Speculation: Pietrangelo's future (reports: to go to FA)

[The Note]

Let's say the worst case happens and Petro walks; how would you like the Blues to proceed? They'd still be tight against the cap with Dunn to sign (though being an RFA with no arb. rights he will likely be only due a modest raise). It would be interesting to see what DA would do in that situation. Do they try and shore up the LHD? Are Bozak and Allen still shipped out (seems less likely). It will be interesting, some chips are going to have to fall this summ-- autumn? Whenever UFA is.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Let's say the worst case happens and Petro walks; how would you like the Blues to proceed? They'd still be tight against the cap with Dunn to sign (though being an RFA with no arb. rights he will likely be only due a modest raise). It would be interesting to see what DA would do in that situation. Do they try and shore up the LHD? Are Bozak and Allen still shipped out (seems less likely). It will be interesting, some chips are going to have to fall this summ-- autumn? Whenever UFA is.

I’d probably keep the rest of the team intact (not move Bozak or Allen unless it was a move that made the team more competitive). But I’d be looking for a LHD coming available that is a top pairing caliber player.

 

[The Note]

I’d probably keep the rest of the team intact (not move Bozak or Allen unless it was a move that made the team more competitive). But I’d be looking for a LHD coming available that is a top pairing caliber player.

I agree. I think the intrigue will come from who they choose to move out to bring in such a player. Acquiring a top pair defenseman would likely have to include a "core" player, both for value and to make the money work.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I agree. I think the intrigue will come from who they choose to move out to bring in such a player. Acquiring a top pair defenseman would likely have to include a "core" player, both for value and to make the money work.

I think it would probably be another situation where Armstrong is patient until the right deal comes available, maybe taking a year or more. There just isn’t a replacement for Pietro out there right now, and it doesn’t do any good overpaying for a player that doesn’t fit the bill.

 

[Brian39]

Let's say the worst case happens and Petro walks; how would you like the Blues to proceed? They'd still be tight against the cap with Dunn to sign (though being an RFA with no arb. rights he will likely be only due a modest raise). It would be interesting to see what DA would do in that situation. Do they try and shore up the LHD? Are Bozak and Allen still shipped out (seems less likely). It will be interesting, some chips are going to have to fall this summ-- autumn? Whenever UFA is.

I would explore the UFA market and make a few competitive offers. By "competitive offer" I mean an offer that is in the ballpark of market value, but noticeably less money than the highest bidder. If we can find a UFA we like who is willing to take a discount to step into a top 4 role on a contender, then sign him to shore up the D and move Allen and/or Bozak to make the money work. If it requires market value, then move on and use internal options to construct the blue line. Losing Petro hurts a ton and drops us from an absolutely elite blue line to simply a good blue line. A UFA D man likely doesn't put us back into elite territory, so we absolutely shouldn't overpay for one (especially when we weren't willing to overpay Petro). UFAs I would target to try and get at a discount below UFA value: Krug, Brodie, Gustafsson, Dillon. Realistically, I think it is unlikely that we land any of those guys for a contract that makes sense.

Assuming none of them work out, I wouldn't move an asset for a D via trade unless the value is just too good to pass up. Barring a "no brainer" trade opportunity, I would construct the blue line internally and this would be my tentative plan:

Vince Dunn: if Petro is gone, Dunn has more value to this organization than as simply a good D man on a cheap 1 year deal. Without Petro in the mix, I'd be trying to get a multi-year deal done. We should have plenty of cap space to explore this avenue because...

I would still seriously explore moving Allen and Bozak. With that said, if we are just talking about a Dunn extension instead of Petro and Dunn extensions, the desperate need to move cap space goes way down. It also allows us to retain salary on one or both of them. Even with a flat cap, both of them have serious trade value if we are holding $2M+ of their cap hit and real dollars next season. This is my rough outline of the tentative opening night forward roster next year:

Schwartz-Schenn-Tarasenko
????-ROR-Perron
????-Thomas-????
????-????-Steen

The way I see it, we have 5 undefined roles in the lineup that I have filled in with question marks. Without Bozak, those 5 roles would get filled with some combo of Sunny, Sanford, Blais, Kyrou, Barby, MacMac, Kostin or "other." That's 7 guys for 5 spots. You have 4 guys in that group who have demonstrated an ability to fill at least a 3rd line role and 2 of them have played in that 2LW spot with success. If Thomas graduates to the top 6, then you have something like this:

Schenn-ROR-Perron
Schwartz-Thomas-Tarasenko
????-Sunny-????
????-Barby-Steen

Blais, Kyrou, Sanford, Mac and Kostin are the 5 guys competing for 3 open roles.

Ignoring the cap, now is the time to move Bozak just from a roster management standpoint. If you can retain $1.5-$2.5M of his salary, you should be able to get a nice asset back for Bozak that either largely or completely offsets the fact that we don't have our 2020 or 2021 2nd rounders. If you think Husso is ready, you can explore similar trade options with Allen. Allen with $1.5-2M retained should have genuine positive trade value. Shop him and then decide if that value back is worth the risk of naming Husso the backup. In a world where we let Petro walk, I view us as a good playoff team but not in the top group of true contenders. I's rather see Husso as an NHL backup that season than pushing it a year when we could be true contenders if Kyrou/Thomas/Dunn all take the next step.

Edit: If Petro walks, I'm not pushing hard for a Cup next year. I'm still icing a good team that should comfortably make the playoffs and that would be expected to win a round or two. But I would not be pushing to get them over the top into "true contender" status because I don't see a way to do that without seriously mortgaging the future. I would be focused on growing guys like Dunn, Thomas, Kyrou, Kostin and Mikkola in a winning environment while setting up the team to truly reopen the window in 2021/22. I think moving Allen and Bozak for futures assets to help bolster a depleted prospect pipeline is more beneficial to the 5 year plan of this organization than their contributions to a 2020/21 team. I don't think Boazk/Allen put us into contender status, so I'd be looking to leverage the cap flexibility we suddenly have and the huge revenue stream from the Cup to get good returns for them from teams who are struggling to make cap and/or payroll work.

 

[simon IC]

If Pietrangelo leaves, and the Blues commit to Faulk, Dunn, and Perunovich as a core part of our future top 6 D, they need on focus on a two-way defenseman. Preferably with some size. I have in mind someone like Slavin, or a young Doughty or Bouwmeester. Another shutdown D with speed would help too, but Mikkola could turn out to be that guy.

 

[Ranksu]

I would more than happy to see Steen and Gunnar out too.

Would give Poganski and Mikkola their spot.

 

[Brian39]

If Pietrangelo leaves, and the Blues commit to Faulk, Dunn, and Perunovich as a core part of our future top 6 D, they need on focus on a two-way defenseman. Preferably with some size. I have in mind someone like Slavin, or a young Doughty or Bouwmeester. Another shutdown D with speed would help too, but Mikkola could turn out to be that guy.

Parayko and Scandella give us 2 D that fit that bill (to varying degrees) and both are capable of top 4 minutes, so I think at that point you are talking about looking for a bottom 4 D man to fit that bill. My vote would be to see if Mikkola can step into that role before we bring in someone from outside the organization. Mikkola looked good in sheltered/limited use this season and I'd like to see if he is capable of giving us 18 or so quality minutes as a mobile defensive guy.

 

[Ranksu]

Parayko and Scandella give us 2 D that fit that bill (to varying degrees) and both are capable of top 4 minutes, so I think at that point you are talking about looking for a bottom 4 D man to fit that bill. My vote would be to see if Mikkola can step into that role before we bring in someone from outside the organization. Mikkola looked good in sheltered/limited use this season and I'd like to see if he is capable of giving us 18 or so quality minutes as a mobile defensive guy.

 

[bleedblue1223]

In an ideal scenario where we could bank on Faulk playing like he did in Carolina, I'd be more than fine just penciling in Mikkola and being confident in remaining a contender.

If anything, I think finding another 2-way type defender needs to be a priority in the draft.

 

[simon IC]

In an ideal scenario where we could bank on Faulk playing like he did in Carolina, I'd be more than fine just penciling in Mikkola and being confident in remaining a contender.

If anything, I think finding another 2-way type defender needs to be a priority in the draft.

Agreed!

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

In an ideal scenario where we could bank on Faulk playing like he did in Carolina, I'd be more than fine just penciling in Mikkola and being confident in remaining a contender.

If anything, I think finding another 2-way type defender needs to be a priority in the draft.

I think if you had him in the 2RD spot and PP, you’d see a return to form.

If Petro does in fact leave, I’d still rank our D in the top 10 from top to bottom. Higher if Mikkola and Perunovich become full time players.

We could do much worse than

Dunn-Parayko
Scandella-Faulk
Mikkola-Bortuzzo/Perunovich

 

[simon IC]

Very concerned about a defense going forward that has Faulk, Dunn, and Perunovich as 50% of the top six. Very concerned.

 

[Ranksu]

Very concerned about a defense going forward that has Faulk, Dunn, and Perunovich as 50% of the top six. Very concerned.

At least we won Cup and now we can go back to suck again, start to lose Chicago and feel again miserable.

 

[Robb_K]

At least we won Cup and now we can go back to suck again, start to lose Chicago and feel again miserable.

Älä sano sellaisia asioita!!! Not even when you are making a joke!

 

[Ranksu]

Älä sano sellaisia asioita!!! Not even when you are making a joke!

hahaha I love you m8.

 

[Robb_K]

hahaha I love you m8.

HUH??? The code "m8" is the code for applying coolant. Is that some current technological code for telling me to "cool down"??? Don't forget that I am extremely old-fashioned, knowing almost nothing about modern technology, and my language is more from 1880-1930 than current.

 

[brokeu91]

HUH??? The code "m8" is the code for applying coolant. Is that some current technological code for telling me to "cool down"??? Don't forget that I am extremely old-fashioned, knowing almost nothing about modern technology, and my language is more from 1880-1930 than current.

I think it might be short hand for mate

 

[Ranksu]

HUH??? The code "m8" is the code for applying coolant. Is that some current technological code for telling me to "cool down"??? Don't forget that I am extremely old-fashioned, knowing almost nothing about modern technology, and my language is more from 1880-1930 than current.

Peg pardon champ, I used too new words.

 

[Robb_K]

I think it might be short hand for mate

m-m-m-m- eight = mate! Is senility a symptom of the COVID Virus???

 

[Robb_K]

hahaha I love you m8.

m-m-m-m- eight = mate! All I can say is that I haven't been visiting my friends in Lancashire for about 7 years, so I'm not used to being called "mate". But, think of me as someone out of a time machine from the distant past. I've been living in the distant past for the last 50+ years. So, I'm not likely to know much of what's going on now, and much of the way people have spoken recently. And, apparently, my cognitive skills are also sadly diminished.

 

[Robb_K]

I think it might be short hand for mate

Where is Roseanne Roseannadanna when you need her to say: "Oooops! Never mind!"????

 

[Mike Liut]

Maybe Army isn’t comfortable shelling out an 8 yr deal to a 30 yr DMan. Maybe he thinks Parayko can handle the #1 RHD and Faulk the #2. Army might be sticking to a 6 yr deal max. 6x8mil. I’m not sure I blame him.

 

[Klank Loves You]

Maybe Army isn’t comfortable shelling out an 8 yr deal to a 30 yr DMan. Maybe he thinks Parayko can handle the #1 RHD and Faulk the #2. Army might be sticking to a 6 yr deal max. 6x8mil. I’m not sure I blame him.

I 100% blame him.

 

[Mike Liut]

I 100% blame him.

You’d go 8 yrs 72 million on a 30 yr old defender?