Confirmed Signing with Link: [VGK] Alex Pietrangelo signs with the Golden Knights (7 years, $8.8M AAV)

[GoldenSeal]

If it amounts to a power struggle between Pietrangelo and Armstrong, a more patient, humble and perseverent Pietrangelo could have still been in St. Louis long after Armstrong is gone.

I didn’t know players had ANY power. They don’t sign their own checks or make terms, at the end it’s the GM who says yes or no, so if it’s a power struggle, it’s on the Organization, not the player. I’d be INSULTED if I played fir a team as long as Pie, gave 110%, brought home the Cup on a CURSED team to only be essentially told I’m worth scraps and not worth a WRITTEN guarantee that I’d stay in the STL. I said it before, I’ll say it again, f-k Armstrong.

 

[yurnxt]

I don't want to trash Vegas but man, I really don't understand how it's become the most appealing city to all NHL players. I guess I get that they all have summer homes elsewhere that they go to when the heat becomes unbearable. If you are still playing in May and June, your entire focus is on the playoffs so you can ignore the heat then. September you can just deal with. But the wives and children....don't they want some nature? Some actual greenery? Some social life that isn't surrounded by gambling? I have a feeling Vegas gets a similar rep to Phoenix in a few years.

I'm from St. Louis and live in Nebraska but I frequent Vegas. It would absolutely be a great city to live in. If it's the dead of summer and you want a change of scenery, something green and cool, Mt Charleston is less than 45 minutes drive away and it might as well be Aspen, Colorado.

As far as actual heat goes, sure, especially in the summer but cliche as it sounds, it really is a dry heat. 110F feels much nicer than 95F in St. Louis with all that humidity. .

 

[yeaher]

He is was far and away the best free agent and the deal isn't bad, but I could see this turning into Tavares-esque situation for Vegas

 

[CupInSIX]

He is was far and away the best free agent and the deal isn't bad, but I could see this turning into Tavares-esque situation for Vegas

I'm assuming you're not talking cap hits since Vegas doesn't have any 11m players nor any RFAs looking for that kind of money, so how is it like Tavares?

 

[Rabid Ranger]

I'm assuming you're not talking cap hits since Vegas doesn't have any 11m players nor any RFAs looking for that kind of money, so how is it like Tavares?

Maybe Vegas blowing their load on a position of relative strength? Is Petro going to be the guy that puts Vegas over the top?

 

[CupInSIX]

Maybe Vegas blowing their load on a position of relative strength? Is Petro going to be the guy that puts Vegas over the top?

As opposed to not signing Petro and...?

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Wow Vegas trying to buy themselves a cup, sounds pretty desperate to me.

 

[BergyWho37]

If he was 27 ok.. but 30 will be 38 since he has a January birthday when it’s over no way he’ll live up to this contract.

Sorry Petro I like you and congrats on the payday but Vegas will regret this.

 

[TarasenkosForearm]

Did anyone see his interview on Twitter? His body language, tone, and audible sighs made him sound none too thrilled about uprooting to Vegas. Im sure his wife and him had a spat or two about it...never seen a guy that monotone and down sounding that was headed to a new team..wow.

 

[Grigowski]

Is 1 million a year really a small amount of money? That amounts to 7 million over the life of the contract. Sure hes already a multi millionaire but thats a lot of money to leave behind.

Sure, but he and his family are allready settled for Life and would´ve earned a ton of money staying in St. Louis too. And "lot of money is relativ" when you allready call 50 Million your own.


"Alex Pietrangelo: I think everybody agrees this is the best place to play in the NHL right now"

Yeah Alex, really?

Looks like someone needs to justify his decision telling people something about the "great buildings, passion and city he will play for the next 7 years (or probably not)", although been there for one day.....

 

[Tyrolean]

I'm from St. Louis and live in Nebraska but I frequent Vegas. It would absolutely be a great city to live in. If it's the dead of summer and you want a change of scenery, something green and cool, Mt Charleston is less than 45 minutes drive away and it might as well be Aspen, Colorado.

As far as actual heat goes, sure, especially in the summer but cliche as it sounds, it really is a dry heat. 110F feels much nicer than 95F in St. Louis with all that humidity. .

Lol, heat is heat. At over 100, humidity or not it is hot and uncomfortable and dangerous to be out.

 

[Reality Czech]

Some people just feel an incessant need to be miserable and will find any reason to do so.


As things stand, Armstrong isn't going anywhere. He's pretty much got the keys to the franchise from Tom Stillman and carte blanche to run it as he sees fit.

Not that it couldn't change, or that it won't change at some point down the road, but for Pietrangelo to still be in St. Louis he was going to have to acquiesce to Armstrong's demands for what was in the contract. That appears to mean he would have had to settle for provisions that other players of his caliber didn't settle for when they stayed with their original clubs or even their then-current clubs. You can be loyal but still want to be treated fairly with respect to your peers in the industry; obviously there was a difference between the two sides on what "being treated fairly" meant, and probably even who the peer group of reference was. Either way, it meant giving Armstrong complete control over his future and having to trust he wouldn't get double-crossed down the road; Pietrangelo looked around and decided he had earned the right to control that, Armstrong disagreed. The rest is all filling on top of the crust.

Don't kid yourself. Petro wasn't going to sign in STL unless they offered him exactly what he wanted. Clearly he wanted to test the market which meant staying in STL was not his top priority. He left for money, plain and simple. Signing bonuses and lower state tax. Why else would he hire that sports agency if he wasn't all about the money?

 

[Puckstop40]

Wow Vegas trying to buy themselves a cup, sounds pretty desperate to me.

Is that not what a contender does

 

[nihlify]

Is that not what a contender does

Apparently they should spend 20 years in a shit hole until they've grown their own talents. Ez.

 

[Voight]

Sure, but he and his family are allready settled for Life and would´ve earned a ton of money staying in St. Louis too. And "lot of money is relativ" when you allready call 50 Million your own.


"Alex Pietrangelo: I think everybody agrees this is the best place to play in the NHL right now"

Yeah Alex, really?

Looks like someone needs to justify his decision telling people something about the "great buildings, passion and city he will play for the next 7 years (or probably not)", although been there for one day.....

Sure he has more than enough money but its also kind of hard to turn down an extra 7 million, Especially when you've already reached the ultimate goal of winning a cup.

 

[seanlinden]

Don't kid yourself. Petro wasn't going to sign in STL unless they offered him exactly what he wanted. Clearly he wanted to test the market which meant staying in STL was not his top priority. He left for money, plain and simple. Signing bonuses and lower state tax. Why else would he hire that sports agency if he wasn't all about the money?

Again, this was not about "testing the market" or leaving for the money. He's got $100m of it regardless of where he plays. All players have agents.

This was about protection -- plain and simple. He wanted a full-stop NMC and for the money to be delivered largely in bonus form, thereby offering him buyout protection as well. Other players of his calibre got the same elements in their deal, and with 4 kids, it's completely understandable why that wasn't something he was prepared to negotiate on.

In the end, he got his full NMC, a "mid-loaded deal" as is the trend these days to avoid high escrow, and sacrificed buyout protection in the final year of the deal. That's really not so bad -- worst case his last year of the deal gets bought out, and it's his choice whether to play or not, and if so, for how much and where.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Did anyone see his interview on Twitter? His body language, tone, and audible sighs made him sound none too thrilled about uprooting to Vegas. Im sure his wife and him had a spat or two about it...never seen a guy that monotone and down sounding that was headed to a new team..wow.

That's his personality.

 

[Reality Czech]

Again, this was not about "testing the market" or leaving for the money. He's got $100m of it regardless of where he plays. All players have agents.

This was about protection -- plain and simple. He wanted a full-stop NMC and for the money to be delivered largely in bonus form, thereby offering him buyout protection as well. Other players of his calibre got the same elements in their deal, and with 4 kids, it's completely understandable why that wasn't something he was prepared to negotiate on.

In the end, he got his full NMC, a "mid-loaded deal" as is the trend these days to avoid high escrow, and sacrificed buyout protection in the final year of the deal. That's really not so bad -- worst case his last year of the deal gets bought out, and it's his choice whether to play or not, and if so, for how much and where.

That's all fine and dandy, I just don't think there was any way Petro was re-signing with STL before his contract expired unless they capitulated to everything he wanted. And maybe the Blues organization isn't in a position to give him all of that bonus money, although Armstrong did say they were much more flexible than they usually are in regard to NMC and bonuses.

Petro has every right to try and get as much as possible, but it's clear that he wasn't in the mood to compromise on certain things. Some teams are in a position to give the player whatever he wants, others aren't. Good for him.

 

[LGBlues]

I felt sorry for Petro for a minute as it did not sound like many of his future teammates reached out but then I thought of his $$$$$. Army loved Petro - many thought he was not a good choice for Captain but Army made him one - Army then gets jeered for letting a Captain leave lol.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

I like how fans are trying to trash talk Vegas for this signing lol.. I guarentee almost every fan would be estatic if they were able to land Petro on their team for only 8.8 per year... but since he signed elsewhere, this contract is apparently laughable.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Wow Vegas trying to buy themselves a cup, sounds pretty desperate to me.

Desperate?? What does this even mean??lol

Teams every year spend money on free agents in order to make their team better in hopes of winning a championship

I guess there are a ton of "desperate" teams so far this offseason after seeing all the signings that have been happening.

Is trading for players considered a "desperate" move too? Or is it just strictly signing UFAs?

 

[seanlinden]

That's all fine and dandy, I just don't think there was any way Petro was re-signing with STL before his contract expired unless they capitulated to everything he wanted. And maybe the Blues organization isn't in a position to give him all of that bonus money, although Armstrong did say they were much more flexible than they usually are in regard to NMC and bonuses.

Petro has every right to try and get as much as possible, but it's clear that he wasn't in the mood to compromise on certain things. Some teams are in a position to give the player whatever he wants, others aren't. Good for him.

I'm sure Petro wanted $11m last year.. obviously players get to understand (through their agents) as to what they are worth in a given market, and it seems that the $8m x 8 years that was supposedly offered, or translate that to a little more than $8m at 7 years.

As for the bolded, you're absolutely correct. Pietrangelo was not going to compromise on a full NMC, and while Doug Armstrong indicated that he would be willing to talk about some NMC years, or partial NMCs, and some bonus money -- he was never going to give Pietrangelo that.

This is simply a case where both sides refused to budge from their intrenched position and belief.

The Blues demanded some flexibility to move him. AP demanded full protection.

 

[Alwalys]

i hope he is working on his point shot. he'll need it.

 

[MissouriMook]

I'm sure Petro wanted $11m last year.. obviously players get to understand (through their agents) as to what they are worth in a given market, and it seems that the $8m x 8 years that was supposedly offered, or translate that to a little more than $8m at 7 years.

As for the bolded, you're absolutely correct. Pietrangelo was not going to compromise on a full NMC, and while Doug Armstrong indicated that he would be willing to talk about some NMC years, or partial NMCs, and some bonus money -- he was never going to give Pietrangelo that.

This is simply a case where both sides refused to budge from their intrenched position and belief.

The Blues demanded some flexibility to move him. AP demanded full protection.

There was an anonymous comment over the weekend from someone in Pietrangelo's camp that I found interesting and certainly relevant. Given the volume of information coming from Carlo Colaiacovo in the last week, I suspect it was him, but with the condition of anonymity, but there is no way to know for sure.

The quote was something to the effect of 'he is looking to get everything he wants'. I mean, who wouldn't? The implication was that he was not being flexible on any of the elements of his requirements - term, AAV, signing bonus, NMC - and that he was making demands rather than negotiating. Army was certainly not being fully flexible from his end, but if this statement has any truth to it I can't really blame him for not going further than he did when the other side won't budge.

The last offer the Blues made to the player was said to have been 8 years x $8M AAV with "some signing bonus and a partial NMC" in the final year, specifically to address his desire to have his contract "buyout proof". Who can say exactly what it looked like, but my sense was that if Army had offered $9M AAV without the full NMC he would have turned it down, just as he would have if Army offered $8M AAV with a full NMC and the same deal structure as VGK signed him to. In other words, he wanted it all. He can say that he wanted to stay in STL until he's blue in the face, but when it came time to make a decision he certainly valued staying in STL less than he did the things that he got in his VGK deal that Army wasn't offering. Maybe he regrets that now and was hoping to be able to take a market deal back to STL for one last shot, but the Krug signing pretty much made that a no-go. It happens, especially when a GM apparently feels more like they're being held hostage to a player's demands than they are negotiating.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

That's all fine and dandy, I just don't think there was any way Petro was re-signing with STL before his contract expired unless they capitulated to everything he wanted. And maybe the Blues organization isn't in a position to give him all of that bonus money, although Armstrong did say they were much more flexible than they usually are in regard to NMC and bonuses.

Will we ever find out the full story? Likely no. Will we ever get some details? Likely. Will it be enough to connect all the dots? Probably not, but maybe it will connect just enough.

In the afterglow of June 12, 2019 I don't think Armstrong already knew he didn't want Pietrangelo here after '19-20, just like I don't think Pietrangelo already knew he was going to leave after '19-20. I think at some point, one or both of them decided a split was going to happen unless a deal got done on their terms, and they started planning accordingly. When that happened and why, we don't know. [Yet. Maybe we'll find out.] There's a lot of words and phrases being used by both sides that are subject to interpretation because they lack details or context. Until we get that, it's difficult to make a good evaluation of where each side was and who was being reasonable and who wasn't.

Perhaps the best analogy to right now is 2005, when Pronger got dealt to Edmonton and everyone swore to God that Larry Pleau was a f***ing moron who needed to be run out of town before the next mode of transportation showed up. It wasn't until months later when we learned that Dick Thomas was calling shots behind the scenes with the permission of Bill Laurie, and Thomas decided Pronger's career was shot due to the wrist surgery he'd had and he wasn't worth anything near $9 million, and Pronger needed to be traded ASAP before everyone else figured it out - but Pleau was told what he could take back in return, not to negotiate about it, and had one offer he was going to accept rejected by Thomas. Meanwhile, Bill Laurie was fully engaged in the "burn everything in the Blues franchise down" reign of terror, pissed that he'd lost money over the years and so he was going to ruin as much as he could as he went out the door. When we realized those things, we discovered it wasn't Pronger demanding to leave, or Pleau just being a dumbass and f***ing up an obvious trade: it was a goon squad hell-bent on tearing everything down while proclaiming themselves geniuses along the way. We can - and still do - disagree on whether Pleau should have flipped the bird and left, but it still wouldn't have changed the outcome: Pronger was getting dealt for a pittance, and that's what Thomas and Laurie wanted, and they liked it.

No, I'm not saying management/ownership f***ed this time up too. I'm saying we know what's happened, we lack a lot of information to understand precisely why, and we're all grasping at straws to explain it.