Alex Pietrangelo is here to stay, but it’s not guaranteed he will stay.
The rookie defenseman played his ninth NHL game of the season Thursday night against Phoenix. It’s been written many times, but I’ll mention it again, if Pietrangelo plays his 10th game on Saturday night or whenever, it will count as a full year toward the Blues owning his rights.
What that means is this: When an NHL team drafts a player, that club owns his rights for seven years. When he plays his 10th game in one season, the clock starts on those seven years. It may not seem like a big deal now, but in 2016, when Pietrangelo is 26, the difference of him becoming a restricted free agent or an unrestricted free agent is a big difference.
I mentioned in my Blues’ chat Thursday that the team would likely issue a press release following Pietrangelo’s ninth game, acknowledging that he is staying. That will NOT happen.
The Blues are not going to make an announcement, and here’s the reason: Pietrangelo will stay with the team and he is expected to exceed nine games and probably stay for the year, but there’s still a chance (albeit a small chance) that the Blues could send him back to juniors at any time . . . after 15 games, 30 games, 45 games.
The Blues’ position is that they don’t want to make an announcement saying that Pietrangelo is staying for the year and then have to send him back for WHATEVER reason.
The club realizes that the clock will start on Pietrangelo, and it would be viewed as an unwise decision to waste a year by sending him back to juniors, but that’s the window the Blues are leaving themselves.
(For those who are wondering, Pietrangelo can not play in Peoria this season until his junior season with the Niagara Ice Dogs is completed. That is a rule that protects junior teams from having NHL clubs stash their players away in the minors).
My take: I understand that NHL teams don’t want players to get too comfortable. But I think Pietrangelo has shown enough maturity and dedication over the past summer that he wouldn’t slack off if he were told that he was staying in St. Louis for the entire season. In fact, Pietrangelo would probably benefit from being off probation. That’s basically what it is . . . probation. Since last September, he has been living in a suitcase, not knowing where he would be the next week.
The Blues have every intention in keeping him in St. Louis all year. Perhaps their motivation for not making it official has nothing to do with whether Pietrangelo would get too comfortable. Perhaps they’re staying mum because they don’t know if their defensive depth will stay healthy, or if they’ll be able to trade some of that depth. If those are the reasons for staying quiet, that’s understandable.
Still, it would be nice for Pietrangelo to unpack his bags.
JR
-stl_tl
Paul… Is that you?
You must be joking? Paul Kariya is gutless and ineffective. What is his value if he isn’t scoring points I ask? The Blues should cut their losses. Kariya has to be embarassed at his play. The Mur has a man-crush on him and thinks he’s been playing great. I just disagree. I feel his lack of production speaks for itself.
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Are all of you Kariya bashers blind? Are you watching the same games I’ve been watching this season? Have you seen what he does on the ice, the plays he makes, how he makes those around him better? The dude makes stuff happen! Granted, he may not be worth a top dollar contract but I for one would love to see the Note resign him.
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Stop dreaming, Pietro is no EJ. Nine games -9. The guy belongs to minors.
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brad-
when i get paid millions of dollars to do my job, you are more than welcome to criticize and critique my every move, and, furthermore, question my hockey knowledge. Until that time arrives, I don’t see the need to call out people on their intelligence just because it differs from what you think. Some of the best minds in history looked outside the box.
Also, I feel Andy Murray is given way too much credit for the Blues making the playoffs last year. The key contributors to the Blues making the playoffs were Minnesota, Edmonton, Dallas, Anaheim, Nashville, Phoenix, etc.
Let’s assume the Blues making the playoffs last year was a freak of nature. Let’s assume this, because, as of Jan. 31st when the Blues were in 15th place with 44pts, the teams that filled in 14th to 6th place were Nashville at 14th with 45pts, Colorado, LA, Phoenix, Columbus, Minnesota, Edmonton, Dallas, and Anaheim at 6th place with 53pts. Of those teams, only Nashville, Columbus, and Anaheim went Feb. – April with a record over .500 (besides the Blues).
Feb-April Record (OT loss counts as a loss)
St. Louis – 21-13
Nashville – 19-15
Anaheim – 17-13
Columbus – 17-14
The other teams the Blues had to leap frog to make the playoffs went Feb – April with these records:
Minnesota – 15-18
Edmonton – 13-21
Dallas – 13-21
Phoenix – 12-19
L.A. – 14-20
Colorado – 9-23
So yes, the Blues made the playoffs, but they did so because everyone else lost. Not to take anything away from the Blues, they pulled a 360 from the beginning of the season, played very well, and won more games than they lost, but had the teams they jumped even gone .500 from Feb. – April, the Blues wouldn’t have made the playoffs and people would be much harder on Murray right now. The way the Blues are currently playing, they will be in the same spot this year as last year come Feb. 1. Do we really expect all the teams above us to lose again so we can be rewarded with half a season’s worth of good hockey?
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Well if JR thinks Pietrangelo is ready then it must be thr truth……I mean JR has been watching hockey for three years…….he knows these things.
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I don’t think Murray stunted Perron’s development through last season. I believe he did a lot to make Perron grow up as an individual and as a player in a hurry. Perron was, and to a certain extent, is, a very raw and talented player. He matured under Murray’s tutelage, and is now a fairly responsible defensive player, and an aggressive offensive player. I can see Perron hitting 20 goals and 40 assists under Murray and his system this season.
However, I think Perron has earned the right to be given a bit more freedom. I don’t mean the freedom to freelance at any moment, but I think he has earned the right to trust his instincts out on the ice and not worry about getting glued to the bench for 2 or 3 shifts to be taught a lesson.
Of course, everything I am typing is based on speculation and a guess as to how the minds of Murray and Perron work. My gut feeling tells me that if, in fact, Perron feels stifled now, a loosening of the reigns could probably boost him into the 25 goals and 50 assists range, plus who knows what other kinds of opportunities he creates for his teammates that might not be so obvious on the scoresheet (drawing defenders to him, drawing penalties, etc.).
Perron appears to be on the verge of becoming a total package. He is exciting to watch, aggressive and pesky, pretty responsible defensively, and he is a pretty charismatic guy who has captured the fancy of Blues fans. The Blues would be very smart to let him continue to blossom, even if it means not punishing him for every little mistake he makes (consistent mental mistakes excluded, of course).
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H_Zinn,
Your questionable move list is questionable. The only bone-headed move on there is the signing of McKee, who was not worth the 4 mil a year.
* Brewer — only if you are completely ignorant would you not see the contributions Brewer makes to the team. Stop trying to compare him to Pronger.
* Kariya — looking back, it doesn’t look like such a good deal, but at the time of signing Kariya was a point per game player. You can’t blame JD for this.
* McDonald — are you stupid? Do you see what he is doing on the ice? This guy is worth the money.
* Murray — did you not see the job he did with this team last year? This guy has earned the extension.
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Andy M and Blues 9,
While I’m not happy with some of the treatment AM has given Perron in the past, the fact is he’s been one of our best players all season. I see improvement that has him on the cusp of being a consistent game breaking player. Berglund has been given every opportunity to work through his funk which now dates back nearly a year. What do you want AM to do? At this point he’s failing to click on any line he’s on. If you can’t see that there are players on this team that need to step up and pay a price for success that, to this point in the season, they haven’t been willing to and that no coach can do that for them, then I really don’t know what to say, excapt I seriously question your knowledge of the game.
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A defenseman will be traded, packaged with perhaps a winger, for a sniper, who will take the role Kariya (and Boyes, quite frankly) are not fulfilling. It will happen unless we put a string of wins in the next 10 games. Who will the defenseman be..?..I would not be surprised if it is Jackman. Pietrangelo will stay, and Sydor and Strachan will be the reserves.
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Let’s examine some of JD’s more questionable moves.
1. July, 1, 2006-JD gives Jay McKee a 16 million 4 year deal.
2. February 24, 2007-JD gives Eric Brewer a 4 year 17 million dollar
contract extension.
3. July 2, 2007- JD gives Paul Kariya, age 32, a 3 year deal contract
paying him 6 million in the exit year when Kariya would be 35.
4. February 9, 2009-JD gives Andy McDonald, age 31, an 18.8 million
dollar 4 year contract extension that will pay McDonald, 4.2
million in the exit year at age 35.
5. September 15, 2009-JD gives Andy Murray a 1year extension.
For good or bad these 4 moves have shaped the current Blues roster. Let me state first that I believe in JD, I truly do. In many respects he has done a great job rebuilding the Blues. However, the fact remains he has strapped the Blues with some questionable moves. Obviously, the McKee deal was a black eye for the organization. He was never and will never be a 4 million dollar a year defenseman. Moreover, the Brewer deal has strapped the Blues. Let’s just say Brewer has been less than stellar as Blue. In addition, the Kariya deal is turning out to be a disaster as well. His 7 points in 19 games this year is just plain sad. Kariya is not a top 6 forward in the NHL anymore and definitely not a 6 million dollar player. Any McDonald’s contract seems reasonable at this point. However, the team could find itself in the same position as they are now with Kariya in McDonald’s exit year. Finally, the Murray extension seems to be the biggest mistake and it not necessarily the money. The extension really was just not needed at the time. Murray hasn’t coached a complete season thus far. Yes, the team played great down the stretch last season, but only after playing quite horrible for the first half.
Ownership needs to let Murray go, and eat the extension. It going to be hard to do. But, it’s what need to be done. Even if Murray stays the product on the ice is boring and not entertaining. Bring in an offensive minded coach and let’s take advantage of the skilled players the Blues have developed, as well as the great goal tending the Blues have acquired.
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Andy M and Blues 9: I hope to God you are being sarcastic or that your lack of hockey knowledge is extreme. Andy, do you really think that if the Blue had a chance to draft an Ovechekin, Crosby or Tavares type F they would have taken a D man instead??? The year we took EJ, he was pretty much the #1 rated pick across the board. You want to talk about Champion teams, it starts on the back end. Detroit, Pitt, Anaheim, all have future HOF or All-Star D-men on their team.
Blues 9…what is this ’stunted’ growth you and your AM bashing brothers talk about? Perron is stunted? His stats don’t prove it. Neither does Backes, Boyes, McClement, or Colo. And Berglund is being ‘brainwashed’? lol, do you have proof of this, have you sat down with Bergy and he told you how terrible AM is to him? look at the stats of many HOF players. Many of them started out as slow or slower then Perron, Bergy and Oshie. I appreciate you being a season ticket holder, but I think AM/JD and crew are a little more enlightened on how to run a NHL team then you or I. But that is the fun of being a fan of a professional team, we can be critical of those we do not know and pretend to be experts. I would love for some of you to be as critical of yourselves or better yet, let some of your customers have the ability to troll around on message boards because they know more then you do about your job/career.
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blues_9, you are my hero. i have been saying it for quite a while now. i don’t know that this group of owners is really interested in bringing a legit competitive team to stl or just creating a cheap team and try to make as much money from it as possible. My first inkling towards this notion came with the drafting of 2 defensemen with the 1st and 4th overall picks. People get all fired up when I say this, but I mean no disrespect to EJ or Petro. Both are great players and will probably be great players in the future, but, teams win games by scoring goals. Are you trying to tell me EJ and Petro are going to score more goals than a 1st or 4th overall forward would?? For example, Washington took Ovy, Pitts. took Crosby, Malkin, Iles took Taveras… the Blues take a pair of D-men, when they are and have been, one of THEE lowest scoring teams in the NHL for years! You can go every game without giving up a goal, but if you can’t score a goal, you still don’t win. The Blues have an amazing goalie in Mason right now, coupled with a fair amount of team defense, which can be instilled into any team, if they only had legit goal scorers who didn’t have to play the dump and chase game, they would be a good to great team most nights.
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A third possibility is Pietrangelo stays and gets loaned to Team Canada’s Under-19 team for the upcoming world championships over the Christmas-New Year period.
He would be gone from the Blues for most of December, then return a few weeks before the NHL goes into its break for the Olympics.
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Whatever they can do to further stunt his growth.
I am starting to think JD is not the guy we thought he was when it comes to building a winner through player development. If fact, I am starting to think that all the “drama” over Perron last year to the present day and now Berglund seemingly going through some sort of a social anxiety disorder due to AM’s brainwashing may be nothing more than JD’s version of controlling future costs.
When you consider the excellent job AM has done stunting the development of our young players coupled with timely injuries to EJ and Oshie case for JD at future arbitration hearing is becoming much easier. Heck by the time any of our young prospects becomes eligible for RFA they will likely be in a “Berglund state of mind” and not even opt for a hearing but rather just take the 10% raise.
JD might think he is potentially saving the team money by keeping AM around to control on ice production and future costs but the product is unwatchable most nights and often very boring. As a season ticket holder I might find it hard to renew next season if the next Sydor and Weaver our eating ice time at the NHL level for Junland and Strachan and if Winchester remains in AM’s favor over Eller and/or Palushaj.
Patience is wearing thin JD…..if AM can not get a team in the playoffs in a conference where over half of the teams in the league qualify, all the while developing our young prospect to become legit Cup contenders, then maybe we need a new coach.
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They could also be telling Pietrangelo privately that he’s going to stay, but not making a big announcement because it might negatively impact the morale of borderline members of the defensive corps., like Weaver and Sydor.
Until I have reason to think otherwise, speculation is just speculation.
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