I went on a long tangent on my Interactive GM team about assuming Tarasenko is LTIR for the whole year and if he's not then it's a pleasant surprise and you deal with the cap implications then. Might be recklessly aggressive but I stand by that. In that scenario, we may not need to trade Bozak at all. If we do, it'll be halfway/three quarters of the way through the year when hopefully a competitive team or two that's not on Bozak's list has had some injuries to their group of centers.

I'm hearing Armstrong is really playing hard ball with Petro. He knows it's a flat cap world, there's VERY few teams that can fit him in at the $9+ AAV he'd likely be seeking on the open market, etc, the list goes on. I could see this being a Stamkos situation where Petro gets what he feels is the Blues absolute best offer and signs at the 11th hour. Or he leaves, ha.

Then the Blues may have to start having some chats with the Kraken about the expensive proposition of mandating Seattle take Faulk. Could cost a first round pick or something high like that. But it'd be possible.

I think the biggest thing that people don't get with all the offer sheets I see for Dunn is that if his agency is smart, he will not want to sign long term, even if you overpay him a little. It makes so much more sense for him to sign for 2, maybe 3 years around 2.5-3.5 million and then cash in when he has a bigger role on the team on a long term deal and when he has arbitration rights. Unless he just wants to get paid now, I guess, but he would make so much more money in the future if he did a bridge deal now and then negotiate a long term deal for big bucks when he actually has some leverage.

The biggest problem with the flat cap world is not this season or even next, because the big contracts that need to be moved or are falling away are non-core guys like Steen and Bozak who don't project to be long term members of this team. Where you get into issues, even with an 8.5 million hit, is when you have to decide whether or not to re-sign Schwartz, Binnington and then especially Parayko and (presumably) Dunn after a bridge deal. I understand that the Blues' rumored offer to Pietrangelo is insultingly low but after digging around on the new year that's been added to Capfriendly I can see why, it becomes problematic quickly if you go anywhere over eight. Your forward core starts to look really really thin. It also could be a case of trying to set the bar for a Parayko extension in a few years too, if the cap hasn't risen when he's due how can he ask for more than Pietrangelo?

I can't see Tarasenko sitting on LTIR all season, I'm not even convinced he's going to be on LTIR to start the season, considering we don't even know when the season is going to start. If it doesn't start until February, that would be at the end of his rehab assuming all goes smoothly.

Yeah, I think if Petro signs in STL the immediate next step is for GMDA to get a Faulk exit strategy - otherwise it's no Schwartz xt and more Dunn rumors. I've been pretty much 50-50 on if Petro stays or leaves. Army def playing hardball, and from one of JR's articles, he apparently has some bad blood with Newport agency. Sounds like Petro is unhappy that it's not done yet, but not unhappy enough to completely walk away. This whole situation is so damn silly lol, what was the itch he felt that he /had to/ go get Faulk?

I think VT will go on LTIR to start the season but most of the time, the cap is easier to move around in the offseason (or at the TDL) so I don't think it would be smart to wait until he's nearing a comeback. There may not be much interest, with most GMs wanting to give a long look before they make in-season changes. But you do bring up a good point about injury replacements so you never know.

For sure, he should be looking for a solid bridge deal, and he should see the writing on the wall with the rest of the LHD... Gunny can't hang in the top 4, Scandella is a #4 at his very best. There aren't any roadblocks on the roster that would slow down Dunn's trajectory other than his own play. Possibly Perunovich stealing some PP time, but that's not an immediate concern IMO. So I doubt he'd sign an OS when he could stay and play bigger minutes and become 'the guy' on the left side - plus an OS can't come out until free agency opens, and I have a feeling that STL will have him locked in before then - i.e. I don't think Army is waiting on Petro to do something with Dunn, but we'll see.

Yea I did the "Blues in 2 years" thing and you almost HAVE to move Faulk to Seattle if you re-sign Petro. There's virtually no other choice. Which could be prohibitively expensive to do, which I don't think is appetizing to Army either.

Edit: I suppose there's always a choice: you could let Schwartz walk or maybe Binner has a bad year so his AAV is lower... etc.

https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/1893363

Imo there’ll be a time to trade Dunn, but that time doesn’t come for two more years. Get him on a bridge, feed him bigger minutes, ease Perunovich in the same way Dunn was, and then choose which one to trade for a comparable forward when Perunovich’s elc or Dunn’s second contract ends.

Agreed, it wouldn't be wise to move either guy at this point, but it could def make sense in the near future. No reason to gamble when we haven't seen Dunn in a big role and Scotty hasn't played a single pro game. There is a scenario where both guys stay long-term but it probably doesn't involve Pietrangelo.