Mikkola is the real boss

[a smell of green grass]

I am not one to usually feed the trolls, but absolute hate really makes one miss the obvious.

I have seen the statement on this thread about how the Blues/Army did not even know if Mikkola would sign here, that he just dumped him in a trade to get rid of Vladi. I would be pretty certain that they would have talked to Mikkola's agent well before trading him to see what they were looking for in terms and money. Haters seem to forget there is a salary cap.

This being said, I was disappointed at the time that they could not figure out a way to keep Mikkola and Barbie, but I understood. As Brian Sutter used to say, "trades are part of the game. People not getting resigned is part of the game."

Agreed. I liked Mikkola but he was a pending UFA. About to be able to sign with anyone he wants. Logic would suggest Army inquired and knew of Mikkola’s intentions. We can’t keep every UFA, especially in a cap world. Even more especially a couple years ago when the cap was flat.

Inquiring minds want to know....
Was Mikkola more expensive than Leddy and Faulk? Why is there room on the tugboat for them, but not Mikkola?

What does Faulk have to do with Mikkola?

Faulk is a righty, Mikkola is a lefty.

I believe that the CAP is blind to left and right.

[Army's Mom]

I am not one to usually feed the trolls, but absolute hate really makes one miss the obvious.

I have seen the statement on this thread about how the Blues/Army did not even know if Mikkola would sign here, that he just dumped him in a trade to get rid of Vladi. I would be pretty certain that they would have talked to Mikkola's agent well before trading him to see what they were looking for in terms and money. Haters seem to forget there is a salary cap.

This being said, I was disappointed at the time that they could not figure out a way to keep Mikkola and Barbie, but I understood. As Brian Sutter used to say, "trades are part of the game. People not getting resigned is part of the game."

Agreed. I liked Mikkola but he was a pending UFA. About to be able to sign with anyone he wants. Logic would suggest Army inquired and knew of Mikkola’s intentions. We can’t keep every UFA, especially in a cap world. Even more especially a couple years ago when the cap was flat.

Inquiring minds want to know....
Was Mikkola more expensive than Leddy and Faulk? Why is there room on the tugboat for them, but not Mikkola?

Once again, you’re ignoring the likelihood of Mikkola wanting to go elsewhere.

Got it. Let's explore that a bit....

So how long do we get to keep Snuggerud, Bolduc, and Dvorsky before Mikkola-itis sets in? You may want to inform the kids in line to purchase the Snuggerud jerseys.

Tanking teams trade players for picks.
You obsessively call for the Blues to tank in every thread.
The one year they did what tankers do, you complain that they shouldn't have done what tankers do.

Did I miss anything?

[TheJackBurton]

I am not one to usually feed the trolls, but absolute hate really makes one miss the obvious.

I have seen the statement on this thread about how the Blues/Army did not even know if Mikkola would sign here, that he just dumped him in a trade to get rid of Vladi. I would be pretty certain that they would have talked to Mikkola's agent well before trading him to see what they were looking for in terms and money. Haters seem to forget there is a salary cap.

This being said, I was disappointed at the time that they could not figure out a way to keep Mikkola and Barbie, but I understood. As Brian Sutter used to say, "trades are part of the game. People not getting resigned is part of the game."

Agreed. I liked Mikkola but he was a pending UFA. About to be able to sign with anyone he wants. Logic would suggest Army inquired and knew of Mikkola’s intentions. We can’t keep every UFA, especially in a cap world. Even more especially a couple years ago when the cap was flat.

Inquiring minds want to know....
Was Mikkola more expensive than Leddy and Faulk? Why is there room on the tugboat for them, but not Mikkola?

What does Faulk have to do with Mikkola?

Faulk is a righty, Mikkola is a lefty.

I believe that the CAP is blind to left and right.

Not team structure though.

You need 3 righties, you need 3 lefties.

Faulk had no effect whatsoever on Mikkola nor did his 6.5.

[callitwhatyouwant]

I am not one to usually feed the trolls, but absolute hate really makes one miss the obvious.

I have seen the statement on this thread about how the Blues/Army did not even know if Mikkola would sign here, that he just dumped him in a trade to get rid of Vladi. I would be pretty certain that they would have talked to Mikkola's agent well before trading him to see what they were looking for in terms and money. Haters seem to forget there is a salary cap.

This being said, I was disappointed at the time that they could not figure out a way to keep Mikkola and Barbie, but I understood. As Brian Sutter used to say, "trades are part of the game. People not getting resigned is part of the game."

My beef is not about trades. The complaint is about the net result.

In the trades, we get prospects in return for talented young players. No one asks, what happens to these new prospects 2 years from now. Are they just going to be the next Mikkola?

Why do we have Leddy and Faulk when we could have had Mikkola at 1/4 of the price?! This is [nonsense], and beyond infuriating.

It all stems from the "staying competitve" to win a few more meaningless regular season games in February.

you talk about how mikkola has matured, then cite barbashev and mikkolas playoff performance.

Mikkola as a defender ---- 13 GP 2 points +3 having a solid playoffs
Barbashev as forward ---- 11 GP 2 points -9 had a terrible playoffs. part of the reason that team looked washed this year.


Albeit Barbashev had an excellent playoffs and was almost ppg in their cup run. It's a fact that the Blues couldn't afford Barbashev. They also told him because of what he did for the Blues that they would only trade him to a winner, at the expense of the org. Barbashev got the red carpet treatment by Army. You can't hate him for being a good person to someone who helped bring the Blues a cup.

Mikkola especially in that 3nd to last year had a lot of value for the Blues moving forward, if he could replicate his 21-22 season. But he never did it before, and he couldn't do it after. He also was just alright in New York. It wasn't until he joined the Panthers system did it appear he has turned the corner. Is Mikkola a Stanley Cup team merchant? It's no doubt that the Panthers are the best team in the league and are one of the premier teams for the last 3 seasons. That's before Mikkola got there, and he is benefitting from being apart of it. Is Mikkola a player who is going to move the needle for a team? I doubt it. He wouldnt elevate himself on the current Blues defense. He's certainly not better than Parayko/Fowler past Faulk and has nowhere near the ability of Broberg. What you going to do with him? tweener 2nd and 3rd line him?

You guys will find a way to play revisionist history on anything. They blew the team up. UFA's had to go. If you had a contract, you were hard to move. That's how salary cap leagues work.

Amazing that a 3-year dynasty team somehow magically has cap room to accomodate Mikkola at the bottom of their roster--after they've paid their stars.
Meanwhile, the Blues just don't have sufficient cap to hold Mikkola.

I'm only going to engage with this once, because you are insufferable. The Blues had Parayko/Krug/Faulk/Leddy flippin Scandella under contract at the time of that move. Army was quoted that they tried trading some contracts but the contracts didn't have value. So if you want to knock him, you can knock him for the Leddy contract that blocked the ability to sign a mikkola. But you aren't going to sign a player to a losing team, and block all future movement.

Again, who is Mikkola better than. Fowler? Faulk? Broberg? Parayko? He's certainly not better than Parayko, Fowler or have more value than Broberg. And he's not even comparable to Faulk. They don't play relatively the same. Faulk in one of his worst offensive seasons as a Blue had 32 points. Mikkola in his best season ever had 22 points. Both played the same amount of games (2 game difference). Mikkola is a product of a stanley cup 3 time team. Sounds to me like he's a merchant. He's not over there lighting the world on fire.

[theograce]

Again, who is Mikkola better than. Faulk? Broberg? He's certainly not better than Parayko, Fowler or have more value than Broberg. And he's not even comparable to Faulk.

He’s better defensively than Faulk and light years ahead of Broberg defensively right now. And he’s meaner than both

[2forDiving]

Some seem to be forgetting Mikkola’s last season here. He was not very good. Started on the pairing with Parayko and he struggled. Caught out of position a lot. 3 pts in 50 games.

Most in here were happy he was sent packing with Tarasenko. The Rangers then chose to not make him an offer and he signed with Florida for $2.5 million per as a UFA. Hardly superstar value. Kudos to him for figuring it out. My guess is he will parlay that into a much better deal for himself next year, but also think someone will likely overpay for his services. He had talent. You could see it, but he was showing little here that would have indicated he was worth extending.

[a smell of green grass]

I am not one to usually feed the trolls, but absolute hate really makes one miss the obvious.

I have seen the statement on this thread about how the Blues/Army did not even know if Mikkola would sign here, that he just dumped him in a trade to get rid of Vladi. I would be pretty certain that they would have talked to Mikkola's agent well before trading him to see what they were looking for in terms and money. Haters seem to forget there is a salary cap.

This being said, I was disappointed at the time that they could not figure out a way to keep Mikkola and Barbie, but I understood. As Brian Sutter used to say, "trades are part of the game. People not getting resigned is part of the game."

My beef is not about trades. The complaint is about the net result.

In the trades, we get prospects in return for talented young players. No one asks, what happens to these new prospects 2 years from now. Are they just going to be the next Mikkola?

Why do we have Leddy and Faulk when we could have had Mikkola at 1/4 of the price?! This is [nonsense], and beyond infuriating.

It all stems from the "staying competitve" to win a few more meaningless regular season games in February.

you talk about how mikkola has matured, then cite barbashev and mikkolas playoff performance.

Mikkola as a defender ---- 13 GP 2 points +3 having a solid playoffs
Barbashev as forward ---- 11 GP 2 points -9 had a terrible playoffs. part of the reason that team looked washed this year.


Albeit Barbashev had an excellent playoffs and was almost ppg in their cup run. It's a fact that the Blues couldn't afford Barbashev. They also told him because of what he did for the Blues that they would only trade him to a winner, at the expense of the org. Barbashev got the red carpet treatment by Army. You can't hate him for being a good person to someone who helped bring the Blues a cup.

Mikkola especially in that 3nd to last year had a lot of value for the Blues moving forward, if he could replicate his 21-22 season. But he never did it before, and he couldn't do it after. He also was just alright in New York. It wasn't until he joined the Panthers system did it appear he has turned the corner. Is Mikkola a Stanley Cup team merchant? It's no doubt that the Panthers are the best team in the league and are one of the premier teams for the last 3 seasons. That's before Mikkola got there, and he is benefitting from being apart of it. Is Mikkola a player who is going to move the needle for a team? I doubt it. He wouldnt elevate himself on the current Blues defense. He's certainly not better than Parayko/Fowler past Faulk and has nowhere near the ability of Broberg. What you going to do with him? tweener 2nd and 3rd line him?

You guys will find a way to play revisionist history on anything. They blew the team up. UFA's had to go. If you had a contract, you were hard to move. That's how salary cap leagues work.

Amazing that a 3-year dynasty team somehow magically has cap room to accomodate Mikkola at the bottom of their roster--after they've paid their stars.
Meanwhile, the Blues just don't have sufficient cap to hold Mikkola.

I'm only going to engage with this once, because you are insufferable. The Blues had Parayko/Krug/Faulk/Leddy flippin Scandella under contract at the time of that move. Army was quoted that they tried trading some contracts but the contracts didn't have value. So if you want to knock him, you can knock him for the Leddy contract that blocked the ability to sign a mikkola. But you aren't going to sign a player to a losing team, and block all future movement.

Again, who is Mikkola better than. Fowler? Faulk? Broberg? Parayko? He's certainly not better than Parayko, Fowler or have more value than Broberg. And he's not even comparable to Faulk. They don't play relatively the same. Faulk in one of his worst offensive seasons as a Blue had 32 points. Mikkola in his best season ever had 22 points. Both played the same amount of games (2 game difference). Mikkola is a product of a stanley cup 3 time team. Sounds to me like he's a merchant. He's not over there lighting the world on fire.

I am already knocking Army over Leddy. I did connect those very ugly dots between Leddy and Mikkola.

Here is the insight that you are "missing" IMO. Why is Leddy on the roster, and eating up so much CAP? What is the reason for that?

My answer: Because Army LOVES LOVES LOVES winning a few more regular season games when the season is over. Leddy was signed to accomplish that, and he did -- FOR A WHILE. But then Leddy started losing more games than he won... and now Leddy's most significant achievement in St Louis is to push out Mikkola.

[TBone]

There's no need for Stinky to list the draft picks since the players have been chosen

2023 1st rounder was D Otto Lindstein
2024 conditional 4th which actually became a 3rd: C Adam Jecho

Everyone knows about Lindstein. Jecho is still only 19 and has had back to back 23 and 25 goal seasons with the Edmonton Oil Kings and had 7 points in 7 games (2G, 5A) at the 2025 World Juniors. He's also 6'5" and 200 pounds.

Yeah, I wish we still had Mikkola but to start whining about Armstrong's trade before the results are final is pathetic.

My mistake. Let's clarify.

So Army is hoping that Lindstein eventually, maybe, if we are lucky, and if he ever comes to America, turns into what Mikkola already is.
and Army is hoping the Jecho eventually, maybe, if we are lucky, is 1/2 of what Tarasenko is.

Army got fleeced. That is what happened. We parlayed known quantities into just more clogs in the prospect pipeline.

If Army had resigned Tarasenko you'd be beetching about that too. Another Army fossil.

And for Jecho to become half of Tarasenko he'd need to score 6 goals. lol

Now if you want to beetch about Armstrong's handling of the defensemen (prioritizing smaller puck movers over big defenders) you have a leg to stand on, but he quickly realized the error of his ways and corrected course. But we all know you're only here to beetch and draw attention to yourself, so carry on.

The Blues are about to enter a new golden age of incredible youth and you'll still be here whining about something.

[blues2112]

At time of trade, Blues had (at least) six LHD on NHL contracts: Mikkola, Krug, Leddy, Rosen, Scandella, Tucker.

Only one would be a UFA at season's end. Trade made perfect sense.

[a smell of green grass]

Some seem to be forgetting Mikkola’s last season here. He was not very good. Started on the pairing with Parayko and he struggled. Caught out of position a lot. 3 pts in 50 games.

Most in here were happy he was sent packing with Tarasenko. The Rangers then chose to not make him an offer and he signed with Florida for $2.5 million per as a UFA. Hardly superstar value. Kudos to him for figuring it out. My guess is he will parlay that into a much better deal for himself next year, but also think someone will likely overpay for his services. He had talent. You could see it, but he was showing little here that would have indicated he was worth extending.

Mediocre teams -- didn't see much in Mikkola.

The dynasty team -- did see a lot in Mikkola and signed him.

Meanwhile, Leddy is sucking up St Louis CAP like a young Stan Musial. I'd guess about $100,945.62 per hour on Army's bench.

[TheJackBurton]

I am not one to usually feed the trolls, but absolute hate really makes one miss the obvious.

I have seen the statement on this thread about how the Blues/Army did not even know if Mikkola would sign here, that he just dumped him in a trade to get rid of Vladi. I would be pretty certain that they would have talked to Mikkola's agent well before trading him to see what they were looking for in terms and money. Haters seem to forget there is a salary cap.

This being said, I was disappointed at the time that they could not figure out a way to keep Mikkola and Barbie, but I understood. As Brian Sutter used to say, "trades are part of the game. People not getting resigned is part of the game."

My beef is not about trades. The complaint is about the net result.

In the trades, we get prospects in return for talented young players. No one asks, what happens to these new prospects 2 years from now. Are they just going to be the next Mikkola?

Why do we have Leddy and Faulk when we could have had Mikkola at 1/4 of the price?! This is [nonsense], and beyond infuriating.

It all stems from the "staying competitve" to win a few more meaningless regular season games in February.

you talk about how mikkola has matured, then cite barbashev and mikkolas playoff performance.

Mikkola as a defender ---- 13 GP 2 points +3 having a solid playoffs
Barbashev as forward ---- 11 GP 2 points -9 had a terrible playoffs. part of the reason that team looked washed this year.


Albeit Barbashev had an excellent playoffs and was almost ppg in their cup run. It's a fact that the Blues couldn't afford Barbashev. They also told him because of what he did for the Blues that they would only trade him to a winner, at the expense of the org. Barbashev got the red carpet treatment by Army. You can't hate him for being a good person to someone who helped bring the Blues a cup.

Mikkola especially in that 3nd to last year had a lot of value for the Blues moving forward, if he could replicate his 21-22 season. But he never did it before, and he couldn't do it after. He also was just alright in New York. It wasn't until he joined the Panthers system did it appear he has turned the corner. Is Mikkola a Stanley Cup team merchant? It's no doubt that the Panthers are the best team in the league and are one of the premier teams for the last 3 seasons. That's before Mikkola got there, and he is benefitting from being apart of it. Is Mikkola a player who is going to move the needle for a team? I doubt it. He wouldnt elevate himself on the current Blues defense. He's certainly not better than Parayko/Fowler past Faulk and has nowhere near the ability of Broberg. What you going to do with him? tweener 2nd and 3rd line him?

You guys will find a way to play revisionist history on anything. They blew the team up. UFA's had to go. If you had a contract, you were hard to move. That's how salary cap leagues work.

Amazing that a 3-year dynasty team somehow magically has cap room to accomodate Mikkola at the bottom of their roster--after they've paid their stars.
Meanwhile, the Blues just don't have sufficient cap to hold Mikkola.

I'm only going to engage with this once, because you are insufferable. The Blues had Parayko/Krug/Faulk/Leddy flippin Scandella under contract at the time of that move. Army was quoted that they tried trading some contracts but the contracts didn't have value. So if you want to knock him, you can knock him for the Leddy contract that blocked the ability to sign a mikkola. But you aren't going to sign a player to a losing team, and block all future movement.

Again, who is Mikkola better than. Fowler? Faulk? Broberg? Parayko? He's certainly not better than Parayko, Fowler or have more value than Broberg. And he's not even comparable to Faulk. They don't play relatively the same. Faulk in one of his worst offensive seasons as a Blue had 32 points. Mikkola in his best season ever had 22 points. Both played the same amount of games (2 game difference). Mikkola is a product of a stanley cup 3 time team. Sounds to me like he's a merchant. He's not over there lighting the world on fire.

I am already knocking Army over Leddy. I did connect those very ugly dots between Leddy and Mikkola.

Here is the insight that you are "missing" IMO. Why is Leddy on the roster, and eating up so much CAP? What is the reason for that?

My answer: Because Army LOVES LOVES LOVES winning a few more regular season games when the season is over. Leddy was signed to accomplish that, and he did -- FOR A WHILE. But then Leddy started losing more games than he won... and now Leddy's most significant achievement in St Louis is to push out Mikkola.

why did we have Leddy? Because it was the 2021-2022 season, we were absolutely making the playoffs with one of the best teams in the league, and we had no top pairing lefty since Bouwmeester had his heart event. They tried Mikkola with Parayko and he couldn't cut it, so they acquired Leddy that trade deadline to give Parayko a seasoned vet who had won Stanley Cups, had good speed, and was a solid passer. He did that and more.

When the off season rolled around, with a flat cap and a very sparse UFA class, Army decided to fortify his defense with a defenseman who had been really good in the short time he was with the team for a really reasonable cap hit.

That's why we had Leddy.

[a smell of green grass]

At time of trade, Blues had (at least) six LHD on NHL contracts: Mikkola, Krug, Leddy, Rosen, Scandella, Tucker.

Only one would be a UFA at season's end. Trade made perfect sense.

Oh. It's that simple. When you got too many, you just let go of the one with the contract expiring.

I would have guessed that Army would have evaluated all of his LHD talent, and let go of the weakest one.

Anybody seen Krug, Rosen, or Scandella on the highways lately? I wander how they're doing.

[a smell of green grass]

I am not one to usually feed the trolls, but absolute hate really makes one miss the obvious.

I have seen the statement on this thread about how the Blues/Army did not even know if Mikkola would sign here, that he just dumped him in a trade to get rid of Vladi. I would be pretty certain that they would have talked to Mikkola's agent well before trading him to see what they were looking for in terms and money. Haters seem to forget there is a salary cap.

This being said, I was disappointed at the time that they could not figure out a way to keep Mikkola and Barbie, but I understood. As Brian Sutter used to say, "trades are part of the game. People not getting resigned is part of the game."

My beef is not about trades. The complaint is about the net result.

In the trades, we get prospects in return for talented young players. No one asks, what happens to these new prospects 2 years from now. Are they just going to be the next Mikkola?

Why do we have Leddy and Faulk when we could have had Mikkola at 1/4 of the price?! This is [nonsense], and beyond infuriating.

It all stems from the "staying competitve" to win a few more meaningless regular season games in February.

you talk about how mikkola has matured, then cite barbashev and mikkolas playoff performance.

Mikkola as a defender ---- 13 GP 2 points +3 having a solid playoffs
Barbashev as forward ---- 11 GP 2 points -9 had a terrible playoffs. part of the reason that team looked washed this year.


Albeit Barbashev had an excellent playoffs and was almost ppg in their cup run. It's a fact that the Blues couldn't afford Barbashev. They also told him because of what he did for the Blues that they would only trade him to a winner, at the expense of the org. Barbashev got the red carpet treatment by Army. You can't hate him for being a good person to someone who helped bring the Blues a cup.

Mikkola especially in that 3nd to last year had a lot of value for the Blues moving forward, if he could replicate his 21-22 season. But he never did it before, and he couldn't do it after. He also was just alright in New York. It wasn't until he joined the Panthers system did it appear he has turned the corner. Is Mikkola a Stanley Cup team merchant? It's no doubt that the Panthers are the best team in the league and are one of the premier teams for the last 3 seasons. That's before Mikkola got there, and he is benefitting from being apart of it. Is Mikkola a player who is going to move the needle for a team? I doubt it. He wouldnt elevate himself on the current Blues defense. He's certainly not better than Parayko/Fowler past Faulk and has nowhere near the ability of Broberg. What you going to do with him? tweener 2nd and 3rd line him?

You guys will find a way to play revisionist history on anything. They blew the team up. UFA's had to go. If you had a contract, you were hard to move. That's how salary cap leagues work.

Amazing that a 3-year dynasty team somehow magically has cap room to accomodate Mikkola at the bottom of their roster--after they've paid their stars.
Meanwhile, the Blues just don't have sufficient cap to hold Mikkola.

I'm only going to engage with this once, because you are insufferable. The Blues had Parayko/Krug/Faulk/Leddy flippin Scandella under contract at the time of that move. Army was quoted that they tried trading some contracts but the contracts didn't have value. So if you want to knock him, you can knock him for the Leddy contract that blocked the ability to sign a mikkola. But you aren't going to sign a player to a losing team, and block all future movement.

Again, who is Mikkola better than. Fowler? Faulk? Broberg? Parayko? He's certainly not better than Parayko, Fowler or have more value than Broberg. And he's not even comparable to Faulk. They don't play relatively the same. Faulk in one of his worst offensive seasons as a Blue had 32 points. Mikkola in his best season ever had 22 points. Both played the same amount of games (2 game difference). Mikkola is a product of a stanley cup 3 time team. Sounds to me like he's a merchant. He's not over there lighting the world on fire.

I am already knocking Army over Leddy. I did connect those very ugly dots between Leddy and Mikkola.

Here is the insight that you are "missing" IMO. Why is Leddy on the roster, and eating up so much CAP? What is the reason for that?

My answer: Because Army LOVES LOVES LOVES winning a few more regular season games when the season is over. Leddy was signed to accomplish that, and he did -- FOR A WHILE. But then Leddy started losing more games than he won... and now Leddy's most significant achievement in St Louis is to push out Mikkola.

why did we have Leddy? Because it was the 2021-2022 season, we were absolutely making the playoffs with one of the best teams in the league, and we had no top pairing lefty since Bouwmeester had his heart event. They tried Mikkola with Parayko and he couldn't cut it, so they acquired Leddy that trade deadline to give Parayko a seasoned vet who had won Stanley Cups, had good speed, and was a solid passer. He did that and more.

When the off season rolled around, with a flat cap and a very sparse UFA class, Army decided to fortify his defense with a defenseman who had been really good in the short time he was with the team for a really reasonable cap hit.

That's why we had Leddy.

You stopped the song at the halfway point, and we missed the best part.

Army signed Leddy past the expiration date of his legs, and as a result Mikkola is now fortifying Florida's defense for the next 3 years.
Meanwhile, Leddy is de-fortifying our defense. The only thing he excels at is sucking CAP.

[seattleblue]

Tarasenko and defenseman Niko Mikkola were traded Thursday by the St. Louis Blues in exchange for forward Sammy Blais, defensive prospect Hunter Skinner, a conditional 2023 first-round pick and a conditional 2024 fourth-round pick.

Just another fine day of work by the Chief Bumbler in Charge.

Unbelievable how the Blues can get so fleeced in a deal. This is how you go from a Cup in 2019 to nowhere, fast.

Put on your best dress, Army Moms. This is going to need some explaining.

Tell us troll, what would be an acceptable return for two UFA players neither of which was likely to re-sign here?
It was a perfect sell high moment on 91 considering he’s on his 4th team already since leaving here.

There's no need for Stinky to list the draft picks since the players have been chosen

2023 1st rounder was D Otto Lindstein
2024 conditional 4th which actually became a 3rd: C Adam Jecho

Everyone knows about Lindstein. Jecho is still only 19 and has had back to back 23 and 25 goal seasons with the Edmonton Oil Kings and had 7 points in 7 games (2G, 5A) at the 2025 World Juniors. He's also 6'5" and 200 pounds.

Yeah, I wish we still had Mikkola but to start whining about Armstrong's trade before the results are final is pathetic.

My mistake. Let's clarify.

So Army is hoping that Lindstein eventually, maybe, if we are lucky, and if he ever comes to America, turns into what Mikkola already is.
and Army is hoping the Jecho eventually, maybe, if we are lucky, is 1/2 of what Tarasenko is.

Army got fleeced. That is what happened. We parlayed known quantities into just more clogs in the prospect pipeline.

Having never seen Lindstein, you're talking out of your butt. I watched about 30 games of his this year and Lindstein is our best defensive prospect and will be coming to North America this fall and will be in camp.

[callitwhatyouwant]

I am not one to usually feed the trolls, but absolute hate really makes one miss the obvious.

I have seen the statement on this thread about how the Blues/Army did not even know if Mikkola would sign here, that he just dumped him in a trade to get rid of Vladi. I would be pretty certain that they would have talked to Mikkola's agent well before trading him to see what they were looking for in terms and money. Haters seem to forget there is a salary cap.

This being said, I was disappointed at the time that they could not figure out a way to keep Mikkola and Barbie, but I understood. As Brian Sutter used to say, "trades are part of the game. People not getting resigned is part of the game."

My beef is not about trades. The complaint is about the net result.

In the trades, we get prospects in return for talented young players. No one asks, what happens to these new prospects 2 years from now. Are they just going to be the next Mikkola?

Why do we have Leddy and Faulk when we could have had Mikkola at 1/4 of the price?! This is [nonsense], and beyond infuriating.

It all stems from the "staying competitve" to win a few more meaningless regular season games in February.

you talk about how mikkola has matured, then cite barbashev and mikkolas playoff performance.

Mikkola as a defender ---- 13 GP 2 points +3 having a solid playoffs
Barbashev as forward ---- 11 GP 2 points -9 had a terrible playoffs. part of the reason that team looked washed this year.


Albeit Barbashev had an excellent playoffs and was almost ppg in their cup run. It's a fact that the Blues couldn't afford Barbashev. They also told him because of what he did for the Blues that they would only trade him to a winner, at the expense of the org. Barbashev got the red carpet treatment by Army. You can't hate him for being a good person to someone who helped bring the Blues a cup.

Mikkola especially in that 3nd to last year had a lot of value for the Blues moving forward, if he could replicate his 21-22 season. But he never did it before, and he couldn't do it after. He also was just alright in New York. It wasn't until he joined the Panthers system did it appear he has turned the corner. Is Mikkola a Stanley Cup team merchant? It's no doubt that the Panthers are the best team in the league and are one of the premier teams for the last 3 seasons. That's before Mikkola got there, and he is benefitting from being apart of it. Is Mikkola a player who is going to move the needle for a team? I doubt it. He wouldnt elevate himself on the current Blues defense. He's certainly not better than Parayko/Fowler past Faulk and has nowhere near the ability of Broberg. What you going to do with him? tweener 2nd and 3rd line him?

You guys will find a way to play revisionist history on anything. They blew the team up. UFA's had to go. If you had a contract, you were hard to move. That's how salary cap leagues work.

Amazing that a 3-year dynasty team somehow magically has cap room to accomodate Mikkola at the bottom of their roster--after they've paid their stars.
Meanwhile, the Blues just don't have sufficient cap to hold Mikkola.

I'm only going to engage with this once, because you are insufferable. The Blues had Parayko/Krug/Faulk/Leddy flippin Scandella under contract at the time of that move. Army was quoted that they tried trading some contracts but the contracts didn't have value. So if you want to knock him, you can knock him for the Leddy contract that blocked the ability to sign a mikkola. But you aren't going to sign a player to a losing team, and block all future movement.

Again, who is Mikkola better than. Fowler? Faulk? Broberg? Parayko? He's certainly not better than Parayko, Fowler or have more value than Broberg. And he's not even comparable to Faulk. They don't play relatively the same. Faulk in one of his worst offensive seasons as a Blue had 32 points. Mikkola in his best season ever had 22 points. Both played the same amount of games (2 game difference). Mikkola is a product of a stanley cup 3 time team. Sounds to me like he's a merchant. He's not over there lighting the world on fire.

I am already knocking Army over Leddy. I did connect those very ugly dots between Leddy and Mikkola.

Here is the insight that you are "missing" IMO. Why is Leddy on the roster, and eating up so much CAP? What is the reason for that?

My answer: Because Army LOVES LOVES LOVES winning a few more regular season games when the season is over. Leddy was signed to accomplish that, and he did -- FOR A WHILE. But then Leddy started losing more games than he won... and now Leddy's most significant achievement in St Louis is to push out Mikkola.

why did we have Leddy? Because it was the 2021-2022 season, we were absolutely making the playoffs with one of the best teams in the league, and we had no top pairing lefty since Bouwmeester had his heart event. They tried Mikkola with Parayko and he couldn't cut it, so they acquired Leddy that trade deadline to give Parayko a seasoned vet who had won Stanley Cups, had good speed, and was a solid passer. He did that and more.

When the off season rolled around, with a flat cap and a very sparse UFA class, Army decided to fortify his defense with a defenseman who had been really good in the short time he was with the team for a really reasonable cap hit.

That's why we had Leddy.

Leddy was also the catalyst for that teams offensive explosion in 21-22. When they acquired Leddy, the team got significantly better right away. It was like the missing link. He also had a way above average year last year paired up with Parayko. Leddy's career with Blues was very good trade piece year, alright year when the team stunk and he finished positive, excellent year with Parayko, injured year. So is it a great contract? Eh it's alright, but it's hardly a bad contract at 4m a year.

Leddy in 22-23 - 23 points in 78 games +4 on a losing team.
Leddy in 23-24 - 28 points in 82 games +14 on a playoff missing team.

Mikkola career best year -- 22 points in 76 games +12 on a stanley cup contending team.

Leddy is hardly the problem on this team. It's laughable how the trolls never bring out stats. Tell me. What is more impressive, someone who goes +14 and 28 points on an average team, or someone who gets carrier by a top tier wagon?

EDIT : and guess what Leddy averaged 21:07 and 22:22 in those years. Mikkola 20:12 is his highest TOI year. So yes, Leddy carries more of a defensive role and still finishes better than Mikkola.

[Harry S Deals]

Yep another example of exemplary Blues drafting