One year deals or not, that is a BRUTAL way to spend 6.5M. It will go to something far better than 4th liners and Martin Jones.

I am not a fan of perron leaving, just like everyone else, but this is a middling team at best.
This has nothing to do with how you put this team together. I would have the forward lines a little different but that's about it.
If this is the team Doug rolls with, I would expect to be a bubble team and to trade tarasenko at the deadline. Retaining 50% of his cap and with lots of demand, his value will likely be higher than it is now.

As a blues fan, I expect to be in the playoffs. But out of any year to miss, this would be by far the best time to do it. Bedard and Michkov are absolute game changers. It sucks that teams can only move up 10 spots now.

I like the mindset of focusing on one year deals. It's what I want to see Edmonton do as well. One guy that could fit both situations very well could be Kessel. I don't see him getting a term deal based on his low goal totals last year but one year flyer could be a massive win.

It is really hard to build a team around 1 year deals due to the impending cap crunch with the aforementioned players next year. I'd love to sign Geno or Giroux for a year and call it good but that isn't feasible. All of this AGM is under the assumption of DA only wanting to commit to players for 1 year. Ideally, we'd resign Perron and trade for a top 4 LHD D but that might not be possible. Also, Stastny is not a 4th liner. He put up nearly 50 points

Okay, but whether Frenchy stays or not, cap will be spent on an LD long before it is wasted on things we don't need or should never want.

He show's up in the playoffs like all but 1 year
He's consistent in his Production only getting better with age
I dont see why you'd dislike him given how many STL players no show in the Post Season

Huh? Why do you think I dislike Perron? I love Frenchy, and know he needs to be back.

I think Doug of all people knows what he is doing. If he can't make his team team better with significant moves this offseason (Chychrun or Thachuk), why not punt this year, trade tarasenko at the deadline, and get a stud or 2 in the draft and sign Matthew Tkachuk as a free agent.

If you can't get chuchrun or provorov, does brining leddy back really make you a better team than last year? no

I don't want Leddy back and there are numerous LDs to chase. We don't need a massive blockbuster to improve. But there will be NO punt. That's not an option.

To say it's not an option is just naive. Since the Ryan Miller trade, Doug does not like to overpay for assets. What if there just aren't any trades or Free agents out there that Doug likes?
He goes into the season with just about the same roster minus perron and leddy.
With perron gone, the powerplay could regress, a lot...
We were rather fortunate with injuries last season, what if thomas or binnington gets hurt?
What if we're just outside the playoffs come deadline?
Tarasenko and others will be traded. Doug will not go all in on this team.
What I'm suggesting is not super unlikely stuff.

But to say it's not an option is just naive...

Thats my bad
Usually when i hear "frenchy " its a negative connotation
That is unless that person is French then its different
I just assumed it was negative

He's right you know
Leddy will cost much more then many of the LD out there
You're asking for a 5-6m dollar Scandella situation on the high side and 4.5-5m on the low side
He's dipped about 10-15 pts a season from his Prime years but thats not surprising
He's still a solid #2 top line Defensmen with leadership qualities a lot of teams will be after

Mike Reilly im betting is your teams low cost/low risk gamble this year
TBH i think its the smarter choice as with Lindholm there now BOS will be looking to move him out
He's a good option and a solid skater who's got only 1 knock against him, He cant score goals with 12 total in 7 years pro
Good skater, Good shot even as it leads to deflections or tip in's or something productive.

BOS has a log jam and cap issues so i think STL can get paid atleast a 3rd or a decent prospect and a 5th -7th to take him
It would go a long way towards helping BOS sign their biggest Free Agent despite only having just under 3m cap to work with .(or someone to replace the top NHL Faceoff Center )

There's too many situation with teams needing to pay to move players caps out
STL is in a prime position to benefit adding assets for profit rather then paying to sign them out of pocket

That's his nickname in STL. I think O'Reilly started it.

He is not the LD the Blues are after. They want a real top 4, not a 3rd pairing.

Giving Leddy the deal he wants would be a MONSTROUS overpay and would hurt us like hell next summer. He should not be back.

Ya I don't see Doug signing Leddy. I don't see him signing many players at all, which is my point. Next year is much more important because you have to sign Thomas, Kyrou, and O'Reilly.
Save cap space this year and if you're not in contention for the cup gain assets for things you aren't going to have next year (Tarasenko, Barbashev?)

Reilly has played top 4 since day 1 he landed in MTL
Played top pair in both Ottawa and BOS because he's fast and smooth in transition

He's the Josh Gorges or Andrew Ference type that fans will never respect but teams do
Theyre reliable cheap options just usually not on Contenders unless they are beside a Strong D partner(like Mcavoy)

He's was a solid option for MTL who had Weber and Petry who he had good chemistry with
He plays anywhere up and down the line from 15 minutes to 21 minutes with solid numbers even if he's not a goal scorer.
Reality is he's better and cheaper then anyone STL will get on the UFA market which is pretty weak depth wise .

Unless you think STL suddenly has the cap to overpay another Scandella and regret it for years lol

They won't be going to a UFA for the LD they want. It will need to be a trade and they seem interested in bigger fish.

What LD of note are available via Trade after Lindholm was dealt?
Does STL really willing to give up the same Volume and Quantity that BOS had to in order to get a "Bigger Fish"?

I still think your GM is to cheap for that and if he cant do it with a VT trade he wont land a "Bigger Fish" IMO
If you blow your wad now it will be like DAL going all in on Hanzal when they werent ready for a deep push
It will hurt you longterm and waste years of your Core players Prime years as seen with Sequin and Benn among others

Then again its your choice
But it seemed like your last cup run was about cutting bundling older Veterans ,a top prospect , 1st and a 2nd round pick to land Oreilly
Signed Maroon to protect him and others
TDL was about adding AHL call up depth and 7th Dman

So maybe if you bundle Taresenko the same way you can find a Dman of similar value to Oreilly
I just dont know who's looking to give up a LD like that outside maybe Fowler i guess in ANA who i guess might kinda work in a pinch

I think there's all sorts who definitely could be had or perhaps could be had. Soucy, Sanheim or Provorov, Graves, perhaps someone like Sandin, who knows maybe even Gavrikov. All sorts. I'm not talking about an All Star. I'm talking solid compliment level. The Blues want a good fit, not a superstar.

You could likely get Provorov for sure
With D'angleo, Ellis,Ristolinen,Sanheim, Attard and York their set
Provorov for the right price can be had

The other example you named are too important to their teams Gm's and their builds
Soucy and Graves seem expendable from the outside looking in but try to trade for them a MIN fans act like you're robbing them

Well, now we're not getting any of them. Damn Army and his pride.

Could be worse ,you could be a Blackhawks Fan
They expected Kane and Toews gone and rebuild around the youth right?

Debrincat gone
Dach gone
Strome Not Qualified and allowed to walk then Signed Domi for similar deal who's older (Domi who had a worse year too )
Kubalik Not Qualified and allowed to walk then Sienged Anthinsiou who you guessed it had a worse year and is older

They got less then they should have on the trades
Then let 2 of their RFA's just walk
I was kinda pissy about Hughes doing it to Pitlick
But i couldnt imagine letting 20 and 30 goal scoring RFA's walk without trading them for something

Even Tony D'bag D'angelo got a bunch of depth picks with more quantity then quality lol

so any time you feel down on your Gm's latest missed move or stubborn stance
Just remember it could be worse, we could be CHI Fans trying to rebuild without getting the most for their asset's hahaha