Off-season Analysis – St. Louis Blues

September 08, 2008

As the dog days of summer come to a close there is no better time to take a look at the moves (some outlandishly stupid) by the thirty clubs and the Top-3 issues the teams will have heading into training camp.

Off-season transactions:

· Signed defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (1^st round draft pick in ‘08 – 4^th overall) to a three-year entry level contract.

· Re-signed centre Jay McClement to a one-year deal worth $950,000.

· Signed centre T.J. Oshie to a three-year entry-level contract worth $1.25 million per season.

· Signed centre Lars Eller to a three-year entry-level contract worth $1.3 million per season.

· The Vancouver Canucks offered restricted free agent forward David Backes a three-year contract worth $7.5 million (click here for cap hit breakdown). The Blues matched the offer to retain Backes.

· Re-signed forward Yan Stastny to a two-year contract worth $500,000 per season.

· Re-signed defenseman Jeff Woywitka to a one-year deal worth $725,000.

· Signed forward Brad Winchester to a one-year contract worth $600,000.

· Signed defenseman Mike Weaver to a one-year contract worth $700,000.

· Sign defenseman Andy Wozniewski to a one-year deal worth $500,000.

· Signed winger Matt Foy to a one-year contract worth $500,000.

· Signed winger Steve Regier to a one-year contract worth $500,000.

· Signed forward Cam Paddock to a one-year contract worth $500,000.

· Traded winger Jamal Mayers to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 3^rd round draft pick (James Livingston) in the ’08 draft.

· Traded a 4^th round draft pick in the ’08 draft to the Nashville Predators for goaltender Chris Mason.

· Traded a 5^th round draft pick in the ’09 entry draft to the Los Angeles Kings for the rights to defenseman T.J. Fast.

Off-ice issues:

· Signed GM Larry Pleau to a contract extension through 2009-2010 season.

· Hired Doug Armstrong as Vice President of Player Personnel. He will assume the general manager duties in 2010 from Larry Pleau.

Top-3 concerns leading into ‘08-09:

It looks like more youth will be filling the roles of departed veterans (Ryan Johnson and Jamal Mayers). T.J. Oshie, Patrik Berglund and Alex Pietrangelo are going to be given every opportunity to make the big club. If these three make it they will join sophomores Erik Johnson, David Backes and David Perron to create a young and exciting nucleus looking forward but not necessarily for the present day.
There could be a goaltending controversy as newly acquired Chris Mason will be looking to dethrone the underappreciated Manny Legace. Mason blew his chance at a starting gig in Nashville (losing out to Dan Ellis) and will be looking to impress and steal the starter’s job.
There were rumblings in the summer that some of the veterans’ quit on Murray last season and that his job may have been on the line. It’s more likely that Murray will start and end the year in St. Louis as the team is definitely in rebuild mode and Murray has a solid track record with young teams.

Off-season analysis (so far…):

Other than signing a few of their blue-chip prospects in Oshie, Eller and Pietrangelo to entry level contracts and adding some bodies for Peoria the Blues were very quiet this off-season.

JD and Co. have a plan in place and it looks like it entails taking their lumps the first few seasons and missing the playoffs is worth it to repeat past success. They are going in the right direction but expect them to be picking in the Top-5 of next year’s entry draft.

**Special thanks to NHLSCAP.com for all the salary cap figures that are provided above.

Posted by Bunz

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