Whoa!

Armstrong always dropping these September deals out of nowhere. If his back is healthy this contract kicks all ass. If not.....

Doug wouldn't sign him if he wasn't healthy. This is good news on all fronts. I like the signing. We just need a 4th guy to fill out that top 4 and our D will super. Would like to see Scandella drop to 3rd pair. Either someone step up and grab a top 4 spot or we acquire someone. But I like a healthy Parayko, Faulk and Krug in top 4.

First reaction, skeptical. I honestly don’t know what this dude is

I like it. I think his average is worth 5.5-6 and he still has some upside. We had to get this done, our D has taken enough hits the past two years.

All these large contracts are one injury away from being a disaster, but I applaud Army for being agressive. If 55 is healthy, this contract is a bargain.

If Nurse is worth 9 million... yeah. This is fine.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Wed Sep 01, 2021 3:55 pm First reaction, skeptical. I honestly don’t know what this dude is

yeah. bigger problem is, neither does he. hopefully this will give him some confidence/comfort and he can just go play. also, someone please hammer into his head that he has a great shot and should be taking it way more often.

I don’t think he has anymore upside...he is what he is at this point. Good deal for the Blues though.

I agree with everyone. Good deal if he stays healthy considering the silly money being handed out to average D-men.

He needs to have Pronger teach him how to hockey.

T.C. wrote: Wed Sep 01, 2021 5:12 pm

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Wed Sep 01, 2021 3:55 pm First reaction, skeptical. I honestly don’t know what this dude is

yeah. bigger problem is, neither does he. hopefully this will give him some confidence/comfort and he can just go play. also, someone please hammer into his head that he has a great shot and should be taking it way more often.

I hope this contract has a "MEAN MOTHER-FUCKER" clause in it.

I like it. If Parayko would have walked, The Blues would have needed to add TWO high-quality defencemen. Only $6.5 million is a good bargain, IF Parayko won't be permanently impaired by chronic back problems. Back problems ARE often chronic, so we'll need some good luck. But, Armstrong had no choice. The Blues MIGHT be able to pick up ONE reasonably high-quality D-Man, but nit 2. None of their young defencemen are near ready to be the #3 or above addition they need. So, let's hope Mikkola can progress faster than he has been, so far, and become a decent #4 level, and Parayko's back problems are over, and he continues developing from a solid #2, to eventually reaching a true #1 level.

I agree with Tim that he has no more upside. But if he plays to his own personal ceiling then that’s more than good enough. Parayko was fuck’n fantastic during our Cup run title. He was literally picking pucks off the oppositions stick blades like picking cherries. And when he’s rushing that puck back up ice it’s dominating. He needs to get back to that level again.

What is interesting is that the Blues seem to have placed an internal individual cap for all their recent signings. Schenn, Krug, Faulk and now Parayko have a $6.5 cap hit. ROR and Tarasenko have a hit of 7.5, but during wildly different circumstances. I'm sure that's not a hard and fast policy since Petro was supposedly offered 8x8, but still kind of interesting. The Bruins had great success with the "no one makes more than Bergeron" policy.

The other thing to note is that like all Army contracts, there is no signing bonus. His actual salary drops to $4.8M the last 3 years of the deal. That means that if he's cooked by then either by a squawky back or just eroded play, this is an easy deal to buyout. The Blues have never used a buyout on Armstrong's watch but it also makes it less of a pill for other teams to swallow in a trade. Hopefully he's healthy and all of this is irrelevant, but still good to know.

Turk Sanderson wrote: Wed Sep 01, 2021 10:56 pm

T.C. wrote: Wed Sep 01, 2021 5:12 pm

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Wed Sep 01, 2021 3:55 pm First reaction, skeptical. I honestly don’t know what this dude is

yeah. bigger problem is, neither does he. hopefully this will give him some confidence/comfort and he can just go play. also, someone please hammer into his head that he has a great shot and should be taking it way more often.

I hope this contract has a "MEAN MOTHER-FUCKER" clause in it.

Unfortunately, you can't change a players disposition.

8 years for a guy who is potentially already having back issues is risky. I still think of him as a young guy but he's already 28 so this will take him til he's 36. But 6.5aav seems pretty fair. The last couple years of this deal could be ugly but who knows what contracts will look like in 5 years. 6.5 might be like 4 million now.

barnburner wrote: Thu Sep 02, 2021 5:39 pm

Turk Sanderson wrote: Wed Sep 01, 2021 10:56 pm

T.C. wrote: Wed Sep 01, 2021 5:12 pm

yeah. bigger problem is, neither does he. hopefully this will give him some confidence/comfort and he can just go play. also, someone please hammer into his head that he has a great shot and should be taking it way more often.

I hope this contract has a "MEAN MOTHER-FUCKER" clause in it.

Unfortunately, you can't change a players disposition.

...Then they need to dump Krug and find a LD who can kick some ass.

Turk Sanderson wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 10:12 am

barnburner wrote: Thu Sep 02, 2021 5:39 pm

Turk Sanderson wrote: Wed Sep 01, 2021 10:56 pm

I hope this contract has a "MEAN MOTHER-FUCKER" clause in it.

Unfortunately, you can't change a players disposition.

...Then they need to dump Krug and find a LD who can kick some ass.

Chara is still out there...

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 10:24 am

Turk Sanderson wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 10:12 am

barnburner wrote: Thu Sep 02, 2021 5:39 pm

Unfortunately, you can't change a players disposition.

...Then they need to dump Krug and find a LD who can kick some ass.

Chara is still out there...

Think he said he wants to stay on the East Coast.

Rivermanfan wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 10:28 am

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 10:24 am

Turk Sanderson wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 10:12 am
...Then they need to dump Krug and find a LD who can kick some ass.

Chara is still out there...

Think he said he wants to stay on the East Coast.

Well it's under water so St Louis is the new east coast in my book...the book of facts

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 10:31 am

Rivermanfan wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 10:28 am

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Fri Sep 03, 2021 10:24 am

Chara is still out there...

Think he said he wants to stay on the East Coast.

Well it's under water so St Louis is the new east coast in my book...the book of facts

Vitale recently said Chara is still in play. Despite talks of East coast. He’s all for Chara coming here.