Confirmed with Link: Thomas signs!

[Moose and Squirrel]

Did anyone else hold out last decade as RFAs besides Pietrangelo and Schwartz? I was mildly concerned that if Thomas entered that group we might see a similar fate to eventually losing him in free agency (in other words, the Blues don’t see the value). Giving him this contract before camp signals to me that they are confident in who he is going to be.

didn't Barby take a while to sign as well last year?

 

[Brian39]

Double post because my last one got really long and this is kind of a separate thought.

We now have one of the best assets in the NHL: time

We have time to evaluate how Tarasenko looks and how his feelings toward the organization impact him. Part of that evaluation is how feasible it is to leave him on the roster for an entire season or beyond. I don't think that is very feasible if he is still a top 75 NHL player, but we now have the time to find out.

We have time to evaluate Kostin in our organization and in person. Let's see what the KHL did to his game. Let's try him on the LW and see how he looks. Can he make Sanford expendable by being a top 9 caliber player on the LW? Now we have time to find out.

We have time to see what type of role Walman/Mikkola/Perunovich can handle. I don't think any of them are good enough to make the D group good enough without an external upgrade. But now we have the time to make that determination based on data instead of predictive guesses.

We know that this roster is a work in progress. We need to shed a small chunk of salary at some point and it would be nice to shed $2.5-$3M total in order to avoid Bozak's bonuses from rolling into next year. But now we get to sit back and use our time to determine what fat can be trimmed. Rather than deciding who is expendable right now, we are forcing the bottom of the roster to make someone expendable. The next couple months should be very interesting and the forward group is good enough to outscore some of our deficiencies while these competitions play out.

 

[Zezel’s Pretzels]

I am guessing that a move to get cap compliant is coming before the Sunny to LTIR option is available. DA doesn’t seem like the kind of GM to kick that can down the road a month or two.

Brian, with these contract terms for Thomas, could the Blues run a 22 man roster all year? Who would be #21 and #22?

 

[Brian39]

I am guessing that a move to get cap compliant is coming before the Sunny to LTIR option is available. DA doesn’t seem like the kind of GM to kick that can down the road a month or two.

Brian, with these contract terms for Thomas, could the Blues run a 22 man roster all year? Who would be #21 and #22?

With Sunny back from LTIR? No.

A 22 man roster is not possible unless you are talking about waiving or trading Sanford/Barby/Scandella/Bortz/etc. ROR, Tarasenko, Schenn, Buch, Saad, Perron, Kyrou, Thomas, Sunny, Sanford, Barby, Bozak, Faulk, Krug, Parayko, Scandella, Bortz, Binner and Husso brings you to 19 guys with $2,143,651 to spare. Walman is the cheapest option for D #6. Adding him brings you to 20 guys with $1,418,651 to spare. That is not enough to fit two league minimum players onto the roster.

$2.5M was the max to make a year-long 22 man roster realistic without moving a salary out. This AAV eliminates the option of using a 22 man roster to be cap compliant without LTIR.

 

[Zezel’s Pretzels]

With Sunny back from LTIR? No.

A 22 man roster is not possible unless you are talking about waiving or trading Sanford/Barby/Scandella/Bortz/etc. ROR, Tarasenko, Schenn, Buch, Saad, Perron, Kyrou, Thomas, Sunny, Sanford, Barby, Bozak, Faulk, Krug, Parayko, Scandella, Bortz, Binner and Husso brings you to 19 guys with $2,143,651 to spare. Walman is the cheapest option for D #6. Adding him brings you to 20 guys with $1,418,651 to spare. That is not enough to fit two league minimum players onto the roster.

$2.5M was the max to make a year-long 22 man roster realistic without moving a salary out. This AAV eliminates the option of using a 22 man roster to be cap compliant without LTIR.

thanks for the heads up! I feel a Sanford trade coming in the next two weeks, personally. Guess there’s still a chance of a Vladi trade.

To me, the downside to playing the LTIR game is that it keeps guys like Sanford or Barby paranoid that the other shoe is about to drop on them.

 

[Brian39]

thanks for the heads up! I feel a Sanford trade coming in the next two weeks, personally. Guess there’s still a chance of a Vladi trade.

To me, the downside to playing the LTIR game is that it keeps guys like Sanford or Barby paranoid that the other shoe is about to drop on them.

Could be 2 weeks, could be much longer depending on where Sunny is at in his recovery. If Sunny is still 6 weeks away, then there is no real hurry. We could see a forward blow an ACL 4 weeks from now and suddenly the cap problem is solved. We have time and that allows us to evaluate how well our internal guys can fill whatever void is created by a trade. If Kostin can play 3LW, then Sanford is the clear choice to move in order to hold onto center depth. If Tarasenko scores 10 goals in his first 15 games and then reiterates his trade request, then it makes more sense to move him for a valuable piece. If Perunovich or Mikkola took a startlingly big step this summer then maybe Scandella is the guy to move.

I don't view Sanford and Barby's potential paranoia/concern as a downside. They each got paid like guys who should be above replacement-level players. They need to prove that they are positive contributors as a team's 9th-12th forward. That is a fully reasonable expectation given their contracts and there absolutely should be an expectation that they have to play like it. We aren't asking either to do any more than that.

I can see a trade if we get a return that is too good to pass up, but I think the most likely outcome is that we will use as much of the time as we can to best determine what player to trade.

 

[ItsOnlytheRiver]

didn't Barby take a while to sign as well last year?

According to this, he signed on 9/1/2019 and I’m too lazy to look up if that was during camp but I think that would be too early right?

Ivan Barbashev Contract, Cap Hit, Salary and Stats - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

 

[Blueston]

Could be 2 weeks, could be much longer depending on where Sunny is at in his recovery. If Sunny is still 6 weeks away, then there is no real hurry. We could see a forward blow an ACL 4 weeks from now and suddenly the cap problem is solved. We have time and that allows us to evaluate how well our internal guys can fill whatever void is created by a trade. If Kostin can play 3LW, then Sanford is the clear choice to move in order to hold onto center depth. If Tarasenko scores 10 goals in his first 15 games and then reiterates his trade request, then it makes more sense to move him for a valuable piece. If Perunovich or Mikkola took a startlingly big step this summer then maybe Scandella is the guy to move.

I don't view Sanford and Barby's potential paranoia/concern as a downside. They each got paid like guys who should be above replacement-level players. They need to prove that they are positive contributors as a team's 9th-12th forward. That is a fully reasonable expectation given their contracts and there absolutely should be an expectation that they have to play like it. We aren't asking either to do any more than that.

I can see a trade if we get a return that is too good to pass up, but I think the most likely outcome is that we will use as much of the time as we can to best determine what player to trade.

When we deal Tank our cap will be fine.

 

[Meatball]

The forward group is back.

 

[Brian39]

When we deal Tank our cap will be fine.

That is still very much an if.

I'm optimistic that he is still a 25 goal guy. But if he look slike he did last year, there probably won't be any takers. I'm fully in favor of gambling on him to play up his trade value, but there is some risk that he stays healthy but plays his trade value down. There is also a realistic chance that there just isn't a market to move his full cap hit mid-season due to the cap or that the only teams who could take it mid-season are places he won't waive his NTC for. There are a number of outcomes where the relationship remains permanently damaged but we can't facilitate his trade request until next summer.

I think that a Tarasenko trade to resolve the cap issue is the most likely outcome, which is why I have never bought the "we chose Sanford over him!" complaint. But it isn't a certainty. It is completely plausible that we resolve this cap issue by nibbling around the cap edges for this season and then deal with moving Tarasenko in the summer.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

thanks for the heads up! I feel a Sanford trade coming in the next two weeks, personally. Guess there’s still a chance of a Vladi trade.

To me, the downside to playing the LTIR game is that it keeps guys like Sanford or Barby paranoid that the other shoe is about to drop on them.

I don’t see the big deal. There may be another roster injury. There may be a good trade offer for Tarasenko (but most mid-season trades for him are likely to be nearly revenue neutral). I see no problem for the spare forwards in the line-up to have to fight to keep their spots.

Sanford is a possibility to move, but I don’t see the urgency until Sundqvist’s return is imminent.

 

[Celtic Note]

That is still very much an if.

I'm optimistic that he is still a 25 goal guy. But if he look slike he did last year, there probably won't be any takers. I'm fully in favor of gambling on him to play up his trade value, but there is some risk that he stays healthy but plays his trade value down. There is also a realistic chance that there just isn't a market to move his full cap hit mid-season due to the cap or that the only teams who could take it mid-season are places he won't waive his NTC for. There are a number of outcomes where the relationship remains permanently damaged but we can't facilitate his trade request until next summer.

I think that a Tarasenko trade to resolve the cap issue is the most likely outcome, which is why I have never bought the "we chose Sanford over him!" complaint. But it isn't a certainty. It is completely plausible that we resolve this cap issue by nibbling around the cap edges for this season and then deal with moving Tarasenko in the summer.

The longer you get into the year, the more he becomes viewed as a one-year rental. That may help a bit in terms of value if he doesn’t fully regain form.

 

[Celtic Note]

I don’t see the big deal. There may be another roster injury. There may be a good trade offer for Tarasenko (but most mid-season trades for him are likely to be nearly revenue neutral)…

Unless another team sees an injury to a high dollar player that they are using Tarasenko to replace.

 

[Brian39]

The longer you get into the year, the more he becomes viewed as a one-year rental. That may help a bit in terms of value if he doesn’t fully regain form.

This is true, but the flip side of that coin is that most rentals acquired mid-season require salary retention. The teams most looking for a rental to plug a hole are the teams most likely to be up against the cap themselves. His value as a 1+ year rental might appeal to an additional 5 teams as the season wears on, but that is useless if all 5 of those teams don't have the cap space to fit him in.

 

[Celtic Note]

This is true, but the flip side of that coin is that most rentals acquired mid-season require salary retention. The teams most looking for a rental to plug a hole are the teams most likely to be up against the cap themselves. His value as a 1+ year rental might appeal to an additional 5 teams as the season wears on, but that is useless if all 5 of those teams don't have the cap space to fit him in.

It will certainly take the right situation for a trade to happen.

 

[Moose and Squirrel]

According to this, he signed on 9/1/2019 and I’m too lazy to look up if that was during camp but I think that would be too early right?

Ivan Barbashev Contract, Cap Hit, Salary and Stats - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

ah.. prolly right. was thinking he took a while to sign, but guess not

 

[Ranksu]

 

[Memento]

Dammit, Ranksu, you gave me false hope that Thomas signed a mega-deal this year! Lawl.

 

[TK 421]

As soon as you see a bump of an ancient thread, know ye that the Necrobumper Rank-Su prowls the board for unsuspecting victims. He feeds on false hopes dashed and sadness in between taking saunas and bashing Krug.

I implore the mods take immediate action and restrict his ability to post pictures of Nancy Pelosi. While you're at it if you could restore my ability to 'like' posts that would be great.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Oh Praise Rathma, we have a Necromancer in the threads again.