Podcast (Audio) NHL XM Powerplay from OB Clarks Notes

[m1a2lt]

The Powerplay was out at OB Clark's yesterday and did extended interviews with John Cooper, Andy Strickland and Kelly Chase and some great stories and Blues' notes. A couple interesting/informative points:

- Kelly Chase confirmed Red Berenson will be at the alumni game and, can't remember for sure, but think he said he would be skating...at 80 years old!

- Chase set up for the alumni game teams to try to start a fight which should involve Cam Janssen.

- Chase told a couple great stories from the Stanley Cup win, one that he decided to listen to the game on the radio and timed his arrival on I-70 in downtown right as the game ended (spoke about crawling through Belleville to make it) and the sights. Also told a story about a 78 year old at a cup event that would not stop crying. Chase found out he was an usher at the old arena 67-75 and watched the cup get carried by him by Montreal and never thought he'd ever see the cup in St Louis again.

- Andy Strickland was Kelly Chase's assistant coach and Chase buried him in the boards during a friendly skate one day.

- John Cooper came to OB Clark's frequently and always wears his OB Clark's hat. Was shocked when he saw Shattenkirk wearing one too and forgot he had been in StL.

- And current hockey related: Andy Strickland's and Tarasenko's kids are in the same class. At a parent's teacher's conference, right after 91 got injured, Andy sat next to him and asked when he'd be back. 91 said mid-March. They just had another one and he asked Tarasenko if it was still mid-March and 91 responded. "No, sooner".

- The big thing that Berube brings to the team is accountability, something that Yeo failed to do.

- And finally, Berube is one of the best fast-ball pitchers out there.

I missed a bunch and if anyone else listened, please add.

They will be doing a history on the Blues today at 3:00PM ET and Friday at noon ET.

Click to read more...

 

[MissouriMook]

Thanks for the update. Now that Hall has moved, the idea that Tarasenko might be back as soon as early to mid March might be the reason why there are no other rental forwards that we seem to be getting tied to. We simply don't have the cap space to add anyone without moving significant cap commitment out once Tarasenko is back on the active roster.

Right now, our cap sits at exactly $74.5M without Tarasenko or Blais, but including Parayko for a full 23 man roster. Once Blais comes off IR, he'll likely replace one of Brower, De La Rose or Kyrou and that cap hit will be close to a wash. Another one of those three gets the boot when Tarasenko is activated (assuming the story is correct and it happens before the end of the regular season) so you'd have roughly $750K out and $7.5M coming back in. That puts you about $250K under the cap at that point in time.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Oh god, if Tarasenko is back at some point in February or early March...

 

[TK 421]

Interesting. I've just kind of tried to not think about 91 and when I do I tend to view him as a guy who won't be at max effectiveness this season. I'd still love some Tarasenko insurance in the form of a trade for a winger but this is great news that 91 should be back sooner than the original timeline.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

Even if Vladi isn’t back to PPG him when he comes back, I’m glad it’s sooner than later.

We’ll have time to get our four lines set for the playoffs, and not just throwing him back in for game one and mixing up things that had been working.

 

[Brian39]

Right now, our cap sits at exactly $74.5M without Tarasenko or Blais, but including Parayko for a full 23 man roster. Once Blais comes off IR, he'll likely replace one of Brower, De La Rose or Kyrou and that cap hit will be close to a wash. Another one of those three gets the boot when Tarasenko is activated (assuming the story is correct and it happens before the end of the regular season) so you'd have roughly $750K out and $7.5M coming back in. That puts you about $250K under the cap at that point in time.

Yup, I just messed around a bit on cap friendly and even if you consciously send down the cheapest guys to minimize cap savings, you come in at about $250k of cap space with a full, healthy 23 man roster. That could be closer to $500k in space if DLR is deemed expendable. With Tarasenko skating and optimistic, I think the team is going to make sure it can fit him if he is ready. I think they will value a couple weeks for him to get back up to speed before playoffs over the added value of a rental that forces him to stay on LTIR and "fully recover" before a return in the first round.

However, there is another avenue to make a rental fit under the cap when we are fully healthy. Does anyone see Sanford making the lineup when Blais AND Tarasenko are back? If you include him in the package for a rental, you offset the first $1.5M of a rental's cap hit. Combine that with the $250k-$500k in cap space and salary retention from the other team and you can suddenly fit in a guy making $3.5-$4M.

At the end of the day, I doubt we go down that road. We've got about $900k in bonuses that guys may or may not hit. I don't know how realistic some of those bonuses are, but if I were the Blues I'd like to end the season with a little cap space to absorb some of those if they are hit. Next year is going to be tight enough. We don't need $750k in our cap space paying bonuses that we couldn't fit under our cap.

 

[David Dennison]

Yup, I just messed around a bit on cap friendly and even if you consciously send down the cheapest guys to minimize cap savings, you come in at about $250k of cap space with a full, healthy 23 man roster. That could be closer to $500k in space if DLR is deemed expendable. With Tarasenko skating and optimistic, I think the team is going to make sure it can fit him if he is ready. I think they will value a couple weeks for him to get back up to speed before playoffs over the added value of a rental that forces him to stay on LTIR and "fully recover" before a return in the first round.

However, there is another avenue to make a rental fit under the cap when we are fully healthy. Does anyone see Sanford making the lineup when Blais AND Tarasenko are back? If you include him in the package for a rental, you offset the first $1.5M of a rental's cap hit. Combine that with the $250k-$500k in cap space and salary retention from the other team and you can suddenly fit in a guy making $3.5-$4M.

At the end of the day, I doubt we go down that road. We've got about $900k in bonuses that guys may or may not hit. I don't know how realistic some of those bonuses are, but if I were the Blues I'd like to end the season with a little cap space to absorb some of those if they are hit. Next year is going to be tight enough. We don't need $750k in our cap space paying bonuses that we couldn't fit under our cap.

I don't think they would do that unless they have some more important injuries or Vlad has a setback. Blues didn't do anything at the deadline last season, and they gotta be pretty comfortable with the current group. Like you said, they don't really have a cap issue until next season, and someone like Sanford might be a good piece to move along with Allen or Steen or Bozak. No need to dump salary if you don't have to.

 

[Brian39]

I don't think they would do that unless they have some more important injuries or Vlad has a setback. Blues didn't do anything at the deadline last season, and they gotta be pretty comfortable with the current group. Like you said, they don't really have a cap issue until next season, and someone like Sanford might be a good piece to move along with Allen or Steen or Bozak. No need to dump salary if you don't have to.

I tend to agree since we haven't gotten a rental already and Blais is getting closer to a return. For me, a rental was just as much about helping the team build a division lead through injuries as it was about the playoffs. I just wanted to run the numbers about what the Blues could do. FWIW, When I proposed including Sanford in a trade for a rental, my thought was that he would be a positive asset as part of that trade, not just a salary dump. I agree that he adds value to a move and could be a useful (minor) piece of a trade.