Off-Season Options

Forums/Armchair-GM

Page 1 of 1

Created by: Sunny_In_STL

Team: 2024-25 St. Louis Blues

Initial Creation Date: Feb. 13, 2024

Published: Feb. 15, 2024

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Description

3 D-man Options that I think are possible:

1. Noah Hanifin: Big, Young, would create an elite shutdown pair with Parayko, would be expensive but is a true #1 D-man, Unlikely he will make it to FA if the Flames are smart but would be nice to have.

2. Brady Skjei: A bit older but is a solid 2-way D-man, skates well, Is on PK, and can be on PP if needed. Would be a great Top-4 D-man who would be a great partner to Parayko/Faulk depending on where Leddy plays.

3. Gustav Forsling: A very good all-around D-man who doesn’t do anything in particular that is elite but is good at everything, he would be a solid top-4 addition, a tad smaller than the other 2 but playing him with Parayko would handle that.

The Scotty P situation: Reaches Group 6 UFA Status assuming he doesn’t play tonight, very good offensively, but still struggles defensively and has MAJOR health problems. I wouldn't want him next to Faulk for the struggles he has defensively and not with Parayko due to the competition he plays against. Could he be a good player, Absolutely, but I don't think it will be in STL.

This is also an unpopular opinion on here but I would vote to keep Faulk/Krug and just don’t pair them together. Krug and Kessel look solid together and for Faulk, I’m going to assume a bounce back next year when he isn’t playing through 3 different injuries much like Parayko resurgence this season. Also giving him Leddy or a new FA signing on his pair allows for him to play more aggressively since he should be paired with a D-man who is better defensively than Krug.

Forwards are a bit more fun:
Many of the prospects are ready to go or at least need a shot to prove themselves, so that takes care of most of the holes in the line-up but, a middle/bottom 6 winger would be a great help in case they struggle. Jarnkrok would be a cheap get and fills that role but not against looking to FA market for someone similar to him.

Very Interested in how DA will improve this team with the Cap space available to him

Free Agent Signings

RESERVE LIST		YEARS	CAP HIT
Snuggerud, Jimmy		3	$950,000

RFA	YEARS	CAP HIT
Abramov, Mikhail	1	$775,000
Bitten, Will	1	$775,000
Laferrière, Mathias	1	$775,000
Ellis, Colten	1	$775,000
McGing, Hugh	1	$775,000
Washkurak, Keean	1	$775,000
Skinner, Hunter	1	$775,000
Alexandrov, Nikita	2	$850,000
Kessel, Matthew	2	$950,000
Perunovich, Scott	2	$1,500,000

UFA	YEARS	CAP HIT
Sundqvist, Oskar	2	$1,250,000
Rosén, Calle	2	$800,000
Hanifin, Noah	7	$7,500,000
Skjei, Brady	6	$6,500,000
Forsling, Gustav	7	$6,500,000

Trades

STL

Järnkrok, Calle

TOR

2024 3rd round pick (NYR)

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2024
2025
2026

ROSTER

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

EMBED

TEXT-EMBED

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
23	$87,500,000	$84,020,595	$0	$412,500	$3,479,405

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Buchnevich, Pavel $5,800,000$5,800,000 LW, RW, C M-NTC UFA - 1	Thomas, Robert $8,125,000$8,125,000 C, RW UFA - 7	Kyrou, Jordan $8,125,000$8,125,000 RW UFA - 7
Neighbours, Jake $835,833$835,833 LW, RW RFA - 1	Schenn, Brayden $6,500,000$6,500,000 C, LW NTC UFA - 4	Snuggerud, Jimmy $950,000$950,000 RW, C RFA
Bolduc, Zachary $863,333$863,333 ($412,500$412K) LW RFA - 2	Hayes, Kevin $3,571,429$3,571,429 C M-NTC UFA - 2	Saad, Brandon $4,500,000$4,500,000 LW, RW NTC UFA - 2
Toropchenko, Alexey $1,250,000$1,250,000 LW, RW RFA - 1	Sundqvist, Oskar $1,250,000$1,250,000 RW, C UFA - 2	Järnkrok, Calle $2,100,000$2,100,000 RW, C, LW M-NTC UFA - 2

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Forsling, Gustav $6,500,000$6,500,000 LD UFA - 8	Parayko, Colton $6,500,000$6,500,000 RD NTC UFA - 6	Binnington, Jordan $6,000,000$6,000,000 G M-NTC UFA - 3
Leddy, Nick $4,000,000$4,000,000 LD NTC UFA - 2	Faulk, Justin $6,500,000$6,500,000 RD NTC UFA - 3	Hofer, Joel $775,000$775,000 G RFA - 1
Krug, Torey $6,500,000$6,500,000 LD NTC UFA - 3	Kessel, Matthew $950,000$950,000 RD RFA - 2

Scratches	Injured Reserve (IR)	Long Term IR (LTIR)
Alexandrov, Nikita $850,000$850,000 C RFA		Hanifin, Noah $7,500,000$7,500,000 LD UFA - 8
Tucker, Tyler $800,000$800,000 LD/RD RFA - 1		Skjei, Brady $6,500,000$6,500,000 LD UFA
Walker, Nathan $775,000$775,000 LW UFA - 2		Perunovich, Scott $1,500,000$1,500,000 LD RFA

Feb. 15 at 1:59 p.m.

HolyJumpin81

Joined: Feb. 2021

Posts: 474

Likes: 251

I like the idea. I just think 2.1m for a 4th liner is too rich for us rn. Better off signing someone instead of giving up assets. Additionally, this offseason I dont think is the year to dive back into the D market and pay for another expensive D-man.

Feb. 15 at 2:07 p.m.

Sunny_In_STL

Thread Starter

Joined: Jul. 2021

Posts: 24

Likes: 6

Quoting: HolyJumpin81

My Idea in this is you have the money this year to get someone with a bunch of rookie deals and there isn't anyone coming up in the next year or 2 on the defense that needs a spot. Why not go out and find a stable piece that can match up in year 3 with Lindstein and maybe another pick to truly stabilize the D-core

Feb. 15 at 2:08 p.m.

Ryminister_92

Joined: May 2023

Posts: 2,171

Likes: 840

Quoting: HolyJumpin81

Leafs aren’t moving Jarnkrok for a pick and he definitely is more than a 4th liner

Feb. 15 at 2:08 p.m.

mokumboi

Joined: Apr. 2019

Posts: 29,988

Likes: 11,578

So wait... you want throw 20M a year for the rest of the decade at Dmen but NOT move out any of Leddy, Krug or Faulk? We literally double the size of our biggest problem as an organization. Skjei and Forsling won't cost that much, and Hanifin shouldn't.

I'll take Forsling for about two year and a million less per, and other teams can overspend on the other two.

I also have no idea how one could figure Krug-Kessel has been solid. They've statistically been a good bit worse than Krug-Faulk, which has been our #1 issue this season. A 28.6% goal share. Brutal.

Feb. 15 at 2:30 p.m.

Sunny_In_STL

Thread Starter

Joined: Jul. 2021

Posts: 24

Likes: 6

Quoting: mokumboi

The problem with the Krug/Kessel pair with goal share is that they are being deployed in a second-pair role which is tough for a rookie and Krug isn't the best defensively. You deploy them in a 3rd pairing role I guarantee you they excel but to move them to a 3rd pair, you need an actual 2nd pair which Leddy/Faulk or Forsling/Faulk gives you. If it fails next year all the contracts can be gotten rid of much easier as Leddy/Krug/Faulk move to m-ntc but I would think the defense would look much better.

Feb. 15 at 2:35 p.m.

mokumboi

Joined: Apr. 2019

Posts: 29,988

Likes: 11,578

Quoting: Sunny_In_STL

Like I said, inject Forsling into my veins, he;s a perfect Parayko partner and will not require as much as you're willing to give him. Not interested in the other two, especially at those prices, and at least one of Krug or Leddy has to go. Preferably Krug, but that will be harder to pull off unless we buy him out, which I am not opposed to.

Feb. 15 at 2:38 p.m.

Sunny_In_STL

Thread Starter

Joined: Jul. 2021

Posts: 24

Likes: 6

Quoting: mokumboi

Assuming Forsling would sign and Krug gets bought out, where are you looking for a 3rd pair D-man to play with Kessel? I don't believe Scotty wants to come back here with how the organization has screwed with his development and Tucker is fine in small segments not a full-time 3rd pair guy.

Feb. 15 at 2:41 p.m.

AC14

Joined: Dec. 2022

Posts: 2,992

Likes: 1,518

I don't think Forsling hits the open market. With the cap increase and the amount of teams that need defenseman, I wouldn't be surprised to see Forsling get a 7 x 7.5m if he does. I think we are getting to a point where 7m for a definite top 4 guy is the norm whereas 6-6.5m used to be.

Feb. 15 at 2:44 p.m.

mokumboi

Joined: Apr. 2019

Posts: 29,988

Likes: 11,578

Quoting: Sunny_In_STL

To answer your question: Go get Jett Woo. Or Chatfield. Or hell, bring back Bortz. Or even Scandella at a low hit if he'll take it. Maybe Loof will be ready. Maybe Tucker (who has NOT been fine at all) will pull his head out and utilize his tools. It's very easy to find a 3rd pairing Dman.

To ask another question: How did the Blues screw with Scotty's development??? I have no idea what you're on about with that.

Feb. 15 at 2:46 p.m.

#10

mokumboi

Joined: Apr. 2019

Posts: 29,988

Likes: 11,578

Quoting: AC14

Dude, Florida is mega-screwed with cap this summer. And I simply cannot imagine anyone offers him 7x7.5. I'm a huge Stan of the guy, and even I think that's outrageous.

Feb. 15 at 2:48 p.m.

#11

Sunny_In_STL

Thread Starter

Joined: Jul. 2021

Posts: 24

Likes: 6

Quoting: mokumboi

I meant Scotty got screwed with injuryies and covid, worded that incorrectly, that’s my bad

mokumboi liked this.

Feb. 15 at 2:48 p.m.

#12

AC14

Joined: Dec. 2022

Posts: 2,992

Likes: 1,518

Quoting: mokumboi

Dude, Florida is mega-screwed with cap this summer. And I simply cannot imagine anyone offers him 7x7.5. I'm a huge Stan of the guy, and even I think that's outrageous.

Every single team in the NHL is getting an additional 4m+ of cap space to work with this summer. Also, almost every team that's in contention has a hole somewhere on their blue line. Guys a 40 point defenseman who is reliable defensively. He should be in line for the same contract someone would be willing to give out to Hanifin, which to be honest I don't see how it's any lower than 7.5 unless you can add the 8th year.

The UFA crop isn't great this year, and that's midway through the season, i'd bet alot of guys get locked up once the seasons over.

Feb. 15 at 3:06 p.m.

#13

mokumboi

Joined: Apr. 2019

Posts: 29,988

Likes: 11,578

Quoting: AC14

Okay, lots of different things to consider in there, so pardon my breaking it into pieces...

1 - Bro, seriously... go look at Florida's cap situation this summer. A little 4$M ain;t gonna solve their problems. They have 10 players signed for next season, more than half a roster to fill with only $28M in cap space, little to no prospect strength set to come through, no 1st rounders to deal until their '27 and two of the other UFAs are cornerstone pieces Reinhart and Montour, who one would imagine will cost a good $15-16M to keep. Florida is in MAJOR doodoo, my friend.

2 - Hanifin will be overpaid for sure, but he's one of the "hot items" (Forsling is not, people tend to forget he exists) and he has a longer track record.

3 - There are definitely some tasty morsels among UFA Dmen, and most of them are on teams that likely cannot afford them even though they won't be getting mega-mega-AAVs. Roy, Pesce, DeMelo, Walker, Carrier, Chatfield, etc. It's not exactly a barren shelf.

Feb. 15 at 3:49 p.m.

#14

BDHockey

Joined: Nov. 2023

Posts: 1,121

Likes: 462

Quoting: mokumboi

I love Forsling too and I think he is very obtainable. Part of me wouldn't be surprised if Florida let Reinhart and or Montour go. Massive loss of talent, but their cap situation is bad and I feel like signing Montour and Reinhart to big deals is just doubling down on the issue.

mokumboi liked this.

Feb. 15 at 4:17 p.m.

#15

mokumboi

Joined: Apr. 2019

Posts: 29,988

Likes: 11,578

Quoting: BDHockey

Mmm maybe. But Florida is heavily invested in the now. And not shy about giving splashy big contracts. Pretty confident they'd find Forsling easier and cheaper to replace than Reinhart. I could see a timeline where they let Montour walk to keep Forsling, but I certainly would not bet on it.

Whatever they plan to do, we just need to be ready to strike when the UFA bell dings. Instant swoop. Eliminate the decision for them.

BDHockey liked this.

Page 1 of 1

DISPLAY SETTING

BETTING ODDS

LOCALE

ARCHIVE

CBA

CALCULATORS

FANTASY HOCKEY TOOLS

TOOLS

PLAYERS

WESTERN CONFERENCE

EASTERN CONFERENCE

INTERACTIVE FEATURES

Forums/Armchair-GM