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

[Brian39]

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.

Hard disagree about Mikkola. He excelled in that role for a while, but he absolutely didn't sustain it. He was a +3 over 27 games in the stretch of games you are describing where he was playing 19+ a night. That is the absolute high point of his season and he was a -9 the rest of the year. Scandella returned from injury in March and promptly took those minutes back from Mikkola. He went +14 the rest of the way (25 games), playing 19:19 a night.

Neither have good possession stats and both get very defensive usage. Scandella is a +35 over his 130 games as a Blue averaging 19 minutes a night. Mikkola is a -14 over his 89 games as a Blue averaging 16 minutes a night. Just looking at last year, Scandella had resoundingly better outcomes than Mikkola with more minutes.

"We lost Perron by not moving Scandella before free agency" is nothing but a narrative. There is zero evidence or reporting about Scandella's value (positive or negative). There's zero support for the notion that we couldn't have signed Perron and then freed up cap space. Blaming the loss of Perron on choosing not to move Scandella a week ago is a massive leap in logic.

 

[Majorityof1]

Hard disagree about Mikkola. He excelled in that role for a while, but he absolutely didn't sustain it. He was a +3 over 27 games in the stretch of games you are describing where he was playing 19+ a night. That is the absolute high point of his season and he was a -9 the rest of the year. Scandella returned from injury in March and promptly took those minutes back from Mikkola. He went +14 the rest of the way (25 games), playing 19:19 a night.

Neither have good possession stats and both get very defensive usage. Scandella is a +35 over his 130 games as a Blue averaging 19 minutes a night. Mikkola is a -14 over his 89 games as a Blue averaging 16 minutes a night. Just looking at last year, Scandella had resoundingly better outcomes than Mikkola with more minutes.

"We lost Perron by not moving Scandella before free agency" is nothing but a narrative. There is zero evidence or reporting about Scandella's value (positive or negative). There's zero support for the notion that we couldn't have signed Perron and then freed up cap space. Blaming the loss of Perron on choosing not to move Scandella a week ago is a massive leap in logic.

So you think we weren't willing to go $4.75Mx2 on Perron as opposed to not being able to afford it? Either way it was a mistake. It was mistake because we didn't trade Scandella and thus couldn't afford Perron or it was a mistake because we passed on Perron. Either way it was a mistake.

 

[TheDizee]

how many more heart and soul guys can this team lose before we totally become irrelevant??


outside of ROR and schenn and bortuzzo, who the hell is left?

 

[GoldenSeal]

Like Leddy, good deal. Still need something abit more powerful on LD but we can work on that.

 

[Mike Liut]

We were a much better team after we acquired Leddy.

 

[Blanick]

Full disclosure I did not like the trade for Leddy initially, I think losing Sunny was big part of reason why. I came around as the rest of the season and playoffs unfolded. Yes his advanced stats are not great but neither were Jaybo's and he was the best partner for Parayko that we have had and I began to see signs of chemistry forming between the two. I think, like Jaybo, this might be an undervalued defenseman who can serve as the anchor of our top4.

Now that leads me into my next point. We have way too many defenseman on the left side. Obviously Krug (barring a move) and Leddy are in the top4. That leaves Scandella, Mikkola and Perunovich battling out for ice time on the bottom pairing. Scandella has to go, we can not afford to pay him that contract to play 3rd pairing minutes.

 

[mk80]

LOL…he’s full of shit. Scandella is gone.

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.

Well the tweet has been deleted now so maybe more is to come after all

 

[Brian39]

So you think we weren't willing to go $4.75Mx2 on Perron as opposed to not being able to afford it?

Correct.

Keeping Tarasenko is a choice. Keeping Barbashev is a choice. Both of those players have inarguable positive value. Both could have been moved for assets over the last 2 weeks and both of them could be moved for positive assets in the next 2 months. It is beyond silly to pretend otherwise.

Scandella is easily moveable. Maybe you have to give a mid-round pick and maybe you have to retain a few hundred grand. I don't think so, but even if you have to do one (or both), you can very easily get rid of him and save a couple million.

If we had signed Perron to that contract today, we could have gotten to work clearing space. Getting an asset for Barby would be easy. Flipping that asset for a team to take Scandella's contract wouldn't be difficult. Throw in a 2024 3rd rounder on top of the asset if you think Scandella has that little value. I very much disagree that Scandella's negative value outweighs Barby's positive value, but it certainly isn't by more than an additional 3rd rounder. Mrazek's contract had significantly worse value than Scandella's does and was moved by sliding down from pick 25 to 38. Kassian was absolutely worse than Scandella last couple years, makes almost identical money and the Oilers got rid of him for a 2025 2nd and a 2024 3rd (and sliding down 3 spots in the draft). A mid round pick and whatever pick we get from moving Barby would absolutely be enough to move Scandella.

That's more than the money required. Those moves free up $5.525M. That's enough to cover Perron at $4.75M and Rosen filling in Scandella's spot. After these moves (and penciling Neighbours into the 23 man roster), we would be at 21 roster players and about $2.45M in cap space.

Not doing that is a choice, not a situation where we just can't.

I'm not a fan of letting Perron walk for that amount of money. But it was absolutely a choice and not because we just couldn't afford him. My guess is that Army's reasoning is over concerns about the 2nd year and not concerns about this year. If I were putting money on it, I'd wager that he wants to extend both ROR and Kyrou and is worried that Perron will regress and hinder his ability to do so. Again, I'm not a fan of that decision (I think you trim fat elsewhere), but that is my guess.

 

[Blueston]

how many more heart and soul guys can this team lose before we totally become irrelevant??


outside of ROR and schenn and bortuzzo, who the hell is left?

Faulk, Krug, Saad, Toro, Buch..

 

[DatDude44]

The Blues are currently committing 23.5M to a top 4 consisting of:
30 year old Faulk
29 year old Parayko
31 year old Krug
31 year old Leddy

All signed for the next four seasons....yikes.

A quality top 4 D core that costs under 24Mill for the next few years isn’t a bad thing.

Especially given Our lack of internal replacements at LHD. We have Bolduc and Snuggerud who look like atleast one if not both could end up producing similarly to Perron eventually or could be used as trade chips for a higher end younger Fwd.

 

[izzy]

I actually really liked Leddy

But this contract scares me as it kind of destroys roster flexibility going forward

 

[Frenzy31]

I actually really liked Leddy

But this contract scares me as it kind of destroys roster flexibility going forward

No it doesn’t. Scandella comes off the books next season, so we are upgrading our d for 1 million more for the next 3 years.

 

[Blueston]

No it doesn’t. Scandella comes off the books next season, so we are upgrading our d for 1 million more for the next 3 years.

Not to disagree with larger point, but have 2 years left of Marco.

 

[Majorityof1]

Capfriendly updated the trade protection on the deal. According to them, Leddy has a full NTC for the first 3 years and a 16-team no trade list in the last year. Armstrong doesn't like NMCs but he sure gives out NTCs like candy on Halloween. Leddy will be hard to move if he doesn't want to go anywhere, as will most of our bigger contracts.

 

[Blueston]

Capfriendly updated the trade protection on the deal. According to them, Leddy has a full NTC for the first 3 years and a 16-team no trade list in the last year. Armstrong doesn't like NMCs but he sure gives out NTCs like candy on Halloween. Leddy will be hard to move if he doesn't want to go anywhere, as will most of our bigger contracts.

You sign someone to below market $ you gotta give trade protection.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

We were a much better team after we acquired Leddy

On a micro scale, we were noticeably better team during the Wild series when he was playing v. when he was hurt.

I believe he got hurt in Game 1 and if that's the case we were 3-0, outscoring the Wild 14-3 when he was playing.

 

[TheDizee]

Capfriendly updated the trade protection on the deal. According to them, Leddy has a full NTC for the first 3 years and a 16-team no trade list in the last year. Armstrong doesn't like NMCs but he sure gives out NTCs like candy on Halloween. Leddy will be hard to move if he doesn't want to go anywhere, as will most of our bigger contracts.

i think leddy will actually age and perform well for this contract though. hes always been a good d-man for hawks and isles and he was good for us last year. very versatile, can play PP/PK etc.

 

[Majorityof1]

You sign someone to below market $ you gotta give trade protection.

Is that below market though? $4M is a lower cap hit but its also 4 year term which would lower the cap hit on a 31 year old whose main asset is his skating. I am not a fan of Leddy, so I guess it comes down to that more than anything. Someone who likes him would think it was below market. I would much rather have Manson (ignoring handedness) who only got $500k more and less trade protection.

 

[Frenzy31]

Is that below market though? $4M is a lower cap hit but its also 4 year term which would lower the cap hit on a 31 year old whose main asset is his skating. I am not a fan of Leddy, so I guess it comes down to that more than anything. Someone who likes him would think it was below market. I would much rather have Manson (ignoring handedness) who only got $500k more and less trade protection.

What about the other LDH that signed? I personally like him better then Chariot. I don't see anyone else out there who I would prefer to him. So.... And he is cheaper than the other D that were taken by 750 to 500 k per year.

Not to disagree with larger point, but have 2 years left of Marco.

You are correct, I missed that season date at Hockeybuzz. My bad. Than, yeah, that isn't great. Lets give the rest of the summer to see what happens.

 

[Majorityof1]

What about the other LDH that signed? I personally like him better then Chariot. I don't see anyone else out there who I would prefer to him. So.... And he is cheaper than the other D that were taken by 750 to 500 k per year.

I think its a toss up with Chairot. I like Chairot's style better and think he will age better. But I can see an argument that both Chairot and Parayko needs a partner who can move the puck better, I honestly have not watched enough Montreal to make a definitive assessment. I liked what I saw when he was in Winnipeg though.

I think our best options were all in trade. Barring that, I'd have preferred a 1 year stop gap. Armstrong has often said, sometimes the best move is no move. Leddy is a move that lasts 4 years. There will be better options that come available in that time that we will now be precluded from taking because of him.

As for other options, De Haan has yet to sign and I like him better than Leddy. Dekeyser is aging but he could be a stop-gap for a decent price. Leddy is better in a vaccum but Leddy is 4 years and not as well suited for the role we need imo. Nutivaara signed for 1 year @ $1.5M. I liked him in Columbus but have no clue what happened in Florida as he played 1 game last year and 31 in 2 years. Maybe he fell off of a cliff or has injury issues. But if he is healthy, 1 year at $1.5M while waiting for Chychrun, Provorov or Sanheim to kick free is great.

 

[Eldon Reid]

Capfriendly updated the trade protection on the deal. According to them, Leddy has a full NTC for the first 3 years and a 16-team no trade list in the last year. Armstrong doesn't like NMCs but he sure gives out NTCs like candy on Halloween. Leddy will be hard to move if he doesn't want to go anywhere, as will most of our bigger contracts.

Actually Leddy won't be too hard to move unless he is just flat out bad.

4 years deal goes like this

Year 1 5 mill
Year 2 4.5 mill
Year 3 3.5 mill
Year 4 3 mill

Teams would jump on 3 mill for him.

 

[Majorityof1]

Actually Leddy won't be too hard to move unless he is just flat out bad.

4 years deal goes like this

Year 1 5 mill
Year 2 4.5 mill
Year 3 3.5 mill
Year 4 3 mill

Teams would jump on 3 mill for him.

Its not about teams jumping to get him, its about him agreeing to leave. He has an no trade clause. That is why its hard to move. He has full control until year 4. Then in year 4, he can block half the teams. A savvy agent can use a 16 team no-trade list to block every team that might be interested, unless he is just is so good that every team wants him @$4M.

 

[Frenzy31]

I think its a toss up with Chairot. I like Chairot's style better and think he will age better. But I can see an argument that both Chairot and Parayko needs a partner who can move the puck better, I honestly have not watched enough Montreal to make a definitive assessment. I liked what I saw when he was in Winnipeg though.

I think our best options were all in trade. Barring that, I'd have preferred a 1 year stop gap. Armstrong has often said, sometimes the best move is no move. Leddy is a move that lasts 4 years. There will be better options that come available in that time that we will now be precluded from taking because of him.

As for other options, De Haan has yet to sign and I like him better than Leddy. Dekeyser is aging but he could be a stop-gap for a decent price. Leddy is better in a vaccum but Leddy is 4 years and not as well suited for the role we need imo. Nutivaara signed for 1 year @ $1.5M. I liked him in Columbus but have no clue what happened in Florida as he played 1 game last year and 31 in 2 years. Maybe he fell off of a cliff or has injury issues. But if he is healthy, 1 year at $1.5M while waiting for Chychrun, Provorov or Sanheim to kick free is great.

So you are more of not liking his style vs the player. I think Jaybo is more like Leddy then Chairot. And that is one of the reasons I like it. I think the cap hit is slightly below value, but we did have it go 4 years.

We already had sunk cost in him and I am sure DA, who is very active in the trade market, has an idea of what Chychrun, Provo, and Sanheim cost.

I am also certain that he didn't feel the value was very good or reasonable, otherwise he would have made a move - again, he makes some moves via trade as well as UFA. For the most part, beyond Staz, we don't go heavy into free agency so additions are by trades.

Personally, I think a lot of fans are unhappy due to NOT landing Chych, Prov, Sanheim (who we are not even sure was made available). Further, the asking prices must be high, AS NO ONE has picked up those Dmen. I am not saying this is your mind set, but just a general feeling about the angst here.

I don't know much about De Haan. Dekeyser wont be on the ice at all - last 4 years he has missed a ton of games and I don't trust him going forward.

With our window, I think it is now. This is the season to make a push and Leddy provides that better than the other options and way better then just kicking the can for year.

 

[Novacain]

You sign someone to below market $ you gotta give trade protection.

According to who exactly is this below market exactly? Because the genera consensus I can find is “The Blues really needed to get either less years or less pay”, at least outside of Blues fans. It wasn’t the worst contract signed yesterday, but it’s certainly one that isn’t being considered good value.

Also, it’s super weird people keep using Leddy as a comparable to Bouwmeester. He is nowhere close to as smart of a defender, nor does he have the sheer size that Jay had. He’s a decent puck mover out of the defensive zone but doesn’t have the creativity you really would want to be a Powerplay QB, so he is usually floating in the 15-20 point run he gets at even strength. He can play top 4, but he’s never someone you want to be the best player on a defensive pair in said top 4. His game can be covered by superior partners and can blend in the position, but left to his own devices he fits more as “vet member of a 3rd pair”.

Basically, the comp for Leddy isn’t Bouw, it’s Gunnar. Which is a useful player, but not something that moves the needle in a meaningful way.

 

[Blueston]

According to who exactly is this below market exactly? Because the genera consensus I can find is “The Blues really needed to get either less years or less pay”, at least outside of Blues fans. It wasn’t the worst contract signed yesterday, but it’s certainly one that isn’t being considered good value.

Also, it’s super weird people keep using Leddy as a comparable to Bouwmeester. He is nowhere close to as smart of a defender, nor does he have the sheer size that Jay had. He’s a decent puck mover out of the defensive zone but doesn’t have the creativity you really would want to be a Powerplay QB, so he is usually floating in the 15-20 point run he gets at even strength. He can play top 4, but he’s never someone you want to be the best player on a defensive pair in said top 4. His game can be covered by superior partners and can blend in the position, but left to his own devices he fits more as “vet member of a 3rd pair”.

Basically, the comp for Leddy isn’t Bouw, it’s Gunnar. Which is a useful player, but not something that moves the needle in a meaningful way.

He signed for less than Chiarot and same as Gudbrandson. That is below market in my eyes, as he is preferable to both.