News Article: Doug Armstrong Q&A

[LGB51]

Elliot outplays Halak and Miller all year, but doesn't even get a mention. All the while Army talks about the possibility of bringing Miller back. If I was Ells I'd be telling my agent to start shopping me asap, then when Miller doesn't re-sign and Army comes calling I'd tell him to stick it up his ass. If I were him, I'd rather play for Winnipeg then stick around a place where the front office and the majority of the organizations fans give me so little respect.

Dude played circles around both our "#1 starters" this season, and doesn't even get a mention about bringing him back to share time with Allen. Miller played like ****, after 8 to 10 straight starts, just like everyone always harps on Elliot about, and wasn't a difference maker at all in this playoff series, but Army's considering bringing Miller back, to who knows how much money, when Elliot is just as good, if not better and would cost far less. Just stupid, we need to save money on the goalie position, and use that savings to lure a legit 1C, and another legit scoring threat for the third line.

 

[DaddyPadre]

I wouldn't have a problem with resigning miller, but he is most likely going to Anaheim. We beed to try to sign hiller and have allen as the back up.

Roy ott and morrow hopefully are not brought back. Roy and ott are overpaid and will want more than they are worth

Oshie - backes- steen
Schwartz - FA - tarasenko
Berglund - sabotka - jaskin/paajarvi
Reaves - lapierre - cracknell

Petrangelo - bouwmeester
Shattenkirk - polak
Cole - FA

Thats right no jackman, wont happen but ive been wishing for it for at least 5 years.

yah since Hiller has been SOOOO MUCH better than Miller on a arguably even if not better Ducks team. Please just stop

 

[LongLiveTheNote]

My only issue with Hiller is how much less is he going to want than Miller? Obviously less, but I don't necessarily see it being a "noticable difference"- I put that in quotes because its relative to each personal though process, but if we're only getting a 1.5ish discount, I'd rather just spend it on Miller.

Miller 4-5 years 6-6.5 M?
Hiller ? years 4ish M? He makes 4.5 currently.

I really have no clue how long or how much Hiller would want. If he would want less years that would be a bonus because we don't want Allen to get stuck for too long, especially with Army's talk about him fighting for the starting position next year. Thoughts?

 

[SweetyV]

Hiller would be alright, but I think 4+ million is to much for a guy who could be relagated to a backup role if Allen plays well.

 

[Celtic Note]

Armstrong doesn't even remotely sound confident in Berglund. Listen and watch the interview.

He isn't. I think he brought up Patrik and Sobie as potential fillers because he isn't certain if he will be able to swing a deal for a top 6 center due to FA uncertainty and high trade prices.

The written version of the Q&A was terribly misleading in certain instances. I recommend people watch the Army and Hitch interviews on the Blues website.

 

[medkit]

Well I think when asked about the 2C spot he didn't want to say anything to the effect of "Sobotka and Berglund obviously just can't cut it." He's not going to bring down players. His facial expressions seemed more like he knew that it's a problem and needs to be fixed. But who was realistically available at the deadline as far as 2C's go that fit our system?

For this year or longterm? Tarasenko and Schwartz are 22 and 21, so you don't necessarily have to target a proven older guy. Keeping 1st rounders is a good start towards getting a young center. Another guy who got traded is Calle Jarnkok, who is a really solid 22 year old center prospect that should start next year and finished this year with 9 points in 12 games. Or Stepan, who is 23. For as much as we were throwing down we could have even tossed around ideas of throwing in another piece and trying for Reinhart or Couture. Maybe we could swindle away Strome considering the guy pulling the strings there. Or one of the Avs young centers, though the best timing for all of this was last offseason.

Look at a top franchise in any sport, like the Cardinals, and you'll see GMs tend to try and plan this stuff out years in advance. We've been ignoring the center position for ages, either by consistently drafting right handed defenseman, using our 1st overall on Erik Johnson, or drafting too many wingers. A move for a young center needs to be figured out in the offseason. You're never going to find a ton of options for a long-term #1C or #2C at the deadline.

 

[Vladys Gumption]

For this year or longterm? Tarasenko and Schwartz are 22 and 21, so you don't necessarily have to target a proven older guy. Keeping 1st rounders is a good start towards getting a young center. Another guy who got traded is Calle Jarnkok, who is a really solid 22 year old center prospect that should start next year and finished this year with 9 points in 12 games. Or Stepan, who is 23. For as much as we were throwing down we could have even tossed around ideas of throwing in another piece and trying for Reinhart or Couture. Maybe we could swindle away Strome considering the guy pulling the strings there. Or one of the Avs young centers, though the best timing for all of this was last offseason.

Look at a top franchise in any sport, like the Cardinals, and you'll see GMs tend to try and plan this stuff out years in advance. We've been ignoring the center position for ages, either by consistently drafting right handed defenseman, using our 1st overall on Erik Johnson, or drafting too many wingers. A move for a young center needs to be figured out in the offseason. You're never going to find a ton of options for a long-term #1C or #2C at the deadline.

You have to realize why teams take the best player available to them, especially at the tail end of the first round. Guys taken at the end of the first round typically aren't anywhere near NHL ready. They take 2,3,4, sometimes 5 years before they are ready. Team needs can change a hell of a lot in that amount of time. Perfect example is Carey Price. When Montreal took hm at 5 people were questioning it because they had Jose Theodore and Huet. People thought they didn't need a goalie. By the time he was ready, they needed a good goalie and all they had to do was reach down to Hamilton and bring him up.

I will admit though, that we do need to target more centers. Realistically trading for a top center or signing one in free agency is rare, and when it happens it's very expensive. You have to be able to develop your own players from within. Plus, I really, really want Nick Schmaltz.

 

[LGB51]

You have to realize why teams take the best player available to them, especially at the tail end of the first round. Guys taken at the end of the first round typically aren't anywhere near NHL ready. They take 2,3,4, sometimes 5 years before they are ready. Team needs can change a hell of a lot in that amount of time. Perfect example is Carey Price. When Montreal took hm at 5 people were questioning it because they had Jose Theodore and Huet. People thought they didn't need a goalie. By the time he was ready, they needed a good goalie and all they had to do was reach down to Hamilton and bring him up.

I will admit though, that we do need to target more centers. Realistically trading for a top center or signing one in free agency is rare, and when it happens it's very expensive. You have to be able to develop your own players from within. Plus, I really, really want Nick Schmaltz.

I just watched some video on Nick Schmaltz, where do you think he will be drafted, and what do you think are our chances are of him still being around when we're on the clock?

 

[medkit]

You have to realize why teams take the best player available to them, especially at the tail end of the first round. Guys taken at the end of the first round typically aren't anywhere near NHL ready.

Yeah I know what BPA is. I don't agree that the players we have been drafting were BPA. And yeah Price worked out but I still think taking a goalie in the top 5 is a bad idea the vast majority of the time.

The nice thing about centers is they are pretty much the currency for the NHL. You can never have too many good centers and everyone is always willing to give you a good price for them. You can even place them on the wing if there's such an excess.

Needs do change after 2-3-4 years, but we have had Pietrangelo + either Erik Johnson or Shattenkirk for several years now. Other first rounders were put on Cole and Rundblad and Jordan Schmaltz, and I think defensemen are often a more vague pick in the first round than centers are. During all of this time center was the bigger need so you'd think over a 8 year period we'd prioritize it more.

At some point you have to develop a plan for how you are going to fill positions over time. Maybe they were counting hard on Schwartz being a center or Mcrae being a top-6 impact guy, I don't know. If not it's poor planning and now we have to pay for it.

 

[Vladys Gumption]

I just watched some video on Nick Schmaltz, where do you think he will be drafted, and what do you think are our chances are of him still being around when we're on the clock?

I honestly have no idea. Most of the mock drafts have him in the early to mid twenties. But you never know how it will play out. All it takes is one team to like him more than everyone else available and boom, he's off the board. If he's still on the board at 20, I'd say throw caution to the wind and try to trade up to make sure we get him. Then again, I REALLY like him. My guess is he goes higher than what a lot of the mocks have him. I could easily see him going in the 17 to 20 range.

 

[LGB51]

I honestly have no idea. Most of the mock drafts have him in the early to mid twenties. But you never know how it will play out. All it takes is one team to like him more than everyone else available and boom, he's off the board. If he's still on the board at 20, I'd say throw caution to the wind and try to trade up to make sure we get him. Then again, I REALLY like him. My guess is he goes higher than what a lot of the mocks have him. I could easily see him going in the 17 to 20 range.

Is this assuming we don't re-sign Miller and keep our 2014 1st?

 

[Vladys Gumption]

Yeah I know what BPA is. I don't agree that the players we have been drafting were BPA. And yeah Price worked out but I still think taking a goalie in the top 5 is a bad idea the vast majority of the time. Schmaltz was a bit of a reach at the time, but he's looking more and more like a great pick at 25. Vannelli was pretty highly regarded for where we took him, and I didn't really think there was much in the way of quality centers where we were sitting in that round so I can't really complain about that.
The nice thing about centers is they are pretty much the currency for the NHL. You can never have too many good centers and everyone is always willing to give you a good price for them. You can even place them on the wing if there's such an excess.
I can't argue with this at all. As a matter of fact, I completely agree.
Needs do change after 2-3-4 years, but we have had Pietrangelo + either Erik Johnson or Shattenkirk for several years now. Other first rounders were put on Cole and Rundblad and Jordan Schmaltz, and I think defensemen are often a more vague pick in the first round than centers are. I don't think we should really put Cole and Rundblad on this list. Cole was drafted in the draft as Shattenkirk, and when Rundblad was drafted, Shattenkirk was still with the Avalanche. Not to mention that Pietrangelo didn't break in until 2010-2011. We were building from the backend at that time so those picks made sense. Plus we turned Rundblad into Tarasenko, so I'd say that was a great pick. During all of this time center was the bigger need so you'd think over a 8 year period we'd prioritize it more. At some point you have to develop a plan for how you are going to fill positions over time. Maybe they were counting hard on Schwartz being a center or Mcrae being a top-6 impact guy, I don't know. If not it's poor planning and now we have to pay for it.
From 2006, to I'd say 2009, we needed to be drafting quality players period. We needed help everywhere, not just at center. Our team just wasn't very good and we needed to infuse talent at both ends of the rink. Prior to Pietrangelo breaking in to the league, our defense was pretty craptastic. There's no doubt that we need center help, and badly, but overall our drafting has been pretty good for us the last six or seven years. It's really a testament to our scouting and drafting department that we went from needed help literally everywhere 5 or 6 years ago to only needing center help now.

I put my thoughts in red just so it'd be easier for me to respond to each individual point.

 

[Lord Helix]

Is this assuming we don't re-sign Miller and keep our 2014 1st?

That's the hope. Does anyone want to give up Halak, Stewart, Carrier, and TWO 1sts on Miller?

 

[Vladys Gumption]

Is this assuming we don't re-sign Miller and keep our 2014 1st?

You are correct sir, and I really hope we let him walk. Or if we are going to re-sign him, I'd like to wait until after the draft.

 

[Vladys Gumption]

That's the hope. Does anyone want to give up Halak, Stewart, Carrier, and TWO 1sts on Miller?

That package makes me shudder, even without the extra first.

 

[LGB51]

You are correct sir, and I really hope we let him walk. Or if we are going to re-sign him, I'd like to wait until after the draft.

I'm in total agreement with you here. I really can't believe there is a contingent of fans that want to bring him back, giving up another 1st, just to save face on what was a awful trade from our end. If ever there was a time to cut our loses and move on, this deal with Miller is it.

 

[Vladys Gumption]

I'm in total agreement with you here. I really can't believe there is a contingent of fans that want to bring him back, giving up another 1st, just to save face on what was a awful trade from our end. If ever there was a time to cut our loses and move on, this deal with Miller is it.

For the right deal, signed at the right time I'd be ok with him coming back. I mean we're talking like a two year deal at 4 to 4.5 million per, being signed after the draft. If I had my way that's what I'd offer, meaning he would really have to want to be here.

 

[EastonBlues22]

I'm in total agreement with you here. I really can't believe there is a contingent of fans that want to bring him back, giving up another 1st, just to save face on what was a awful trade from our end. If ever there was a time to cut our loses and move on, this deal with Miller is it.

I doubt there are any Blues fans interested in bringing Miller back just to save face.

 

[Dbrownss]

For the right deal, signed at the right time I'd be ok with him coming back. I mean we're talking like a two year deal at 4 to 4.5 million per, being signed after the draft. If I had my way that's what I'd offer, meaning he would really have to want to be here.

This is what I would pursue also.

 

[medkit]

I put my thoughts in red just so it'd be easier for me to respond to each individual point.

Yeah I agree with you on most of it. The drafting has been on point overall I'm just talking more about what we're targetting. I just think if you spend two top-5 picks on hyped defensemen you have to be able to accept that they will turn into top-4 defensemen and then start drafting other positions. That's a risk, but that's part of planning a team. Rundblad was turned into Tarasenko, but that doesn't mean Rundblad was a great pick as much as a good trade. If we hadn't made that one and gotten Shattenkirk for Johnson this offense would be even more meh.

There's an argument to be made about getting a strong top-2 defenseman versus a strong #1C when first rebuilding. Personally when you draft high in the 1st round I think centers are often the safer pick but whatever works. Either way, my main point is that at some point you need to balance out what you are doing either by balancing your draft choices or by trading from strength. Centers are pretty hard to get outside of the draft so I'd rather make that the point of strength, personally. When I look at dominant teams (Pens, Hawks, etc.) that's usually what I see.

At this point we're far enough behind that we need more than just one center prospect at this point and I'd hope our first two picks at least are earmarked for drafting centers or trading for center prospects, and roster players should be on the table for that purpose as well. No way that 1st should be reinvested into Miller when it could be a center. Army clearly hasn't seen it that way so far.

 

[medkit]

I just watched some video on Nick Schmaltz, where do you think he will be drafted, and what do you think are our chances are of him still being around when we're on the clock?

Robby Fabri is pretty incredible too. But I guess there's no chance he will fall to us. There's a lot of real good centers flying around the mid-1st round this year.

 

[Vladys Gumption]

Yeah I agree with you on most of it. The drafting has been on point overall I'm just talking more about what we're targetting. I just think if you spend two top-5 picks on hyped defensemen you have to be able to accept that they will turn into top-4 defensemen and then start drafting other positions. That's a risk, but that's part of planning a team. Rundblad was turned into Tarasenko, but that doesn't mean Rundblad was a great pick as much as a good trade. If we hadn't made that one and gotten Shattenkirk for Johnson this offense would be even more meh.

There's an argument to be made about getting a strong top-2 defenseman versus a strong #1C when first rebuilding. Personally when you draft high in the 1st round I think centers are often the safer pick but whatever works. Either way, my main point is that at some point you need to balance out what you are doing either by balancing your draft choices or by trading from strength. Centers are pretty hard to get outside of the draft so I'd rather make that the point of strength, personally. When I look at dominant teams (Pens, Hawks, etc.) that's usually what I see.

At this point we're far enough behind that we need more than just one center prospect at this point and I'd hope our first two picks at least are earmarked for drafting centers or trading for center prospects, and roster players should be on the table for that purpose as well. No way that 1st should be reinvested into Miller when it could be a center. Army clearly hasn't seen it that way so far.

Centers are definitely the safer pick at the top of the draft, and in hindsight picking Toews would have been the best choice. I agree though, now we need to take some centers, especially in this draft. There's some good centers available.

 

[LGB51]

I doubt there are any Blues fans interested in bringing Miller back just to save face.

Go read the Let Miller walk thread, there are more than a few that say, we made the deal, and now we will look really terrible if we don't get Miller signed. That sounds like worrying about saving face to me, but maybe I'm wrong.

 

[LGB51]

Robby Fabri is pretty incredible too. But I guess there's no chance he will fall to us. There's a lot of real good centers flying around the mid-1st round this year.

That's funny you say that, because everything I keep hearing is how terribly weak this draft class is. Everybody makes it sound like there are only 3 or 4 players worth drafting, and the rest are scrubs, that will always be floaters between the AHL-NHL.

 

[medkit]

That's funny you say that, because everything I keep hearing is how terribly weak this draft class is. Everybody makes it sound like there are only 3 or 4 players worth drafting, and the rest are scrubs, that will always be floaters between the AHL-NHL.

I feel like 99% of the people saying that have no idea what they are talking about and are just repeating it. 2013 was an insane class and 2015 is hyped to be as well, so 2014 sort of goes under the radar. Seems like an exaggeration to write off first rounders like that but I don't claim to know enough to judge the entire class either.

I still think Fabbri is an incredibly good player and so is Schmaltz. If everyone thinks there are 20-25 better guys than that then I consider it a good class. The dig is that Fabbri is just so small so will take time, but he's only 18 so if we get him I'll personally take him to the gym myself and bulk his *** up.

anyway I'll shut up about it since this is kind of the wrong thread