RAFritchey wrote: Sun Feb 02, 2025 5:04 pm
Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Sun Feb 02, 2025 12:56 pm
Dave's a mess wrote: Sun Feb 02, 2025 10:28 am
With the cap increases they've announced, i don't think the contract situation is nearly that bad. When Steen takes over they'll have $60M committed to a cap of $104M. That includes Krug, who might never play again, and assumes no other movement. Army has signed some crappy contracts, but Steen isn't coming into some bleak situation, there will be plenty of room to operate. The bigger issue is just that they don't have enough good hockey players. Not all of the kids are going to hit, so there will be a need to add talent, but Steen should have enough cap space to work with.
I don’t care about cap space, I’m talking about roster space. You think Stillman is just going to spend to the cap and have 7 d men making over 5 million or something? An entire 3rd line making over 6 million?
The Blues are not in a position to cover up bad contracts with more contracts.
(I miss CapFriendly, so double check the numbers. I'm going by PuckPedia.com)
We're actually shedding our older players pretty quickly.
Saad (32) is gone with no cap retention, that's $4.5 mil off the books
Krug (33) will likely not play again (IMHO), so his $6.5 mil won't count.
Leddy (33) may also be in the same boat, so his $4 mil won't count either.
Schenn (33) and Faulk's (32) NTCs turn into “list 15/16 team” clauses this Summer, making them much more tradeable. (They're both making $6.5 mil)
(If Krug and/or Leddy actually do come back, their NTCs also become modified like these)
Fowler (33) has one year left at $4 mil (Anaheim is covering the other $2.5 mil), and has a 4 team trade list. So far, I think that's well worth it.
Suter's (40) contract will be up this season (though for what he brings on the bottom pairing, another $775k + bonuses would be fine by me)
Faksa's (31) contract will also be up this year, that's another $3.25 mil off
Sundqvist (30) has one more year at $1.5 mil (no protections)
Parayko (31) has three more years at $6.5 mil, full NTC. IMHO, he's been our best defenseman all season, even if he drops off a little after this year, that's still pretty good value for a big-minute RHD.
Binnington (31) has 2 more years at $6 mil with an 18 team no-trade list.
That's everyone currently over 30.
Before any more roster moves, next year we'll have only four forwards that make more than $4 mil, one of whom is Schenn (see above). On defense we'll have three players making more than $5 mil, one of whom is Krug (see above) and another is Faulk (again, see above).
We're very quickly going to become a much younger team with a lot of contract and cap room, a lot of solid young talent to develop or deal, and a very good coach. IMHO, Armstrong is leaving Steen with a lot of options and flexibility after this Summer.