Wash Post: Blues NHL's Best Spenders

[superblues]

The Blues, on the other hand, are among the league’s most efficient spenders. Despite committing more than $17 million to blue-liners Jay Bouwmeester, Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk, they have bargains among their forwards with David Backes ($4.5 million), T.J. Oshie ($4.2 million) and Patrik Berglund ($3.3 million). So despite committing virtually the same cap dollars as Carolina, the Blues will likely win the Presidents’ Trophy for tallying the most points in the league and are currently bookmakers’ favorite to win the Cup, with implied odds of 17 percent. If St. Louis was to “buy†a championship based on their spending efficiency, it would “cost†them just $120 million — just 3 percent of what the Hurricanes would require.

Full article:
St. Louis Blues are the NHL's most efficient spenders


Found this article today. Despite all the bellyaching about Army's supposed asset mismanagement, it seems that dollar-for-dollar he's succeeding relative to the other 29 teams.

Click to read more...

 

[Falco Lombardi]

Good article.

Do people really complain about Armstrong? Kind of surprising to me. He's given people virtually nothing to complain about outside taking less than fair value to rid the Blues of Perron.

 

[Hockey Monkey]

Yeah I don't think anyone has any reason to complain about Army. He takes a long view to things and manages his assets incredibly well.

I think the thing he does best is find contracts that are real middle grounds. Players are happy with their extensions yet they are still managable under the cap and well within (or in several cases, below) market value. No more important thing a GM can do in the salary cap era. The Petro and J-Bo contracts are better than anything guys like Burke or Homer have done in years. It cracks me up that Mark Streit is on an untradeable contract that pays him as much as J-Bo gets.

 

[Alklha]

I probably complain about Armstrong more than I should because too many fans act like he can do absolutely no wrong. Armstrong has been great overall, but some of the stuff is just hyperbole. Like the praise he got for the Shattenkirk contract. He has also dealt with a lot of RFA's which helps matters along.

Plenty of credit to him for getting the Bouwmeester deal done when it should have been done. Steen should have been signed last summer, and would have been if his friend and agent hadn't passed away. If we get Berglund, Sobotka and Schwartz all signed to long term deals (5+ years) this summer then I'll be very happy with his work with this years group of FA's because I trust the cap hits won't be bad.

Good article.

Do people really complain about Armstrong? Kind of surprising to me. He's given people virtually nothing to complain about outside taking less than fair value to rid the Blues of Perron.

That entire situation goes a lot deeper than just not getting fair value for Perron. The fact is that we needed to clear cap space last summer and that meant moving 1 of 3 players... Perron, Stewart or Halák. We moved the most consistent player and ended up getting next to no value when we had to dump the other 2 just 8 months later. On the face of it, that is a disaster of a decision, but then we don't know what offers were on the table for Stewart of Halák in the summer.

My main problem with that last summer was simple... if Armstrong didn't trust Stewart enough to commit at least 4 years to him, then why didn't we trade him? He had good value at the time (I'd guess that Edmonton would have paid a good bit more for Stewart at that time), and if we kept up his current play was going to price himself out of St. Louis in his next contract or we'd just be looking to dump him in 12 months. It was a contract that made no sense, that made trading Perron over Stewart just a strange decision.

I'll say it again, I think Armstrong has done a great job since coming here. Every GM is going to make mistakes, just don't think we should gloss over them.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

I would agree that he isn't perfect and plenty seem to think he is.

I was ok with trading Perron over Stewart then as I was now simply because Stewart has a higher upside (just my opinion of course) and ultimately, I thought both had to go.

The reactions to the Shattenkirk contract remain a mystery. It seemed like you either loved the deal or you hated it and promptly pointed to Voynov's deal with the Kings as proof.

 

[Alklha]

Voynov was easy to point to at the time because he had just been signed for the right term, 6 years. McDonagh is another one from last summer, even today you have Faulk. The cap hit for Shattenkirk is great, and maybe Armstrong felt he couldn't have went up to the ~$4.6m range it probably would have cost to get Shattenkirk signed for 6 years.

It seems a long way off from today, but a pending UFA Kevin Shattenkirk at 28 is going to be very expensive to extend.

 

[Blanick]

I think it is very easy to get into the armchair GMing and to criticize Army but his overall body of work has been tremendous. I wasn't thrilled with the return we got for Perron but taking what he has done as our GM overall I am more than happy with him. The thing I am the most impressed with is how he has been able to build a team with this much depth throughout in a salary cap era.

 

[bluesman11]

OK read, very subjective...

Not saying The Blues are foolish with their contracts, I'm not, but using Vegas odds as a barometer is meaningless.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

Voynov was easy to point to at the time because he had just been signed for the right term, 6 years. McDonagh is another one from last summer, even today you have Faulk. The cap hit for Shattenkirk is great, and maybe Armstrong felt he couldn't have went up to the ~$4.6m range it probably would have cost to get Shattenkirk signed for 6 years.

It seems a long way off from today, but a pending UFA Kevin Shattenkirk at 28 is going to be very expensive to extend.

This is true, but I think we'll get the contract done before he ever reaches that point, similar to Alex Steen.

 

[BlueDream]

How do you know that Shattenkirk isn't the one that wanted the 4 years as opposed to longer?

It's a decent contract. Not the best, but certainly nothing to keep complaining about either.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

How do you know that Shattenkirk isn't the one that wanted the 4 years as opposed to longer?

It's a decent contract. Not the best, but certainly nothing to keep complaining about either.

I think most people assume it was Shattenkirk that wanted 4 years as opposed to longer.

 

[Alklha]

How do you know that Shattenkirk isn't the one that wanted the 4 years as opposed to longer?

It's a decent contract. Not the best, but certainly nothing to keep complaining about either.

Maybe that was the case, but that is part of the negotiation and getting the player to move on that. Also, and I might be misremembering, but I think Armstrong said that he spoke to the agent a couple of times just to say not to worry and a deal would get done, and when they finally sat down at the end of June the deal was done very quickly. If that was the situation, I don't think there was a hardline stance on either side (6 years would have been my aim in his position; more immediate financial security and an UFA at 30 still means maximum term contract).

Anyway, I only mentioned the Shattenkirk deal as an example of when some fans go overboard of their praise of Armstrong. As you say, it is a decent contract.

 

[Hooliganx3]

Armstrong is pretty overrated on this board. Hes not nearly as good as he's made out to be. We'll see this playoffs how many bad trades hes made to date. Its to early to currently tell.

Everyone seems to forget that he is the GM that traded for Stewart while we did get Shattenkirk Stewart was the main return we were receiving

 

[Colt 55]

Armstrong is pretty overrated on this board. Hes not nearly as good as he's made out to be. We'll see this playoffs how many bad trades hes made to date. Its to early to currently tell.

Everyone seems to forget that he is the GM that traded for Stewart while we did get Shattenkirk Stewart was the main return we were receiving

He is also the guy who traded for scraps for Jay Bouwmeester. Also the guy who traded lars eller for a quality starting goalie. Also the guy who traded Runblad for what was essentially Tarasenko.

Not to mention he is clearly one of the most effective cap managing GM's in the league, as evidenced by the article in the OP.

I think one could easily argue we wouldn't we where we are right now, which is 1st in the NHL and the frontrunner for the presidents trophy, without Doug Armstrong.

 

[Blueshockey21]

Armstrong is pretty overrated on this board. Hes not nearly as good as he's made out to be. We'll see this playoffs how many bad trades hes made to date. Its to early to currently tell.

Everyone seems to forget that he is the GM that traded for Stewart while we did get Shattenkirk Stewart was the main return we were receiving

Should we really blast armstrong for getting value in a player that should have been never drafted #1 overal? He got a good return at the time for Erik Johnson and it worked for 2 years and then unfortunately Stewart became Stewart and it was time to move on and he helped to acquire Ryan Miller.

 

[BlueDream]

Armstrong is pretty overrated on this board. Hes not nearly as good as he's made out to be. We'll see this playoffs how many bad trades hes made to date. Its to early to currently tell.

Everyone seems to forget that he is the GM that traded for Stewart while we did get Shattenkirk Stewart was the main return we were receiving

Hindsight. At the time of that trade Chris Stewart was 23 years old, had just come off his best season where he scored 64 points, and was in the midst of a season that he finished with 53 points in 62 games. At his size, and the potential he had (which we all saw since he destroyed the Blues), it's easy to see why he was a valued commodity for us. He was a former first round pick, that guy was SUPPOSED to become a legit power forward, it's not like the Blues were the only team that thought that. Do you not remember how bad our offense used to be? It was a good move and still is. Mainly because of Shattenkirk but either way, Stewart did score some for us, and Erik Johnson is just now at 26 years old starting to get his head out of his ass and play better. I don't really see the logic in complaining about that move by Armstrong, but then again I don't see the logic in 90% of the complaints around here.

I do agree he can be a bit overrated by our fans, but we're 1st in the NHL and he is a big part why so for that I'm thankful.

Also, I would just like to point out that when discussing Armstrong, people rarely ever bring up his best move yet, because it wasn't a trade or anything. It was hiring Ken Hitchcock. This team is not near as good with Payne or anyone else that's been available recently. Armstrong went out and grabbed one of the best coaches in the league.

 

[542365]

Rattie was also part of that Stewie/Shatty/EJ deal and the AHL hasn't stopped him from scoring. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he was a quality goal scorer in the NHL.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

I have no complaints with what Armstrong has done. Compared to the previous GMs we have had, I think he has done very good job bringing in talent without blowing holes in the long term goals of the club. However, the ultimate litmus test is what happens in the post season. We have nothing to show for it, when the real season starts. Let's see what happens this year....

 

[Hooliganx3]

A lot of our talent on our current team was picked up before Armstrong was GM. He inherited a lot of talent. He has done a decent job on contracts with our RFAs. This years playoffs are huge for Armstrong imo. If we are done in the 2nd round I really think he failed this season. I personally think with Halak we were a 2nd round team. I do agree Tarasenko was an unforseen thing that really hurts our offense. Our top line cooling off on the other hand should have been expected.

I like Jay and Alex but unfortunately its a pretty soft top pairing. Most teams that win normally have at least one physical guy on their top pairing.

Like I said this years playoffs will be pretty huge in gauging how well he has done as a GM.

 

[LGB51]

I have no complaints with what Armstrong has done. Compared to the previous GMs we have had, I think he has done very good job bringing in talent without blowing holes in the long term goals of the club. However, the ultimate litmus test is what happens in the post season. We have nothing to show for it, when the real season starts. Let's see what happens this year....

You can't really blame Army for our forwards not showing up to do their jobs in post-season's past. That's on the players for cracking under elevated pressure from the opposition.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

You can't really blame Army for our forwards not showing up to do their jobs in post-season's past. That's on the players for cracking under elevated pressure from the opposition.

If the team doesn't win, then they all have to share some of the blame. It is just a matter as to who ends up being the scapegoat. I think with the talent we have right now that the coach needs to bear much of the burden getting them in the right system and playing up to par. He isn't exempt from the blame.

 

[LGB51]

A lot of our talent on our current team was picked up before Armstrong was GM. He inherited a lot of talent. He has done a decent job on contracts with our RFAs. This years playoffs are huge for Armstrong imo. If we are done in the 2nd round I really think he failed this season. I personally think with Halak we were a 2nd round team. I do agree Tarasenko was an unforseen thing that really hurts our offense. Our top line cooling off on the other hand should have been expected.

I like Jay and Alex but unfortunately its a pretty soft top pairing. Most teams that win normally have at least one physical guy on their top pairing.

Like I said this years playoffs will be pretty huge in gauging how well he has done as a GM.

They might have stayed more consistent if they hadn't been split up pretty much since December. For as hot as they were, when Steen returned from injury they should have put the SOB line back together immediately to get their chemistry and timing back on track. I really believe our scoring wouldn't have dropped off so much if Hitch and Co. wouldn't have shuffled the lines so often for so long. Even we he found combos that really worked well together Schwartz-Sobotka-Tarasenko/Berglund-Sobotka-Tarasenko, he would only keep them together for a couple games, then shuffle the deck and deal again. Kinda hard to build line chemistry that way, and now with only 11 games left to play in the regular season, and still not having lines that are set in stone, that's pretty significant disadvantage imo.

I know with injuries, there's no other option, but when all starting forwards are healthy Hitch should only be playing the best possible lines together until another unforeseen injury occurs. Steen-Backes-Oshie should be playing with only each other from here on out, so Osh can get back into the groove of serving scoring chances up on a silver platter to Steener.

 

[JustOneB4IDie]

Full article:
St. Louis Blues are the NHL's most efficient spenders


Found this article today. Despite all the bellyaching about Army's supposed asset mismanagement, it seems that dollar-for-dollar he's succeeding relative to the other 29 teams.

Yes, I have read this article and it's excellent.

Armstrong has done a magnificent job building the Blues to CUP contenders with a salary cap in place and IMO is the best GM in the NHL today. Perron and Stewart we not producing for what they were being paid to do and I applaud Armstrong for getting rid of both. And I laugh at others who still whine about a poor return for Perron who no longer fit our style of play, these individuals forget the Blues end up with a 2nd rounder that is as close to a low round 1st as well along with a still developing MP.

 

[SteenMachine]

That's more of what I've grown to appreciate about Armstrong, he's shrewd but not afraid to take risks on change. Pleau was a good guy, but holy crap he was just in limbo when it came to building the team. (not his fault I know)

I can't praise every choice Armstrong makes, but frankly I think a guy like Morrow was a brilliant addition, he's a true vet who's seriously competed at every level. Yet he didn't go out and overspend to get that presence on a guy like Lecavalier or Jagr, which sounds good on paper but they'd still be playing in front of Halak or Elliott right now.

He had to settle on Roy and gave him exactly what a player like Roy deserves, a competitive offer at $4M but no promises he's gonna be back if he doesn't earn it.

He made his move for Leopold, was content, saw an even better opportunity in Bouwmeester and took him as well. We were terrified to invest that much in another d-man and yet he's the most stable and consistent player we have.

Anytime he's moved on from a player they get replaced with a grittier more physical counter part to help toughen this team up for the Western Conference version of playoff hockey. And not just big bodies that might someday be good, savvy vets who know how to play a role, how to pick their battles, and how to wear down an opponent.

I'm glad we didn't make a Doug Weight style trade, even if having a proper 1st line playmaker would have made us look way more dangerous we'd have a pretty big hole to fill or some less than ideal choices this year. We overpaid for trade deadline UFAs, but we also have a gameplan to retain them if possible, and if they don't come back, way more cap space to go after the guys we want.

 

[bluesman11]

Rattie was also part of that Stewie/Shatty/EJ deal and the AHL hasn't stopped him from scoring. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he was a quality goal scorer in the NHL.

I hope you're right, but with the top four wingers on this team I don't see an opening anytime soon, also I think they could use more size from their top six wingers.