Paajarvi (1 year @ $700k)

[Majorityof1]

Neither Fabbri or Rattie will be an extra forward for the season. Fabbri might split time in that role to start the season, but if he hasn't got a spot at around the 20 game mark, then he's going back to the OHL. Rattie will be in the AHL if he hasn't got a spot on the team.

Pääjärvi has filed for arbitration, which means he is likely to get a 2-year contract. He'll be a RFA at the end of that. The minimum salary he can be awarded is $1.19m, which I imagine is what the Blues are going to request.

Ah, I missed the arbitration news. My bad.

If they earn a spot on the ice, the player in the press box will have to be one of our current 12 unless we make a trade. So salary cap implications are the same. If they go to the OHL/AHL, we will probably sign someone around that cap hit. Even at minimum, we will still be pressed against the cap if we give Paajarvi close to $1.4M.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

The Blues could conceivably go with only 13 forwards, and leave a guy in the AHL for a period until the salary cap buffer is more comfortable.

 

[Thallis]

 

[sbkbghockey]

Wow! Just when there's good news and the Blues mgmt does well (Tarasenko Mega Deal), they go out at **** the bed by taking a step back. MPS has not shown his game to translate to the NHL. I'd be a bit less annoyed if this was a 2-way contract. MPS needs extensive AHL time to even have a chance at the NHL. Also I don't see where he fits into this roster unless its on the 4th line, but that doesnt help his development or our fourth line's style of play and chemistry.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I can't say that I'm happy with this move. But considering they qualified him, I'm not surprised as they must see something in him that most of us don't see. I can only assume that this means that he's penciled into the 14th forward spot. There are worse 14th forward options out there than Paajarvi.

 

[KirkOut]

Wow! Just when there's good news and the Blues mgmt does well (Tarasenko Mega Deal), they go out at **** the bed by taking a step back. MPS has not shown his game to translate to the NHL. I'd be a bit less annoyed if this was a 2-way contract. MPS needs extensive AHL time to even have a chance at the NHL. Also I don't see where he fits into this roster unless its on the 4th line, but that doesnt help his development or our fourth line's style of play and chemistry.

it's for 700,000 dollars. what would a 2 way deal accomplish? he can be sent to the AHL no problem and there will be no difference in the cap. there is nothing to complain about here. he's fine as the 13th/14th forward

 

[rumrokh]

I don't see how anybody can seriously be unhappy about this. He's making so little that it doesn't matter. If he fights his way onto the team or the Blues have a bunch of injuries and he proves himself to be a useful player, then it's worth it. If not, what do they lose? Nobody cared when they gave Porter a one-way deal and he is not any better.

 

[EastonBlues22]

It's a good deal for the Blues.

 

[Alklha]

As said above, nobody can complain about this deal. It's an interesting contract considering arbitration guaranteed him a minimum of $1.19m. I imagine he's been given some assurances to leave that much money on the table.

 

[MissouriMook]

Reading the tea leaves on this one, it appears that the team probably made it clear that they would walk away from any arbitration award given that it would (by rule) be in excess of $1.19M, so he decided that $700K on a one way deal from us was better than taking his chances on the NHL UFA market or going back to Sweden. It will be interesting to see how he is used this season, and if any of the success and confidence he showed with the Wolves last season will carry over. He really was an entirely different player after being sent down, but only time will tell if he can translate that back to the NHL.

 

[Alklha]

Reading the tea leaves on this one, it appears that the team probably made it clear that they would walk away from any arbitration award given that it would (by rule) be in excess of $1.19M, so he decided that $700K on a one way deal from us was better than taking his chances on the NHL UFA market or going back to Sweden. It will be interesting to see how he is used this season, and if any of the success and confidence he showed with the Wolves last season will carry over. He really was an entirely different player after being sent down, but only time will tell if he can translate that back to the NHL.

Teams can only walk away from an arbitration award if it was player elected and over $3.5m. So he would have been guaranteed at least a 1-year, $1.19m contract by going to arbitration.

 

[shpongle falls]

Well looks like it'll be a battle between Rattie, Fabbri, and Paajarvi for the 13th and 14th roster spots. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

Initially I was excited about Paajarvi's potential when we traded for him and thought they weren't playing him enough in an offensive role to see what we had in him. Although admittedly he hasn't shown much up to this point, in fact he's pretty much sucked. He has amazing speed and the Blues need more of that element on their roster, maybe the AHL time he had does him some good and he starts producing for the Blues. If Fabbri and Paajarvi both make the team this year I like that were adding two speedy forwards.

 

[Ranksu]

Teams can only walk away from an arbitration award if it was player elected and over $3.5m. So he would have been guaranteed at least a 1-year, $1.19m contract by going to arbitration.

So he did take lower contract favour to Blues and willing take risk fight on regular spot on Blues?

 

[Celtic Note]

As said above, nobody can complain about this deal. It's an interesting contract considering arbitration guaranteed him a minimum of $1.19m. I imagine he's been given some assurances to leave that much money on the table.

If people can claim the Oshie trade was addition by subtraction, then the inverse can be said about this move.

This move is pretty much blah. Don't like it and don't hate it. It just exists.

 

[Alklha]

So he did take lower contract favour to Blues and willing take risk fight on regular spot on Blues?

Yeah, lower cap hit for increased opportunity is probably the deal here. I suspect he's been told that he'll be on the roster next season, and that he'll get opportunities to split time with Ott. Maybe even Berglund too.

If people can claim the Oshie trade was addition by subtraction, then the inverse can be said about this move.

This move is pretty much blah. Don't like it and don't hate it. It just exists.

I don't disagree, but hopefully he'll have a little more to show from his time in the AHL. As an extra forward at $700k, he isn't doing any harm to the cap situation.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

I see this as a solid move. If Chris Porter can actually get a contract an Ott get over free Jack in the Box Tacos, then why is this a bad deal? Very solid for the Wolves. Maybe the inner Craig Conroy kicks in and his hands catch his feet.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

Teams can only walk away from an arbitration award if it was player elected and over $3.5m. So he would have been guaranteed at least a 1-year, $1.19m contract by going to arbitration.

Help me understand what possible advantage Paajarvi gets by signing the cheap contract then? Did the team promise not to send him down to the AHL? I don't get it.

 

[rumrokh]

Help me understand what possible advantage Paajarvi gets by signing the cheap contract then? Did the team promise not to send him down to the AHL? I don't get it.

First, that contract would have been 2-way, so he would have made way less money in the minors even with a bigger NHL salary. Second, it means they're more likely to be able to fit him under the cap and the Blues don't gain anything by sending him down. So if it's between him and a player for whom it benefits the Blues to put in the minors, they're more likely to keep Paajarvi in the NHL, which is what he wants.

 

[Alklha]

Help me understand what possible advantage Paajarvi gets by signing the cheap contract then? Did the team promise not to send him down to the AHL? I don't get it.

As rumrokh said, it's probably a promise to stay on the NHL roster. The less he signs for, the less chance he gets pushed down into the AHL if we need to save some cap space. We could end up really close to the cap, where $300k difference between Pääjärvi and a league minimum player dictates who gets the spot. He has likely been given some assurances that he'll get a fair shot to be a regular, so Ott is guaranteed his spot just because he earns $2.6m. I'm not sure I'd believe that, but I doubt he signs if he didn't think he had a fair chance.

First, that contract would have been 2-way, so he would have made way less money in the minors even with a bigger NHL salary. Second, it means they're more likely to be able to fit him under the cap and the Blues don't gain anything by sending him down. So if it's between him and a player for whom it benefits the Blues to put in the minors, they're more likely to keep Paajarvi in the NHL, which is what he wants.

Any contract from arbitration would have been 1-way. Pääjärvi left a guaranteed $500k more on the table from the Blues to sign this contract.

 

[Pandaman11]

I'm curious to see if any of the other 29 teams will claim him off waivers.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

As rumrokh said, it's probably a promise to stay on the NHL roster. The less he signs for, the less chance he gets pushed down into the AHL if we need to save some cap space. We could end up really close to the cap, where $300k difference between Pääjärvi and a league minimum player dictates who gets the spot. He has likely been given some assurances that he'll get a fair shot to be a regular, so Ott is guaranteed his spot just because he earns $2.6m. I'm not sure I'd believe that, but I doubt he signs if he didn't think he had a fair chance.



Any contract from arbitration would have been 1-way. Pääjärvi left a guaranteed $500k more on the table from the Blues to sign this contract.

Wow, that's an interesting situation. A player took less money due to the Cap situation than he would have been awarded by an arbitrator (and guaranteed since the Blues qualified him), to increase his chances to play in the NHL instead of making more in the AHL. You could almost think of it like they gave him less and a "no movement clause" in a way, if this analysis is right.

You have to respect Paajarvi's tenacity and desire to be an NHL player. I really hope he plays well enough to force his way into the line-up or to be traded for value to a place where he'll play regularly.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

I'm curious to see if any of the other 29 teams will claim him off waivers.

Does he get exposed to waivers if he makes the roster out of training camp? I don't think so.

 

[BlueDream]

Assuming Fabbri makes it for at least a 9-game tryout, which I think he will, it looks like it'll be between Paajarvi and Caron for the 14th forward. Not quite sure where Rattie fits into this, as keeping him as the 14th forward would seem rather useless.

But regardless, I'm happy we're giving Paajarvi one more shot. Hopefully he capitalizes.

 

[rumrokh]

Any contract from arbitration would have been 1-way. Pääjärvi left a guaranteed $500k more on the table from the Blues to sign this contract.

That's what I originally thought, but I have seen a few people say otherwise, I didn't find articles or anything to contradict that, and it seemed to make sense. That makes it a lot more interesting and, honestly, I'm glad. It seems to mean the Blues are even more interested in giving him a shot and I think Paajarvi was, at times, better than Porter, Lindstrom, and some other options they went with. Not that I think they've given him the short end of the stick, but I think he has shown he can be effective and the soft/stupid/hands-of-stone criticisms that get tossed out like candy around here are majorly overblown.

 

[542365]

Assuming Fabbri makes it for at least a 9-game tryout, which I think he will, it looks like it'll be between Paajarvi and Caron for the 14th forward. Not quite sure where Rattie fits into this, as keeping him as the 14th forward would seem rather useless.

But regardless, I'm happy we're giving Paajarvi one more shot. Hopefully he capitalizes.

Paajarvi vs. Caron is pretty interesting. They are total opposites. Caron has skill, but is painfully slow. MPS is an incredible skater and.....a good teammate? I don't know. That's about all he has going for him.