Blues Off-Season

[RT14]

The Blues have been busy early on this off-season, having traded 5 or 6 1st round picks among other pieces to add players like Ryan Suter, Nik Kronwall, and Derek Stepan.

After a deal with the Red Wings this morning, another star player will be added to the mix as the Blues welcome Marian Gaborik into the group. The trade sees young winger James Van Riemsdyk head the other way along with a couple future pieces.

To Det:
-JVR LW/RW, 23y 65ov, RFA
-Michael St.Croix, C 20y ECHL
-2014 2nd round pick (Clb)

To St.L:
-Marian Gaborik RW/LW, 31y 75ov, $9.99/1yr

Thanks to Detroit for the talks that started last night. Think it's a deal that works for both teams as they try to shed salary.

Gaborik is a sim beast and should add a new level of scoring to the forward group here to go along with Suter's stellar D play. Team is starting to come around, but will be interesting to see what it looks like as the off-season progresses:

Lineup on May 26th/2013
Ladd 68ov - Stepan 66ov - Gaborik 75ov
Ryder 68ov - Turris 63ov - Voracek 66ov
???????? - Bouchard 63ov - ?????????
Crack 55ov - Johansen 59ov - Kostop 60ov

Suter 78ov - Kronwall 71ov
Schenn 65ov - Polak 65ov
Wilson 63ov - Fistric 60ov

Anderson 80ov
Bobrovsky 73ov

Still some holes to fill and upgrades to make before the season begins but a lot of time still to hopefully ice a much more competitive team this year than last (although that really won't be hard).

[RT14]

In a relatively quick deal with GM Goffie of the Pens, St. Louis has added 27 year old top line forward Loui Eriksson to join newcomer Marian Gaborik on the top line as team continues to evolve.

To Pitts:
-Kyle Turris C, 22y 63ov, $2.5/3yrs
-2014 1st (To be paid before start of reg season)
-2013 2nd (#38)

To St.L:
-Loui Eriksson RW, 26y 73ov, $8.0/2yrs

We understand the value of cap space and know we are running low heading into "July 1st", but there won't be any player of Loui's caliber on the UFA market and if it comes down to it, we will move other players to make room for the prime aged star.

Thanks to Goffie for the quick and to the point talks. Gotta respect the straightforward approach.

[RT14]

To Phi:
-Andrew Ladd LW, 27y 68ov, 48GP 46Pts +10
-2014 2nd (Chi)

To St.L:
-Colin Wilson LW/C, 23y 62ov, 25GP 19Pts +1
-2013 1st (#20)

I like Ladd a lot but am not sure he can repeat last year again and think Wilson is proving to be a very good young NHLer and love adding a 1st this year. We also needed the cap savings and another player that can play Center. All in all, makes sense for the Blues right now.

Thanks to Joetif for the talks!

[TurdFerguson]

Wilson!!!!

[simmer2]

Love how the Blues are shaping up.

And great job getting Louie!

[GreenLantern]

St. Croix makes a sweet fishing rod.

[RT14]

Erik Johnson just can't get enough'o dem Blues. After a lot of back and forth on many possible combinations, St. Louis and Columbus finally came to an agreement on a deal:

To Clb:
-Luke Schenn D, 23y 66ov, RFA
-Yannick Weber D, 24y 60ov, RFA
-2014 2nd (Cgy)

To St.L:
-Erik Johnson D, 24y 68ov, $6.5/1yr

I think EJ still has a heck of a lot better chance of becoming a true #1 Dman than Schenn does of being a legit #2, and am not too concerned about losing Weber here as I've not been able to get any value for him over the last year (although if he does finally get an NHL shot again he may end up a decent player).

Didn't want to add a 2nd there but when I looked at what I gave up for Schenn, I decided it was worth it. Funnily enough that trade was for my Erik Johnson at the time. EJ + what ended up being #53 for Schenn + Bobrovsky, so in the end it's Weber + 2 x 2nd's for Bob, I'll take that.

Still think this trade was close to an overpayment to the Jackets, but as a whole looking back I'm definitely happy with it. Thanks to MJK for the talks and holding the insults to only one or two this time! ;)

[MJK]

I'll be sure to add an extra insult next time. I LOVE the fact I do not send any cash in this deal which ultimately made it 100% worth it for me.

We like EJ a lot but at the end of the day we are not sure if EJ's full potential will be more than Schenn anyways.

We didn't drop too much in OV and will make use of the extra cap in free agency.

[RT14]

The Blues were forced to make a decision about their upcoming cap problems that unfortunately sees them take a step back from building a hopeful contender this season. Of all the large contracts on the roster heading into next season, it was decided Nik Kronwall was probably the most expendable given the depth at D right now.

With that, the talented Defenseman was shipped off to Long Island in a deal that sees the Flyers take on some risky/long term futures but shed Kronwall's entire $9 Million salary.

To NYI:
-Niklas Kronwall D, 32y 71-73ov, $9.0/2yrs

To St.L:
-Oscar Lindberg C, 21y AHL, 42 Pts / 55 GP in SEL
-2014 1st (NYI)
-2015 1st (NYI)

We're not sure of Lindberg's potential upside, whether he can be an effective playmaker at the NHL level or more of a solid 2-way 3rd liner, but he should be getting his shot this year hopefully and we're looking forward to finding out.

Getting a 2014 1st was important as part of the deal as the Flyers currently owe two. The 2015 1st won't pay off for a long time but I'm happy enough with the return to pull the trigger as it's something that potentially pays off for a few years straight while Kronwall is a top rated Dman.

Thanks to Mike for the quick and easy negotiations, was a pleasure doing business with you!

[mbeauchamp76]

Thanks Ryan

With the addition of Kronwall Islanders have solidified their top 4 D with Kronwall, Seidenberg, Gleason and Greene. We will need some cheaper options for our #5/6 D's so this will leave Bryan Allen the odd man out on the Island who we were on the fence about resigning, Allen will not be offered a contract and will go on the open market unless anyone might be interested in his negotiating rights. This will also likely leave RFA Kyle Quincey looking for another team over the off season

It was tough to give up a couple of first round picks and Lindberg who was one of our better prospects however we wanted to protect our best prospect in Palmieri so the picks needed to be higher. More of a risk than giving up on a late 2nd pick in Lindberg, we are banking on the 1st RD picks being later ones. Although an expensive contract we felt that Kronwall has a lot of good years left being 32 and that he would be hard pressed to become a lot cheaper in 2 years.

[Daradon]

I didn't trade you Kronwall just so you could send him right back to my conference! ;)