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

[Majorityof1]

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.

If you are looking to hit the cap floor during free agecy, why not just way overpay someone rather than give up picks when you are rebuilding. Expecting bad GMs to help us out is a recipe for disappointment. It happens from time to time, but banking on it will leave you wanting.

 

[jmwc95]

Agreed with previous posters. Some teams need to get to the cap floor. As some of the free agents get signed up and teams still aren’t at the cap floor, the price for taking your bad contract goes down. It may be that someone is asking for a 2nd or 3rd and we’re waiting them out to unload Scandella for a 3rd or 4th. I trust in Army. Perron isn’t gone yet.

 

[EastVillageBlues]

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.

Colorado, it might or might not have. Krug would be much less likely to make the same mental mistakes that Perunovich would, so at least at the margins (of the small amount of ice time that Peru played). Krug also is experienced enough to take on heavier minutes and not look out of place, relieving some pressure on the rest of the D-corps. He would also have played more TOI, so would have helped the transition game more than Peru.


Think about that Leddy, an actually useful PMD in the top 4, is only paid 750K more than that hunk of smoldering garbage, Scandella, is quite insane. This just underscores the fact that he must go.

 

[Novacain]

Think about that Leddy, an actually useful PMD in the top 4, is only paid 750K more than that hunk of smoldering garbage, Scandella, is quite insane. This just underscores the fact that he must go.

Nick Leddy being a top 4 Puck Moving Defensemen isn't something buy though. He hasn't been that in years. He had a good stretch playing with a Parayko after years of being a let down, and we give him a 4 year contract extension.

Basically, we just did the Scandella thing again.

 

[BlueDream]

Nick Leddy being a top 4 Puck Moving Defensemen isn't something buy though. He hasn't been that in years. He had a good stretch playing with a Parayko after years of being a let down, and we give him a 4 year contract extension.

Basically, we just did the Scandella thing again.

That is not true.

 

[542365]

Only a couple hours into free agency, but so far we’re just a worse version of the exact same team that got trounced in the playoffs. I don’t believe for a second that Army is good with this team. Moves are going to be made.

 

[EastVillageBlues]

Nick Leddy being a top 4 Puck Moving Defensemen isn't something buy though. He hasn't been that in years. He had a good stretch playing with a Parayko after years of being a let down, and we give him a 4 year contract extension.

Basically, we just did the Scandella thing again.

By years, you basically mean the last year he was with the Isles (when he fell out of favor with the coaching staff with Trotz), and parts of a season with the Wings.

Scandella has never been a legit top 4, like never even close. So I'm not sure where are you drawing the parallel from.

 

[Prosaic]

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

Sure, but as of now the Blues have 7 players age 29 or older signed for 4 or more years.

Not one of these players is in the top echelon of the NHL. There are all somewhere in the middle tier. They are all at the point of decline in their career or nearing it.

Are the Blues as constructed right now, a true Stanley Cup contender? Their recipe for success last year was relying on Vezina level goaltending and absurdly good finishing talent.

We just lost our better goalie from last season and are betting on a goalie at 6M who's play has declined for each of the past 3 seasons. As it looks right now, we're letting a 30 goal winger, who led our team in playoff scoring walk without a direct replacement. The team sits with 3.6M in space.

What would I do? Not sure how that's relevant, if your not going to ever question the decision of our GM, is there really any point in being on a discussion board about hockey?

But to answer, not sign a declining Leddy to a 4 year contract and focus on bringing in undervalued players that are relatively young like Puljujarvi.

 

[TheDizee]

Only a couple hours into free agency, but so far we’re just a worse version of the exact same team that got trounced in the playoffs. I don’t believe for a second that Army is good with this team. Moves are going to be made.

yep and i hope you are right.

because all he has done is made our team weaker by letting people go. goaltending is now a major concern again.

 

[ezcreepin]

If you are looking to hit the cap floor during free agecy, why not just way overpay someone rather than give up picks when you are rebuilding. Expecting bad GMs to help us out is a recipe for disappointment. It happens from time to time, but banking on it will leave you wanting.

Because if someone doesn't want to sign with you, then you can't fill roster spots. I'm not saying people don't want to go to Seattle or Anaheim, but Arizona is a hard sell unless you're either getting severely overpaid, playing top 6/9 role instead of 4th line, or you're playing quality minutes on defense as opposed to being a 7th guy. They still have a hard time attracting talent, so if they miss out on a defenseman they want in free agency, Scandella is a guy who can play on your 2nd or 3rd pairing and be at least an NHL defenseman.

 

[Majorityof1]

Because if someone doesn't want to sign with you, then you can't fill roster spots. I'm not saying people don't want to go to Seattle or Anaheim, but Arizona is a hard sell unless you're either getting severely overpaid, playing top 6/9 role instead of 4th line, or you're playing quality minutes on defense as opposed to being a 7th guy. They still have a hard time attracting talent, so if they miss out on a defenseman they want in free agency, Scandella is a guy who can play on your 2nd or 3rd pairing and be at least an NHL defenseman.

If you are struggling to hit the cap floor, then severely overpaying works out.

 

[Reality Czech]

Sure, but as of now the Blues have 7 players age 29 or older signed for 4 or more years.

Not one of these players is in the top echelon of the NHL. There are all somewhere in the middle tier. They are all at the point of decline in their career or nearing it.

Are the Blues as constructed right now, a true Stanley Cup contender? Their recipe for success last year was relying on Vezina level goaltending and absurdly good finishing talent.

We just lost our better goalie from last season and are betting on a goalie at 6M who's play has declined for each of the past 3 seasons. As it looks right now, we're letting a 30 goal winger, who led our team in scoring walk without a direct replacement. The team sits with 3.6M in space.

What would I do? Not sure how that's relevant, if your not going to ever question the decision of our GM, is there really any point in being on a discussion board about hockey?

But to answer, not sign a declining Leddy to a 4 year contract and focus on bringing in undervalued players that are relatively young like Puljujarvi.

Maybe it's not the ideal situation but we can only get players who are available and willing to be here. But it's a lot easier to complain than to offer realistic alternatives. I'm just wondering what moves would satisfy the detractors, because it seems to me that Armstrong is doing a decent job with somewhat limited options. Sure everyone wants a big trade for Chychrun, Provy or whoever but that would seriously hurt our depth. What other top 4 d-men were realistic options?

 

[Majorityof1]

Maybe it's not the ideal situation but we can only get players who are available and willing to be here. But it's a lot easier to complain than to offer realistic alternatives. I'm just wondering what moves would satisfy the detractors, because it seems to me that Armstrong is doing a decent job with somewhat limited options. Sure everyone wants a big trade for Chychrun, Provy or whoever but that would seriously hurt our depth. What other top 4 d-men were realistic options?

The reason people don't offer alternatives is because its a trap. Posters who always defend the team decisions say "give me specific examples". When you do they just dismiss them "You don't know player X was available or player Y wanted to sign here". The team gets the presumption from certain posters no matter what. They bludgeon everyone else with any sliver of doubt.

 

[ezcreepin]

If you are struggling to hit the cap floor, then severely overpaying works out.

Idk about you, but I haven't seen many GMs doing the good ole NHL 22 meme and signing bad players to large contracts lol. I agree you can severely overpay, but it's gonna ultimately come down to does the player want to be on your team. Gotta remember as well for Arizona that they're playing in a tiny ass arena, so id how players feel about that.

 

[Prosaic]

Maybe it's not the ideal situation but we can only get players who are available and willing to be here. But it's a lot easier to complain than to offer realistic alternatives. I'm just wondering what moves would satisfy the detractors, because it seems to me that Armstrong is doing a decent job with somewhat limited options. Sure everyone wants a big trade for Chychrun, Provy or whoever but that would seriously hurt our depth. What other top 4 d-men were realistic options?

Personally, don’t think overpaying for Chychrun or Provorov is a good idea either.

If we’re being honest, the current contract situation regarding many of the current players completely screws a team that should’ve just been retooled to be built around Thomas/Kyrou after Pietrangelo left rather than trying to patch round holes with square pegs (Faulk, Krug) and continuously extending players nearing 30 (Schenn, Parayko, Binnington).

The Blues and DA basically decided they’d rather be right square in the middle, not bad enough the bring in high end talent via draft and not good enough to win anything.

So my hope is that they commit to one side or the other. Whatever that move or moves might entail. Settling for a 31 year old Leddy on an already old team that isn’t a true contender isn’t what I was hoping for.

 

[Novacain]

By years, you basically mean the last year he was with the Isles (when he fell out of favor with the coaching staff with Trotz), and parts of a season with the Wings.

Scandella has never been a legit top 4, like never even close. So I'm not sure where are you drawing the parallel from.

He was given high levels of minutes, but nothing in his stretch with the Islanders actually show him being anything other then a mediocre defensemen there, usually held up by a significantly better defensemen (Ones better then Parayko in his current state, I may add). He hasn't been anything above a league average puck possession player in half a decade, and most of those years he's in the negative. And we just signed him for his age 31-35 seasons, when his last season as a legitimate "plus" player was 17-18, and how do you even rank that season when he was a -42 that year when no other defensemen on his team was worse then -9?

 

[Reality Czech]

Personally, don’t think overpaying for Chychrun or Provorov is a good idea either.

If we’re being honest, the current contract situation regarding many of the current players completely screws a team that should’ve just been retooled to be built around Thomas/Kyrou after Pietrangelo left rather than trying to patch round holes with square pegs (Faulk, Krug) and continuously extending players nearing 30 (Schenn, Parayko, Binnington).

The Blues and DA basically decided they’d rather be right square in the middle, not bad enough the bring in high end talent via draft and not good enough to win anything.

So my hope is that they commit to one side or the other. Whatever that move or moves might entail. Settling for a 31 year old Leddy on an already old team that isn’t a true contender isn’t what I was hoping for.

Get what you're saying but a re-tool would be pretty tough to accept for a team full of proud players who just won a championship. And a great way to alienate casual fans who don't follow the team as closely as we do.

Army has done enough over the years that he gets the benefit of the doubt from me, but I don't expect everyone to agree with me. I think this team will look pretty good with both Krug and Leddy in the lineup, but guess we will see.

 

[buches gooches]

Only a couple hours into free agency, but so far we’re just a worse version of the exact same team that got trounced in the playoffs. I don’t believe for a second that Army is good with this team. Moves are going to be made.

You are going to be disappointed.

 

[Brian39]

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.

Scandella was easily our 2nd best LD under contract at 11am today. Until we signed Leddy (or had acquired whatever other upgrade we were considering), having Scandella on the roster was more valuable than freeing up his $3.275M cap space. The UFA D market is bleak at the moment and there was no guarantee that any of the actually enticing trade options will materialize.

Trading Scandella before having clarity about the rest of the left side would have been a big gamble. I absolutely didn't want to enter the season with Krug and Scandella as the top 2 LD on the roster, but it would have still been much better than entering the season with Krug and one of Rosen/Mikkola as the top 2 LD on the roster.

It's far from a guarantee that Scandella is moved, but it is far from a safe bet that Army was actively shopping Scandella before we even knew how we were potentially using the freed up cap space.

 

[Majorityof1]

Scandella was easily our 2nd best LD under contract at 11am today. Until we signed Leddy (or had acquired whatever other upgrade we were considering), having Scandella on the roster was more valuable than freeing up his $3.275M cap space. The UFA D market is bleak at the moment and there was no guarantee that any of the actually enticing trade options will materialize.

Trading Scandella before having clarity about the rest of the left side would have been a big gamble. I absolutely didn't want to enter the season with Krug and Scandella as the top 2 LD on the roster, but it would have still been much better than entering the season with Krug and one of Rosen/Mikkola as the top 2 LD on the roster.

It's far from a guarantee that Scandella is moved, but it is far from a safe bet that Army was actively shopping Scandella before we even knew how we were potentially using the freed up cap space.

I diagree. I think Mikkola was better. Not by a ton, but he was better. Our defense really settled down when Mikkola started getting the tough minutes rather than Scandella. We also were talking with Leddy the whole time, so we had a pretty decent idea of what it would take to sign him. So that lessened the gamble. As is, we gambled by not moving Scandella as well. We lost Perron as a result, as it is rumored he is signing in Detroit.

 

[Blueston]

Scandella was easily our 2nd best LD under contract at 11am today. Until we signed Leddy (or had acquired whatever other upgrade we were considering), having Scandella on the roster was more valuable than freeing up his $3.275M cap space. The UFA D market is bleak at the moment and there was no guarantee that any of the actually enticing trade options will materialize.

Trading Scandella before having clarity about the rest of the left side would have been a big gamble. I absolutely didn't want to enter the season with Krug and Scandella as the top 2 LD on the roster, but it would have still been much better than entering the season with Krug and one of Rosen/Mikkola as the top 2 LD on the roster.

It's far from a guarantee that Scandella is moved, but it is far from a safe bet that Army was actively shopping Scandella before we even knew how we were potentially using the freed up cap space.

Fair enough, but DA presumably knows what a Scandella trade could look like.

 

[Frenzy31]

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.

Tell me what we should do.... We have these cards, take pennies on the $$ for Tarasenko or Krug?? Pay a price to move Scandella? I don't want to trade futures for a Dman who has had some Knee issues. We are not likely to want to the pay for Provo in futures.

Husso is not much of a loss. Yeah he had a very good January - March, but then he came back down to earth and there is no way I would give him the contract that Detroit did. Then we are letting both Perron and Leddy go.

I love Perron, but he is 34 and we did see him slow down from November to February last year. It is time to give one of the kids a shot. Will they be as productive as he was last year, not likely, but Perron may not be either.

I think Krug and Faulk is a very strong 2nd pairing. Krug is a legit #3 on most teams. I think we would have taken it to 7 if both Krug and Binnington were healthy. Hell, Binnington was keeping us in games without Krug.

 

[Novacain]

Tell me what we should do.... We have these cards, take pennies on the $$ for Tarasenko or Krug?? Pay a price to move Scandella? I don't want to trade futures for a Dman who has had some Knee issues. We are not likely to want to the pay for Provo in futures.

Husso is not much of a loss. Yeah he had a very good January - March, but then he came back down to earth and there is no way I would give him the contract that Detroit did. Then we are letting both Perron and Leddy go.

I love Perron, but he is 34 and we did see him slow down from November to February last year. It is time to give one of the kids a shot. Will they be as productive as he was last year, not likely, but Perron may not be either.

I think Krug and Faulk is a very strong 2nd pairing. Krug is a legit #3 on most teams. I think we would have taken it to 7 if both Krug and Binnington were healthy. Hell, Binnington was keeping us in games without Krug.

We are losing Tarasenko next year for nothing regardless, so I honest to god don't understand why we were not actively seeking to trade him, being honest. Even for pennies, I'd rather have Perron for 3-4 years, even at his age, then Tarasenko for 1 if we are trying to extend our window (if it is even open to begin with).

Saying Husso isn't a huge loss when Binnington is coming off a 9.01 Save Percentage season is outright silly. We also still haven't had a regular season were Binnington has played more then 50 games in his career. Our 2nd goalie is very important to our chances going forward. That is now Thomas Greiss, and that's not ideal.

And Krug and Faulk is a strong 2nd pairing. Sadly or us, it's our top pairing, by a pretty good deal.

 

[EastVillageBlues]

He was given high levels of minutes, but nothing in his stretch with the Islanders actually show him being anything other then a mediocre defensemen there, usually held up by a significantly better defensemen (Ones better then Parayko in his current state, I may add). He hasn't been anything above a league average puck possession player in half a decade, and most of those years he's in the negative. And we just signed him for his age 31-35 seasons, when his last season as a legitimate "plus" player was 17-18, and how do you even rank that season when he was a -42 that year when no other defensemen on his team was worse then -9?

You do realize that when he was on their team, during that 2-3 year streak that they were respectable (the only time between Turgeon and Barzal when they were genuinely competitive), they never had a genuine #1, or arguably even top pairing D, right? That was designed defense by committee, in which he largely played a break out and QB role through those teams during most of which Pulock and Toews didn't yet have a prime time role yet, and Pelech wasn't close to the player that he is today.

Who exactly are you referring to as "significantly better" defensemen, Boychuk? Harmonic? ????

It doesn't seem that you paid much attention to the Isles during that period of time.

 

[Novacain]

You do realize that when he was on their team, during that 2-3 year streak that they were respectable (the only time between Turgeon and Barzal when they were genuinely competitive), they never had a genuine #1, or arguably even top pairing D, right? That was designed defense by committee, in which he largely played a break out and QB role through those teams during most of which Pulock and Toews didn't yet have a prime time role yet, and Pelech wasn't close to the player that he is today.

Who exactly are you referring to as "significantly better" defensemen, Boychuk? Harmonic? ????

It doesn't seem that you paid much attention to the Isles during that period of time.

No, apparently you were not paying attention. From the moment Islanders got good, Pulock was already better then Leddy. In 18-19, the first year the Islanders were good, Pulock was leading the team in TOI and was a 37 point player. Leddy got a ton of time on ice, but in that season he was generally outshined by Pulock, Mayfield, and Pelech, mainly due to Leddy being the worst actual defender in that group by a decent margin. By 19-20, Pelech had clearly surpassed him in talent, but they ended up with similiar TOI per game due to injury, though both were well behind Pulock who was clearly "the guy" by that point.