Speculation: Will there be a St. Louis Blues cap crunch next season?

[Merrrlin]

The Pietrangelo thread made me want to take a gander at the Blues roster and cap situation for next season. Looks like they will be quite tight next year and the year after. What's the long term plan look like? I imagine there are guys in the minors who can step in cheaply (Kostin, etc) but it looks like salary might need to be moved in one of the seasons.

I added + or - depending on if I think they get a raise or a reduction.

Next year:
11 forwards signed
4 defence signed
2 goalies signed

UFAs or RFAs of note (7.8 million cap space):
Pietrangelo ++
Dunn ++
Bouwmeester (same or -)
Blais +
Fabbri +

Then the year after, the following players will need new contracts (40 million minus whoever signs in 2019/20):
Steen -
Schwartz ++
Sanford ++
Barbaschev +
Thomas ++
Gunnarsson -
Binnington ++
Allen --
Kyrou ++

Click to read more...

 

[BlueDream]

Steen is a buyout candidate.

Bozak and Allen will probably be moved.

Plenty of other guys we can move or let walk if needed (Bouwmeester, Gunnarsson, Sanford, Fabbri, etc).

Wouldn’t expect us to lose anyone important.

 

[Curufinwe]

If the cap is $84m it shouldn't be too bad for them.

J-Bo walks, Steen is bought out, Fabbri should be cheap, etc.

 

[Merrrlin]

Steen is a buyout candidate.

Bozak and Allen will probably be moved.

Plenty of other guys we can move or let walk if needed (Bouwmeester, Gunnarsson, Sanford, Fabbri, etc).

Wouldn’t expect us to lose anyone important.

Allen makes sense, but you might have to give something up to move him with his full salary next year.

 

[sh724]

Yes, there could potentially be a cap crunch, but it is not that big of one and they have several potential options to get out of it.

Its not like teams like Chicago that had to give up big important pieces for cap reasons. The Blues can do it by adjusting their back up goalie and/or their bottom 6.

Also Jbo is likely gone, good chance he retires after this year

If you want to look beyond next season, if Petro is resigned, which will happen as long as he wants to be in STL, Faulk will be going to Seattle

 

[Mickey Marner]

Moving Allen and/or Bozak should do it.

 

[sh724]

Allen makes sense, but you might have to give something up to move him with his full salary next year.

Armstrong gave up a 1st to move Lehtera who was far worse a player than Allen. Reports are there was interest in Allen this past off season but obviously nothing came from it. If they need to move Allen they will get it done. Based on last years numbers the contract looks pretty bad, but Allen has proven he can carry a team for a stretch if needed. He was the sole reason the Blues beat Minnesota in the POs a few years ago.

When you look at the advanced stats the Blues D was one of the worse in the league for the first half of the season. High quality chances, shot suppression, etc were all pretty bad and did a 180 when Binnington started playing

 

[Curufinwe]

It could be something like Allen at 50% to Philly for a 7th this summer.

 

[Stealth JD]

Allen makes sense, but you might have to give something up to move him with his full salary next year.

Allen's not garbage. He's posted respectable numbers in the league and has won in the playoffs. He was a large reason the Blues beat Minnesota a few years back. He's also by all indications a terrific teammate and human being, and his only failure was of delivering a Stanley Cup to the franchise; a crime that countless others who proceeded him also committed. His problem isn't so much that he's replacement-level bad, as many teams with goaltending problems have, it's that he's in dire need of a fresh start somewhere else, because not only did "the guy" arrive in Binnington, pointing out the failures of Allen himself...but the city of St. Louis rode him so hard that when he did make mistakes, he compounded them by getting too down on himself. There's a reason why Allen primarily only plays road games now. The team just plays "tight" in front of him - like they can't afford to make a mistake.

He can still be a .916-.920 goalie in this league, and some team will absolutely take a 1-year flyer on him for $4.35M. Heck, Doug Armstrong already mentioned that Allen had interest from other teams, but the Blues had no immediate payroll concerns where they couldn't afford an expensive, reliable-"ish" back-up this year. Considering the goalie-market, Allen's actually a luxury and a heck of a lot more appealing than running some wash-up or journeyman out there for 30 games. But next year when the Petro (presumably) and Schenn extensions kick in, it will be a luxury that they can no longer afford, and will have no choice but to run out an unknown as a back-up. That's the cost of winning a Cup - salary will need to be moved sooner or later.

I actually think most people will be stunned to see Allen return an asset, and not just act as a cap dump.

 

[Merrrlin]

It could be something like Allen at 50% to Philly for a 7th this summer.

Seems fair to me!

 

[BleedBlue14]

I’d imagine someone who has a serious goaltending issue would take a chance at Allen for virtually nothing at that cap hit.

We will definitely suffer a few casualties. However if Pietro wants to stay here I’d imagine he will be given almost every opportunity to do so. We can’t move on front Dunn, not really should we. Blais is currently playing himself to be in a position where we may not be able to afford him. Fabbri has been fairly underwhelming this far. Although his skill set and compete level look very good.

I’m sure we will move on from Steen/Allen/Bozak soon. Although they still do b isn’t value to the Blues, we have internal options on ELCs or unproven who can step in and ease the pain of the losses.

 

[TheGoldenGod]

Armstrong turned Lehtera in Schenn and Sobotka/Berglund into ROR.

I'm not very concerned about his ability to find a dumping ground for Steen, Bozak, or Allen.

 

[Xerloris]

The Blues do not buyout players. Doug Armstrong turns them into miracle trades.

 

[Styles]

Cap crunches are always blown way out of proportion. So probably not.

 

[sabresEH]

Yes, there could potentially be a cap crunch, but it is not that big of one and they have several potential options to get out of it.

Its not like teams like Chicago that had to give up big important pieces for cap reasons. The Blues can do it by adjusting their back up goalie and/or their bottom 6.

Also Jbo is likely gone, good chance he retires after this year

If you want to look beyond next season, if Petro is resigned, which will happen as long as he wants to be in STL, Faulk will be going to Seattle

Faulk has an NTC so I doubt that’s a viable option.

 

[TK 421]

Faulk has an NTC so I doubt that’s a viable option.

He can be exposed, it's only NMC that has to be protected.

 

[Em etah Eh]

Faulk has an NTC so I doubt that’s a viable option.

NTC don't require protection in the expansion drafts. Only NMC's do. Still a lot to figure out before then but I won't go and assume that Faulk is going to Seattle if Petro is signed, as the previous poster did.

edit: didn't refresh after stepping away and just now see that it's already been answered.

 

[sabresEH]

He can be exposed, it's only NMC that has to be protected.

NTC don't require protection in the expansion drafts. Only NMC's do. Still a lot to figure out before then but I won't go and assume that Faulk is going to Seattle if Petro is signed, as the previous poster did.

edit: didn't refresh after stepping away and just now see that it's already been answered.

Gotcha. I thought players had to waive their NTC’s as well.

 

[TK 421]

Yeah they don't have to expose Faulk, Armstrong has multiple options available to him.

 

[Uncle Scrooge]

When you have expendable players as impending UFA's i don't think a team should be in cap trouble.

There will be some tough phone calls to guys you have a history with, but ultimately it's a business.

 

[Em etah Eh]

How many teams besides the sens are going to be comfortably under the cap and also willing and able to take dumps for compensation? Doesn't seem like there will be too many.