I was hoping the Blues looked at Grabovski last year. He was angry and had something to prove and I thought another Russian (Grachev decided to go back to the KHL) might give Tarasenko a comrade/teammate to help mentor him.
Since Grabovski was a compliance buyout (surprisingly) I wonder if there will be similar buy out surprises this year? I hope that Army/Stillman consider this and we avoid the Dallas retreads, and go after a long-term solution for a key player in late his 20's, early 30's.
Although, with the cap ceiling increasing, I would expect teams to make every effort to trade - and retain some salary - to minimize their lo$$e$ as opposed to eating the buy-out cost (which is 1/3 or 2/3 of remaining contract, depending on players age). The difference between a 66% buy out, or a say 50% retained salary for 1 season is significant. IF, for sake of argument, a buyout of a TJ Oshie type contract became necessary the difference would be about 2MM. (And that's a reasonable contract). Would a team be willing to save 2 million AND unload a player they no longer want AND get a mid-round pick or prospect to unload an unwanted, overpaid player? I see lots of trades at the draft because of this opportunity.
We might be able to get some over-paid skill player who wants to show that his former team misused him (see Grabovski comments last year) and helps the Blues make a serious Cup run. It would be a little cheaper in terms of cost, and in terms of assets, than a Blockbuster deal. Say a player comes with a discounted salary, then finds his game in STL. It might be affordable to the Blues budget and the salary in year 2-3 isn't as outrageous. I mean, somebody saw something to throw that much money at a player.
The more I watch these Playoff games, the more I think we aren't fast and furious enough. I like our team, but a meaner defenseman and a physical winger is critical to compete with these teams.
