Ekblad?

[MiamiLaw]

Assuming he does not re-sign in Florida - and unless he takes a massive discount, I am not sure how they fit him - would you guys have any interest? He's always been a bit underwhelming to me but he has really shown up in these playoffs and would fill a big need.

[Pierre McGuire]

Assuming he does not re-sign in Florida - and unless he takes a massive discount, I am not sure how they fit him - would you guys have any interest? He's always been a bit underwhelming to me but he has really shown up in these playoffs and would fill a big need.

I wouldn’t hate it but he’s going to get paid. Somebody is going to pony up $9mil per year for him and he’s going to have a lot of options

[MiamiLaw]

Assuming he does not re-sign in Florida - and unless he takes a massive discount, I am not sure how they fit him - would you guys have any interest? He's always been a bit underwhelming to me but he has really shown up in these playoffs and would fill a big need.

I wouldn’t hate it but he’s going to get paid. Somebody is going to pony up $9mil per year for him and he’s going to have a lot of options

I agree and I am not sure I like him at $9 but with the cap going up, it may not be bad. Anything under that I would be very interested.

[Frank Underwood]

I’m kind of like you….underwhelmed by him. I would certainly take Ekblad if we could keep the contract to 4 years and if we could move out Faulk, but Ekblad will get overpaid on a 7-year deal. My biggest concern with him is that I think he will age poorly, so a 7-year deal will be terrible for the team that signs him.

[MiamiLaw]

I’m kind of like you….underwhelmed by him. I would certainly take Ekblad if we could keep the contract to 4 years and if we could move out Faulk, but Ekblad will get overpaid on a 7-year deal. My biggest concern with him is that I think he will age poorly, so a 7-year deal will be terrible for the team that signs him.

I definitely feel the same on the term. The end could be hard to handle but I think you have to accept that with almost any UFA. No way you're getting him without 7 years though and probably an NMC for almost all of it.

I've seen a lot of him and I don't love him but the he fits the Blues current need and theoretically would not require a trade.

[netboy65]

I’m kind of like you….underwhelmed by him. I would certainly take Ekblad if we could keep the contract to 4 years and if we could move out Faulk, but Ekblad will get overpaid on a 7-year deal. My biggest concern with him is that I think he will age poorly, so a 7-year deal will be terrible for the team that signs him.

I definitely feel the same on the term. The end could be hard to handle but I think you have to accept that with almost any UFA. No way you're getting him without 7 years though and probably an NMC for almost all of it.

I've seen a lot of him and I don't love him but the he fits the Blues current need and theoretically would not require a trade.

If you’re accepting the back end of a deal, you should have just kept Petro

[MiamiLaw]

I’m kind of like you….underwhelmed by him. I would certainly take Ekblad if we could keep the contract to 4 years and if we could move out Faulk, but Ekblad will get overpaid on a 7-year deal. My biggest concern with him is that I think he will age poorly, so a 7-year deal will be terrible for the team that signs him.

I definitely feel the same on the term. The end could be hard to handle but I think you have to accept that with almost any UFA. No way you're getting him without 7 years though and probably an NMC for almost all of it.

I've seen a lot of him and I don't love him but the he fits the Blues current need and theoretically would not require a trade.

If you’re accepting the back end of a deal, you should have just kept Petro

No argument from me there

[theograce]

I’m kind of like you….underwhelmed by him. I would certainly take Ekblad if we could keep the contract to 4 years and if we could move out Faulk, but Ekblad will get overpaid on a 7-year deal. My biggest concern with him is that I think he will age poorly, so a 7-year deal will be terrible for the team that signs him.

I definitely feel the same on the term. The end could be hard to handle but I think you have to accept that with almost any UFA. No way you're getting him without 7 years though and probably an NMC for almost all of it.

I've seen a lot of him and I don't love him but the he fits the Blues current need and theoretically would not require a trade.

If you’re accepting the back end of a deal, you should have just kept Petro

The Blues beat the Jets with old man Boss. Guaranteed

[IsDurbanodoingtime]

He is a righry but yes he is going to get paid. A short term option for a righty and guy who is a banger and substantially cheaper is rasmus ristolanienen. If you jettison leddy and/or faulk, he is a good bridge to younger talent coming in. Two years left on his deal but could be had reasonably if you can get Briere to part with him

[seattleblue]

I'd sign him as a UFA, for 9M without blinking. Timing for the rising team now. He has Parayko's approximate mileage.
He's not going to nose dive off the planet at the end of that deal and you don't have to give up assets.
He's a former #1 overall who will likely have won multiple Cups, nobody's going to begrudge that contract internally.

Don't sign Suter and let Tucker play his natural side. That is instantly a contender defense with Ekblad, Parayko, Fowler, Broberg, Leddy and Faulk and Tucker as #7.

[bluetunehead]

Love to have him for the next few seasons, but he's got a not small injury history (including concussions) that makes me worried about the back half of any contract.

It's a very similar situation to Petro, age-wise, but I'd bet Petro has aged better than Ekblad will.

[skilles]

Its another case where other teams are gonna want him more than we do probably.

Its difficult to be a "hard no" on Ekblad but I doubt Its gonna be worth to the Blues what it is to a team that doesn't already have Parayko and faulk on that side.

Good player but not the right way to spend our money IMO

[theograce]

Its another case where other teams are gonna want him more than we do probably.

Yup and will have better personal options than a stl

[Cujo's Mask]

If you go after Ekblad, you have to have a way to ship Faulk off that isn't too painful (eating $ and/or adding assets) as they obviously aren't running Parayko, Ekblad and Faulk out there at over $20mil combined the next year or two.

If we are going to swing for a RD in free agency, I'd rather we go after Dante Fabbro, who just had a nice year for Columbus and is a UFA at 26 (although I'm sure CBJ will do everything possible to keep him).

Save that, I would really like to see them bring in a high-end 3rd pairing RD (ala peak Borts/Hakanpaa) to eat as many PK and 6-5 minutes as possible. You do that and keep Faulk to 5-on-5 with Broberg and some PP time with the second pairing. We have talked a lot about the horrible 6-5 work of Faulk (and others), but they finished 27th in the league on the PK as well (74.3%). You get a player that can help in both areas, that would go a long way toward winning more games next year.

Someone like Ceci (although he might cost too much and currently plays 20+ min a game) or Henri Jokiharu are UFAs. Hakanpaa as well, if he is recovered from his knee injury, could be worth a flier.

[Cardsfanforlife]

Assuming he does not re-sign in Florida - and unless he takes a massive discount, I am not sure how they fit him - would you guys have any interest? He's always been a bit underwhelming to me but he has really shown up in these playoffs and would fill a big need.

I wouldn’t hate it but he’s going to get paid. Somebody is going to pony up $9mil per year for him and he’s going to have a lot of options

I agree and I am not sure I like him at $9 but with the cap going up, it may not be bad. Anything under that I would be very interested.

But isn't 9mil a discount for a dman these days? It's 2025 not 2020.

[bluetunehead]

Assuming he does not re-sign in Florida - and unless he takes a massive discount, I am not sure how they fit him - would you guys have any interest? He's always been a bit underwhelming to me but he has really shown up in these playoffs and would fill a big need.

I wouldn’t hate it but he’s going to get paid. Somebody is going to pony up $9mil per year for him and he’s going to have a lot of options

I agree and I am not sure I like him at $9 but with the cap going up, it may not be bad. Anything under that I would be very interested.

But isn't 9mil a discount for a dman these days? It's 2025 not 2020.

For reference, Petro’s 8.8M contract with Vegas was 10.8% of the cap when he signed it. A comparable deal for Ekblad this summer would be 10.3M.