Mikkola is the real boss

[DawgDad]

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

Rubbish. Pure rubbish.

[2forDiving]

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.

Sort of like they would have had they followed your sage advise and extended O’Reilly and Tarasenko, right?

[callitwhatyouwant]

Yep another example of exemplary Blues drafting

nope bad drafting, bad asset management because he's too good, bad contract for Leddy because he is a plus player for the Blues, bad acquisitions because we got Fowler and he played at an all star level. Bad decision to keep Parayko, remember this genius said we should have traded him while his stock was highest this year. bad coaching by monty to get the Blues into the playoffs and push the 1 seed to 7 games. bad decision making to get broberg and have a +21 player on roster. Bad decision to get hollywood and have a 60 point also +21 player on roster. JUST BAD.

[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.

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.

It has to be exhausting moving the goal posts on literally every post you make.

[netboy65]

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.

Right, cause Leddy is sucking up 12 mil…no? 10?…6-8 for sure. Lower?? 4?!? Oooh, yeah that’s sucking up a ton of cap

Show us on this doll where Army hurt you

[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.

It has to be exhausting moving the goal posts on literally every post you make.

I'm still skating on fresh ice.

The poor b______ that I worry about are the excuse-makers for Army. How many different ways can a nose be broken in fights, and still breathe?

[callitwhatyouwant]

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.

Right, cause Leddy is sucking up 12 mil…no? 10?…6-8 for sure. Lower?? 4?!? Oooh, yeah that’s sucking up a ton of cap

Show us on this doll where Army hurt you

The most ridiculous part of all these conversations is you can literally just pull up stats and dispute the nonsense in 2 minutes. Is nick leddy an all star? No. Is he a solid player for the Blues. Yes. He hasn't done one thing for the Blues that hasn't been anything other than solid play with occasionally punching above his weight class. When we acquired him, he had a great start for the Blues. Last season when we needed him and Parayko to step their games up to give the team some semblance of character, they were one of the top 20 pairings in the league and neither manned the power play. To finish positive on a team that didn't make the playoffs, and you only get PK and even strength time, is quite the accomplishment. It stinks he got hurt this year. But it opened up the door for an even better player in Fowler, so in the aggregate, is it that big of an issue? Nope. And it will be interesting to see if the Blues do move forward with him what the last go on a playoff contending team while being healthy and a 3rd pairing guy will look like.

How many teams in the league would take Nick Leddy as a 3rd pairing defensemen? I'd venture to guess that number is 25+

[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.

Right, cause Leddy is sucking up 12 mil…no? 10?…6-8 for sure. Lower?? 4?!? Oooh, yeah that’s sucking up a ton of cap

Show us on this doll where Army hurt you

The most ridiculous part of all these conversations is you can literally just pull up stats and dispute the nonsense in 2 minutes. Is nick leddy an all star? No. Is he a solid player for the Blues. Yes. He hasn't done one thing for the Blues that hasn't been anything other than solid play with occasionally punching above his weight class. When we acquired him, he had a great start for the Blues. Last season when we needed him and Parayko to step their games up to give the team some semblance of character, they were one of the top 20 pairings in the league and neither manned the power play. To finish positive on a team that didn't make the playoffs, and you only get PK and even strength time, is quite the accomplishment. It stinks he got hurt this year. But it opened up the door for an even better player in Fowler, so in the aggregate, is it that big of an issue? Nope. And it will be interesting to see if the Blues do move forward with him what the last go on a playoff contending team while being healthy and a 3rd pairing guy will look like.

How many teams in the league would take Nick Leddy as a 3rd pairing defensemen? I'd venture to guess that number is 25+

Oh my. The smartest guy in the room just showed up in the room.

If you appreciate Leddy, you will likely appreciate a guy like Mikkoa too.

So what is the reason for Mikkola to be on Florida's roster, and not the Blues?

[somni]

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

Rubbish. Pure rubbish.

That's really funny. Mikkola is 29 years old. Broberg is 23.

This is one stupid thread.

[callitwhatyouwant]

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.

Right, cause Leddy is sucking up 12 mil…no? 10?…6-8 for sure. Lower?? 4?!? Oooh, yeah that’s sucking up a ton of cap

Show us on this doll where Army hurt you

The most ridiculous part of all these conversations is you can literally just pull up stats and dispute the nonsense in 2 minutes. Is nick leddy an all star? No. Is he a solid player for the Blues. Yes. He hasn't done one thing for the Blues that hasn't been anything other than solid play with occasionally punching above his weight class. When we acquired him, he had a great start for the Blues. Last season when we needed him and Parayko to step their games up to give the team some semblance of character, they were one of the top 20 pairings in the league and neither manned the power play. To finish positive on a team that didn't make the playoffs, and you only get PK and even strength time, is quite the accomplishment. It stinks he got hurt this year. But it opened up the door for an even better player in Fowler, so in the aggregate, is it that big of an issue? Nope. And it will be interesting to see if the Blues do move forward with him what the last go on a playoff contending team while being healthy and a 3rd pairing guy will look like.

How many teams in the league would take Nick Leddy as a 3rd pairing defensemen? I'd venture to guess that number is 25+

Oh my. The smartest guy in the room just showed up in the room.

If you appreciate Leddy, you will likely appreciate a guy like Mikkoa too.

So what is the reason for Mikkola to be on Florida's roster, and not the Blues?

glad you acknowledged that. but, I wouldn't call myself the smartest guy in the room. just present more facts than you.

[a smell of green grass]

Can we all just settle this with this conclusion?

Army could not tolerate the mistakes of a young defenseman named Mikkola. Army tries to win every game, and he is quite happy to push a rookie to the back of the room if it means winning 1 more regular season game in February.

Given that Mikkola wouldn't age 5 years in 1 year, he let him go. The other defenseman on the roster made mistakes too, but fewer, and they were under contract.

Now, Mikkola has ripened, and he will be a very fine player for Florida.

In a few months, Army will be quite happy to add the next Mikkola's to the roster, and he will tell us all to be excited because the Blues just landed something very valuable. And then he will sign Leddy 2.

[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.

Right, cause Leddy is sucking up 12 mil…no? 10?…6-8 for sure. Lower?? 4?!? Oooh, yeah that’s sucking up a ton of cap

Show us on this doll where Army hurt you

The most ridiculous part of all these conversations is you can literally just pull up stats and dispute the nonsense in 2 minutes. Is nick leddy an all star? No. Is he a solid player for the Blues. Yes. He hasn't done one thing for the Blues that hasn't been anything other than solid play with occasionally punching above his weight class. When we acquired him, he had a great start for the Blues. Last season when we needed him and Parayko to step their games up to give the team some semblance of character, they were one of the top 20 pairings in the league and neither manned the power play. To finish positive on a team that didn't make the playoffs, and you only get PK and even strength time, is quite the accomplishment. It stinks he got hurt this year. But it opened up the door for an even better player in Fowler, so in the aggregate, is it that big of an issue? Nope. And it will be interesting to see if the Blues do move forward with him what the last go on a playoff contending team while being healthy and a 3rd pairing guy will look like.

How many teams in the league would take Nick Leddy as a 3rd pairing defensemen? I'd venture to guess that number is 25+

Oh my. The smartest guy in the room just showed up in the room.

If you appreciate Leddy, you will likely appreciate a guy like Mikkoa too.

So what is the reason for Mikkola to be on Florida's roster, and not the Blues?

glad you acknowledged that. but, I wouldn't call myself the smartest guy in the room. just present more facts than you.

Can we leverage your smarts? It seems that we are in short supply of defenseman in their prime. We got young ones, and old ones, and nothing in between. Mikkola is showing very nicely for Florida.

Why did the Blues let Mikkola go? Good riddance? A mistake by Army? Why?

[BluesDom]

we all make mistakes. You win some you lose some.

“A man makes mistakes, he gets caught up in things, he is sometimes a sheep, then he learns by experience and becomes a lion.”
— Louis de Bernieres, Corelli's Mandolin

“We all make mistakes. Go and take your punishment, then come back and start again.”
— Jojo Moyes, One Plus One

"You must never feel badly about making mistakes… as long as you take the trouble to learn from them. For you often learn more by being wrong for the right reasons than you do by being right for the wrong reasons.”
— Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth

He may have made a mistake--or did he???
didnt we get Theo Lindstein?

Matthew Liberatore is now awesome. Takes time to properly evaluate a trade. Cards won the trade for sure. Took until now to realize this. Patience is a virtue.

[DawgDad]

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.

Right, cause Leddy is sucking up 12 mil…no? 10?…6-8 for sure. Lower?? 4?!? Oooh, yeah that’s sucking up a ton of cap

Show us on this doll where Army hurt you

The most ridiculous part of all these conversations is you can literally just pull up stats and dispute the nonsense in 2 minutes. Is nick leddy an all star? No. Is he a solid player for the Blues. Yes. He hasn't done one thing for the Blues that hasn't been anything other than solid play with occasionally punching above his weight class. When we acquired him, he had a great start for the Blues. Last season when we needed him and Parayko to step their games up to give the team some semblance of character, they were one of the top 20 pairings in the league and neither manned the power play. To finish positive on a team that didn't make the playoffs, and you only get PK and even strength time, is quite the accomplishment. It stinks he got hurt this year. But it opened up the door for an even better player in Fowler, so in the aggregate, is it that big of an issue? Nope. And it will be interesting to see if the Blues do move forward with him what the last go on a playoff contending team while being healthy and a 3rd pairing guy will look like.

How many teams in the league would take Nick Leddy as a 3rd pairing defensemen? I'd venture to guess that number is 25+

Oh my. The smartest guy in the room just showed up in the room.

If you appreciate Leddy, you will likely appreciate a guy like Mikkoa too.

So what is the reason for Mikkola to be on Florida's roster, and not the Blues?

glad you acknowledged that. but, I wouldn't call myself the smartest guy in the room. just present more facts than you.

Can we leverage your smarts? It seems that we are in short supply of defenseman in their prime. We got young ones, and old ones, and nothing in between. Mikkola is showing very nicely for Florida.

Why did the Blues let Mikkola go? Good riddance? A mistake by Army? Why?

Softball question. Because he would have walked for nothing in Free Agency, just like he did from the Rangers.

[Kariyadog]

Here's a similar whiffjob that benefitted Florida:

After his selection by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2014 NHL entry draft, Gustav Forsling's NHL rights were traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Adam Clendening on 29 January 2015.

On 11 May 2016, he signed a three-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. He made the Blackhawks' opening night roster to begin his first North American season in 2016–17. On 13 November, Forsling scored his first NHL goal in a 3–2 win against the Montreal Canadiens. He was later reassigned to AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs on 6 January 2017.

On 24 June 2019, Forsling was traded by the Blackhawks, along with Anton Forsberg to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Calvin de Haan and Aleksi Saarela. On 16 July, he was re-signed to a one-year contract by the Hurricanes. During the 2020 off-season, on 24 October 2020, Forsling signed a one-year contract with Carolina.

On 8 January 2021, Forsling was placed on waivers by the Hurricanes prior to the delayed 2020–21 season. The following day, he was subsequently claimed by the Florida Panthers. On 15 July, the Panthers signed Forsling to a three-year, $8 million contract extension.

On 7 March 2024, Forsling was signed to an eight-year, $46 million contract extension by the Panthers. Forsling earned his first Stanley Cup championship when the Panthers won the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Edmonton Oilers on 24 June.

Yep, last year Forsling was a force. They have a knack of making players turn the corner- see Seth Jones! I was never a fan of his, always seemed like we exposed him. Looks pretty solid now.

[TheJackBurton]

Here's a similar whiffjob that benefitted Florida:

After his selection by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2014 NHL entry draft, Gustav Forsling's NHL rights were traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Adam Clendening on 29 January 2015.

On 11 May 2016, he signed a three-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. He made the Blackhawks' opening night roster to begin his first North American season in 2016–17. On 13 November, Forsling scored his first NHL goal in a 3–2 win against the Montreal Canadiens. He was later reassigned to AHL affiliate, the Rockford IceHogs on 6 January 2017.

On 24 June 2019, Forsling was traded by the Blackhawks, along with Anton Forsberg to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Calvin de Haan and Aleksi Saarela. On 16 July, he was re-signed to a one-year contract by the Hurricanes. During the 2020 off-season, on 24 October 2020, Forsling signed a one-year contract with Carolina.

On 8 January 2021, Forsling was placed on waivers by the Hurricanes prior to the delayed 2020–21 season. The following day, he was subsequently claimed by the Florida Panthers. On 15 July, the Panthers signed Forsling to a three-year, $8 million contract extension.

On 7 March 2024, Forsling was signed to an eight-year, $46 million contract extension by the Panthers. Forsling earned his first Stanley Cup championship when the Panthers won the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Edmonton Oilers on 24 June.

Yep, last year Forsling was a force. They have a knack of making players turn the corner see Seth Jones also!

That happens from time to time when you go from a losing to a winning culture. Just look at Fowler.

How many times did we see it with the Cardinals during the LaRussa years? Player floundering somewhere, we acquire him, then all of sudden he either gets back to where he was during his great years, or they turned him into a great player.

Sometimes it's the coaching, or the environment, combination of both, having the pressure taken off, etc etc etc