I don't have an issue with where we landed). I'm really annoyed that Binny playing as well as we all hope this season will likely mean that we're looking for a new goalie in 2021. That sucks, hard.

If I were Binny's agent, I'd be advising him to go have a great season and then ignore any offer made by the Blues worth anything less than the contract Bob just got from Florida. This contract sets him up perfectly to be in a position to do that

Assuming Blues opted for 1 year in arbitration, didn’t Binnington retain the right for another arbitration hearing next year which MUST be a 1 year deal? Maybe Armstrong had less flexibility than it appeared, if Binnington was bound and determined to get to UFA.

We’ll see how this shakes out, but Armstrong seems to be betting on not having difficulty with the next contract.