Column: What if St. Louis had kept Alex Pietrangelo?

[MiamiLaw]

Its the GM's job to get hard deals done.

In this case Army dropped the ball then panic signed Krug to a terrible deal. You cant argue with the results, no matter how many excuses are made.

At least Army admits it.

"I understand who does the work in an organization. It’s the guys on the ice. If I could go back in time to make that work, I would have done it. It didn’t work and I’m disappointed in it." –Doug Armstrong, Blues GM

"There’s not a day that goes by and see those statues outside the arena, and it doesn’t cross my mind that he should have one." –Doug Armstrong, Blues GM 

Yea spot on. Its army’s job to not let a homegrown, cup winning top pairing captain dman walk for nothing. It should’ve never gotten as far as it did

[TAFKAP]

Its the GM's job to get hard deals done.

In this case Army dropped the ball then panic signed Krug to a terrible deal. You cant argue with the results, no matter how many excuses are made.

At least Army admits it.

"I understand who does the work in an organization. It’s the guys on the ice. If I could go back in time to make that work, I would have done it. It didn’t work and I’m disappointed in it." –Doug Armstrong, Blues GM

"There’s not a day that goes by and see those statues outside the arena, and it doesn’t cross my mind that he should have one." –Doug Armstrong, Blues GM 

Yea spot on. Its army’s job to not let a homegrown, cup winning top pairing captain dman walk for nothing. It should’ve never gotten as far as it did

This is insane. Are you actually saying that you would have traded your captain in February of 2020? A season that you are the defending Stanley Cup champ? A season where you finished the regular season first in the West, second in the NHL? Nobody had any idea what was coming. Nobody.

We can all agree that Krug was the worst contract of Army's career. It was a HUGE mistake. Knowing what we know now, are you still saying he should have signed Petro?

[MiamiLaw]

Its the GM's job to get hard deals done.

In this case Army dropped the ball then panic signed Krug to a terrible deal. You cant argue with the results, no matter how many excuses are made.

At least Army admits it.

"I understand who does the work in an organization. It’s the guys on the ice. If I could go back in time to make that work, I would have done it. It didn’t work and I’m disappointed in it." –Doug Armstrong, Blues GM

"There’s not a day that goes by and see those statues outside the arena, and it doesn’t cross my mind that he should have one." –Doug Armstrong, Blues GM 

Yea spot on. Its army’s job to not let a homegrown, cup winning top pairing captain dman walk for nothing. It should’ve never gotten as far as it did

This is insane. Are you actually saying that you would have traded your captain in February of 2020? A season that you are the defending Stanley Cup champ? A season where you finished the regular season first in the West, second in the NHL? Nobody had any idea what was coming. Nobody.

We can all agree that Krug was the worst contract of Army's career. It was a HUGE mistake. Knowing what we know now, are you still saying he should have signed Petro?

I absolutely think he should have been signed knowing what I know now.

But what I am saying that the situation never should have progressed to where Petro wanted to test the market and allow other teams to offer him contracts. That's what I mean by it never getting to that point. As was said, it is Army's job to get a hard contract done and he let it get to a point where the Blues lost him for nothing. They were NEVER going to come out better in that situation.

[Harry S Deals]

Krug was a solid 50 pt dman in Boston its hard to say it was a bad trade. Its hindsight and bad luck. But so what in the long run in the big picture whether the Blues had Parayko, Krug and Faulk or whether it was Pietrangelo and Faulk the trajectory of the team doesnt change much. The Blues were still going to jettison the older veteran deals after the window closed post COVID.

[TheJackBurton]

Its the GM's job to get hard deals done.

In this case Army dropped the ball then panic signed Krug to a terrible deal. You cant argue with the results, no matter how many excuses are made.

At least Army admits it.

"I understand who does the work in an organization. It’s the guys on the ice. If I could go back in time to make that work, I would have done it. It didn’t work and I’m disappointed in it." –Doug Armstrong, Blues GM

"There’s not a day that goes by and see those statues outside the arena, and it doesn’t cross my mind that he should have one." –Doug Armstrong, Blues GM 

Yea spot on. Its army’s job to not let a homegrown, cup winning top pairing captain dman walk for nothing. It should’ve never gotten as far as it did

This is insane. Are you actually saying that you would have traded your captain in February of 2020? A season that you are the defending Stanley Cup champ? A season where you finished the regular season first in the West, second in the NHL? Nobody had any idea what was coming. Nobody.

We can all agree that Krug was the worst contract of Army's career. It was a HUGE mistake. Knowing what we know now, are you still saying he should have signed Petro?

I absolutely think he should have been signed knowing what I know now.

But what I am saying that the situation never should have progressed to where Petro wanted to test the market and allow other teams to offer him contracts. That's what I mean by it never getting to that point. As was said, it is Army's job to get a hard contract done and he let it get to a point where the Blues lost him for nothing. They were NEVER going to come out better in that situation.

There's getting a hard deal done, and there's deals that will never get done. This was one of those.

Petro absolutely had one foot out the door because he knew they were never going to meet his demands, Karlsson money, NMC and signing bonus.

I sincerely believe he expected to be wearing the Maple Leaf on his chest along with his buddy Tavares and they would bring the cup home to Toronto.

Covid changed all of that, and yet we have reports that Petro only changed his demands when Toronto bowed out.

Doug reached a point where there was just little use continuing to negotiate because they obviously were going nowhere since it would seem Petros camp never actually negotiated.

[MiamiLaw]

Its the GM's job to get hard deals done.

In this case Army dropped the ball then panic signed Krug to a terrible deal. You cant argue with the results, no matter how many excuses are made.

At least Army admits it.

"I understand who does the work in an organization. It’s the guys on the ice. If I could go back in time to make that work, I would have done it. It didn’t work and I’m disappointed in it." –Doug Armstrong, Blues GM

"There’s not a day that goes by and see those statues outside the arena, and it doesn’t cross my mind that he should have one." –Doug Armstrong, Blues GM 

Yea spot on. Its army’s job to not let a homegrown, cup winning top pairing captain dman walk for nothing. It should’ve never gotten as far as it did

This is insane. Are you actually saying that you would have traded your captain in February of 2020? A season that you are the defending Stanley Cup champ? A season where you finished the regular season first in the West, second in the NHL? Nobody had any idea what was coming. Nobody.

We can all agree that Krug was the worst contract of Army's career. It was a HUGE mistake. Knowing what we know now, are you still saying he should have signed Petro?

I absolutely think he should have been signed knowing what I know now.

But what I am saying that the situation never should have progressed to where Petro wanted to test the market and allow other teams to offer him contracts. That's what I mean by it never getting to that point. As was said, it is Army's job to get a hard contract done and he let it get to a point where the Blues lost him for nothing. They were NEVER going to come out better in that situation.

There's getting a hard deal done, and there's deals that will never get done. This was one of those.

Petro absolutely had one foot out the door because he knew they were never going to meet his demands, Karlsson money, NMC and signing bonus.

I sincerely believe he expected to be wearing the Maple Leaf on his chest along with his buddy Tavares and they would bring the cup home to Toronto.

Covid changed all of that, and yet we have reports that Petro only changed his demands when Toronto bowed out.

Doug reached a point where there was just little use continuing to negotiate because they obviously were going nowhere since it would seem Petros camp never actually negotiated.

Do we know this to be the case? That seems like a very pro-Army narrative. I am not saying it is wrong for sure but has any of it been reported or is it just your (albeit semi-educated/informed) guess as to what happened?

[TAFKAP]

Its the GM's job to get hard deals done.

In this case Army dropped the ball then panic signed Krug to a terrible deal. You cant argue with the results, no matter how many excuses are made.

At least Army admits it.

"I understand who does the work in an organization. It’s the guys on the ice. If I could go back in time to make that work, I would have done it. It didn’t work and I’m disappointed in it." –Doug Armstrong, Blues GM

"There’s not a day that goes by and see those statues outside the arena, and it doesn’t cross my mind that he should have one." –Doug Armstrong, Blues GM 

Yea spot on. Its army’s job to not let a homegrown, cup winning top pairing captain dman walk for nothing. It should’ve never gotten as far as it did

This is insane. Are you actually saying that you would have traded your captain in February of 2020? A season that you are the defending Stanley Cup champ? A season where you finished the regular season first in the West, second in the NHL? Nobody had any idea what was coming. Nobody.

We can all agree that Krug was the worst contract of Army's career. It was a HUGE mistake. Knowing what we know now, are you still saying he should have signed Petro?

I absolutely think he should have been signed knowing what I know now.

But what I am saying that the situation never should have progressed to where Petro wanted to test the market and allow other teams to offer him contracts. That's what I mean by it never getting to that point. As was said, it is Army's job to get a hard contract done and he let it get to a point where the Blues lost him for nothing. They were NEVER going to come out better in that situation.

There's getting a hard deal done, and there's deals that will never get done. This was one of those.

Petro absolutely had one foot out the door because he knew they were never going to meet his demands, Karlsson money, NMC and signing bonus.

I sincerely believe he expected to be wearing the Maple Leaf on his chest along with his buddy Tavares and they would bring the cup home to Toronto.

Covid changed all of that, and yet we have reports that Petro only changed his demands when Toronto bowed out.

Doug reached a point where there was just little use continuing to negotiate because they obviously were going nowhere since it would seem Petros camp never actually negotiated.

Do we know this to be the case? That seems like a very pro-Army narrative. I am not saying it is wrong for sure but has any of it been reported or is it just your (albeit semi-educated/informed) guess as to what happened?

There is no smoking gun, but if you look at the deal he signed in 2013, it gives you a picture. In 2013, he held out of camp to get $500,000 a year more than Karlson who had just won the Norris. He signed for 6.5 matching Karlson, but left 3 years on the table. That's reported here.

https://www.si.com/nhl/2013/09/13/st-lo ... llion-deal

His deal was up in 2020, it was reported that he wanted 9.5 million x 8 making $500,000 more than Roman Josi. Josi was the 2020 Norris Trophy winner. There is no holding out for a UFA, so when the Blues weren't going to give him what he wanted in full, he walked. Army evidently had an idea it was going to be a take it or leave it deal after 2013, because he grabbed Faulk the year before. He made the right choice because Petro's deal is an albatross. 27 points in year 1, follower by 2 good seasons, then 2 years of 30ish points, followed by 2 (would have been 3 for the Blues as it would have been 8 not 7 years) years of LTIR. I say of those 5 years, he would have helped us in one (possibly) 2022. Also remember signing him would end Parayko's career here. No thanks.

[DawgDad]

This whole Pietrangelo agenda stuff is ludicrous. HOW MANY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE A PERSON HAPPY IN ST. LOUIS? Must be a pretty rotten city. Well, once huge amounts of bonus money were offered he was packing his bags.

Did it ever occur to some of you guys that he might have WANTED to leave? I can assure you, some people are very comfortable moving out of St. Louis (no ill will intended).

[callitwhatyouwant]

This whole Pietrangelo agenda stuff is ludicrous. HOW MANY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE A PERSON HAPPY IN ST. LOUIS? Must be a pretty rotten city. Well, once huge amounts of bonus money were offered he was packing his bags.

Did it ever occur to some of you guys that he might have WANTED to leave? I can assure you, some people are very comfortable moving out of St. Louis (no ill will intended).

It's a dumb story to be talking about 5 years later because everyone distorts the facts. He literally said he wouldn't mind playing in front of his family in Toronto while the previous season was going in regards to upping his contract. Petro was working from a position that he was strong arming the org and making it really difficult to do business. Like you said, it's clear he wanted to try something new. I find it funny that he ended up in Vegas. No one mentions that Army in the end attempted matching the deal that Vegas offered but the ship had sailed and the next day he signed his Vegas contract. He felt slighted by the NMC and Army wanting to get 1 less year. Army even offered more money over shorter term to match what Vegas was giving.

AND TO BOOT, it appears that both sides knew that Petro had taken some damage to the body that was going to force early retirement. Not only is he not going to fulfill the years that Vegas gave him, he wouldn't have been able to play out the contract that the Blues were willing to give him. Maybe he would have grinded out the last season who knows. But it appears both sides were aware of the mileage on Petro.

Great player, Great Blue, Could have had a statue. But he chose money so boohoo.

[TBone]

This whole Pietrangelo agenda stuff is ludicrous. HOW MANY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE A PERSON HAPPY IN ST. LOUIS? Must be a pretty rotten city. Well, once huge amounts of bonus money were offered he was packing his bags.

Did it ever occur to some of you guys that he might have WANTED to leave? I can assure you, some people are very comfortable moving out of St. Louis (no ill will intended).

Meh. St. Louis is a great place to raise a family with an under the radar affordability and quality of life.

His wife is from here and they still chose to go sweat their nuts off in Vegas. I hope they enjoyed it. His leaving was an ego play.

[Aesa]

This whole Pietrangelo agenda stuff is ludicrous. HOW MANY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE A PERSON HAPPY IN ST. LOUIS? Must be a pretty rotten city. Well, once huge amounts of bonus money were offered he was packing his bags.

Did it ever occur to some of you guys that he might have WANTED to leave? I can assure you, some people are very comfortable moving out of St. Louis (no ill will intended).

Meh. St. Louis is a great place to raise a family with an under the radar affordability and quality of life.

His wife is from here and they still chose to go sweat their nuts off in Vegas. I hope they enjoyed it. His leaving was an ego play.

Precisely

[DawgDad]

This whole Pietrangelo agenda stuff is ludicrous. HOW MANY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE A PERSON HAPPY IN ST. LOUIS? Must be a pretty rotten city. Well, once huge amounts of bonus money were offered he was packing his bags.

Did it ever occur to some of you guys that he might have WANTED to leave? I can assure you, some people are very comfortable moving out of St. Louis (no ill will intended).

Meh. St. Louis is a great place to raise a family with an under the radar affordability and quality of life.

His wife is from here and they still chose to go sweat their nuts off in Vegas. I hope they enjoyed it. His leaving was an ego play.

Precisely

LOL! "Affordability". How many millions does he make a year?

You are generally right in context of normal people.

[blues2112]

Its the GM's job to get hard deals done.

In this case Army dropped the ball then panic signed Krug to a terrible deal. You cant argue with the results, no matter how many excuses are made.

At least Army admits it.

"I understand who does the work in an organization. It’s the guys on the ice. If I could go back in time to make that work, I would have done it. It didn’t work and I’m disappointed in it." –Doug Armstrong, Blues GM

"There’s not a day that goes by and see those statues outside the arena, and it doesn’t cross my mind that he should have one." –Doug Armstrong, Blues GM 

Yea spot on. Its army’s job to not let a homegrown, cup winning top pairing captain dman walk for nothing. It should’ve never gotten as far as it did

This is insane. Are you actually saying that you would have traded your captain in February of 2020? A season that you are the defending Stanley Cup champ? A season where you finished the regular season first in the West, second in the NHL? Nobody had any idea what was coming. Nobody.

We can all agree that Krug was the worst contract of Army's career. It was a HUGE mistake. Knowing what we know now, are you still saying he should have signed Petro?

I absolutely think he should have been signed knowing what I know now.

But what I am saying that the situation never should have progressed to where Petro wanted to test the market and allow other teams to offer him contracts. That's what I mean by it never getting to that point. As was said, it is Army's job to get a hard contract done and he let it get to a point where the Blues lost him for nothing. They were NEVER going to come out better in that situation.

There's getting a hard deal done, and there's deals that will never get done. This was one of those.

Petro absolutely had one foot out the door because he knew they were never going to meet his demands, Karlsson money, NMC and signing bonus.

I sincerely believe he expected to be wearing the Maple Leaf on his chest along with his buddy Tavares and they would bring the cup home to Toronto.

Covid changed all of that, and yet we have reports that Petro only changed his demands when Toronto bowed out.

Doug reached a point where there was just little use continuing to negotiate because they obviously were going nowhere since it would seem Petros camp never actually negotiated.

Do we know this to be the case? That seems like a very pro-Army narrative. I am not saying it is wrong for sure but has any of it been reported or is it just your (albeit semi-educated/informed) guess as to what happened?

There is no smoking gun, but if you look at the deal he signed in 2013, it gives you a picture. In 2013, he held out of camp to get $500,000 a year more than Karlson who had just won the Norris. He signed for 6.5 matching Karlson, but left 3 years on the table. That's reported here.

https://www.si.com/nhl/2013/09/13/st-lo ... llion-deal

His deal was up in 2020, it was reported that he wanted 9.5 million x 8 making $500,000 more than Roman Josi. Josi was the 2020 Norris Trophy winner. There is no holding out for a UFA, so when the Blues weren't going to give him what he wanted in full, he walked. Army evidently had an idea it was going to be a take it or leave it deal after 2013, because he grabbed Faulk the year before. He made the right choice because Petro's deal is an albatross. 27 points in year 1, follower by 2 good seasons, then 2 years of 30ish points, followed by 2 (would have been 3 for the Blues as it would have been 8 not 7 years) years of LTIR. I say of those 5 years, he would have helped us in one (possibly) 2022. Also remember signing him would end Parayko's career here. No thanks.

TAKFAP, truly an absolutely HOF post.

Well done.

[netboy65]

This whole Pietrangelo agenda stuff is ludicrous. HOW MANY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS DOES IT TAKE TO MAKE A PERSON HAPPY IN ST. LOUIS? Must be a pretty rotten city. Well, once huge amounts of bonus money were offered he was packing his bags.

Did it ever occur to some of you guys that he might have WANTED to leave? I can assure you, some people are very comfortable moving out of St. Louis (no ill will intended).

It's a dumb story to be talking about 5 years later because everyone distorts the facts. He literally said he wouldn't mind playing in front of his family in Toronto while the previous season was going in regards to upping his contract. Petro was working from a position that he was strong arming the org and making it really difficult to do business. Like you said, it's clear he wanted to try something new. I find it funny that he ended up in Vegas. No one mentions that Army in the end attempted matching the deal that Vegas offered but the ship had sailed and the next day he signed his Vegas contract. He felt slighted by the NMC and Army wanting to get 1 less year. Army even offered more money over shorter term to match what Vegas was giving.

AND TO BOOT, it appears that both sides knew that Petro had taken some damage to the body that was going to force early retirement. Not only is he not going to fulfill the years that Vegas gave him, he wouldn't have been able to play out the contract that the Blues were willing to give him. Maybe he would have grinded out the last season who knows. But it appears both sides were aware of the mileage on Petro.

Great player, Great Blue, Could have had a statue. But he chose money so boohoo.

Mic drop

[TAFKAP]

Its the GM's job to get hard deals done.

In this case Army dropped the ball then panic signed Krug to a terrible deal. You cant argue with the results, no matter how many excuses are made.

At least Army admits it.

"I understand who does the work in an organization. It’s the guys on the ice. If I could go back in time to make that work, I would have done it. It didn’t work and I’m disappointed in it." –Doug Armstrong, Blues GM

"There’s not a day that goes by and see those statues outside the arena, and it doesn’t cross my mind that he should have one." –Doug Armstrong, Blues GM 

Yea spot on. Its army’s job to not let a homegrown, cup winning top pairing captain dman walk for nothing. It should’ve never gotten as far as it did

This is insane. Are you actually saying that you would have traded your captain in February of 2020? A season that you are the defending Stanley Cup champ? A season where you finished the regular season first in the West, second in the NHL? Nobody had any idea what was coming. Nobody.

We can all agree that Krug was the worst contract of Army's career. It was a HUGE mistake. Knowing what we know now, are you still saying he should have signed Petro?

I absolutely think he should have been signed knowing what I know now.

But what I am saying that the situation never should have progressed to where Petro wanted to test the market and allow other teams to offer him contracts. That's what I mean by it never getting to that point. As was said, it is Army's job to get a hard contract done and he let it get to a point where the Blues lost him for nothing. They were NEVER going to come out better in that situation.

There's getting a hard deal done, and there's deals that will never get done. This was one of those.

Petro absolutely had one foot out the door because he knew they were never going to meet his demands, Karlsson money, NMC and signing bonus.

I sincerely believe he expected to be wearing the Maple Leaf on his chest along with his buddy Tavares and they would bring the cup home to Toronto.

Covid changed all of that, and yet we have reports that Petro only changed his demands when Toronto bowed out.

Doug reached a point where there was just little use continuing to negotiate because they obviously were going nowhere since it would seem Petros camp never actually negotiated.

Do we know this to be the case? That seems like a very pro-Army narrative. I am not saying it is wrong for sure but has any of it been reported or is it just your (albeit semi-educated/informed) guess as to what happened?

There is no smoking gun, but if you look at the deal he signed in 2013, it gives you a picture. In 2013, he held out of camp to get $500,000 a year more than Karlson who had just won the Norris. He signed for 6.5 matching Karlson, but left 3 years on the table. That's reported here.

https://www.si.com/nhl/2013/09/13/st-lo ... llion-deal

His deal was up in 2020, it was reported that he wanted 9.5 million x 8 making $500,000 more than Roman Josi. Josi was the 2020 Norris Trophy winner. There is no holding out for a UFA, so when the Blues weren't going to give him what he wanted in full, he walked. Army evidently had an idea it was going to be a take it or leave it deal after 2013, because he grabbed Faulk the year before. He made the right choice because Petro's deal is an albatross. 27 points in year 1, follower by 2 good seasons, then 2 years of 30ish points, followed by 2 (would have been 3 for the Blues as it would have been 8 not 7 years) years of LTIR. I say of those 5 years, he would have helped us in one (possibly) 2022. Also remember signing him would end Parayko's career here. No thanks.

TAKFAP, truly an absolutely HOF post.

Well done.

Thank you, we've unfortunately been arguing this for 5 years. I can't understand why anyone would say Army should have signed him to the deal he demanded. That's $76,000,000 for a player who made it 5 of the 8 years he would have signed for. Three of those years, he scored less than 35 points. If you honestly believe he was worth that, please don't ever complain about Faulk, or worse, Krug.

[TheJackBurton]

Its the GM's job to get hard deals done.

In this case Army dropped the ball then panic signed Krug to a terrible deal. You cant argue with the results, no matter how many excuses are made.

At least Army admits it.

"I understand who does the work in an organization. It’s the guys on the ice. If I could go back in time to make that work, I would have done it. It didn’t work and I’m disappointed in it." –Doug Armstrong, Blues GM

"There’s not a day that goes by and see those statues outside the arena, and it doesn’t cross my mind that he should have one." –Doug Armstrong, Blues GM 

Yea spot on. Its army’s job to not let a homegrown, cup winning top pairing captain dman walk for nothing. It should’ve never gotten as far as it did

This is insane. Are you actually saying that you would have traded your captain in February of 2020? A season that you are the defending Stanley Cup champ? A season where you finished the regular season first in the West, second in the NHL? Nobody had any idea what was coming. Nobody.

We can all agree that Krug was the worst contract of Army's career. It was a HUGE mistake. Knowing what we know now, are you still saying he should have signed Petro?

I absolutely think he should have been signed knowing what I know now.

But what I am saying that the situation never should have progressed to where Petro wanted to test the market and allow other teams to offer him contracts. That's what I mean by it never getting to that point. As was said, it is Army's job to get a hard contract done and he let it get to a point where the Blues lost him for nothing. They were NEVER going to come out better in that situation.

There's getting a hard deal done, and there's deals that will never get done. This was one of those.

Petro absolutely had one foot out the door because he knew they were never going to meet his demands, Karlsson money, NMC and signing bonus.

I sincerely believe he expected to be wearing the Maple Leaf on his chest along with his buddy Tavares and they would bring the cup home to Toronto.

Covid changed all of that, and yet we have reports that Petro only changed his demands when Toronto bowed out.

Doug reached a point where there was just little use continuing to negotiate because they obviously were going nowhere since it would seem Petros camp never actually negotiated.

Do we know this to be the case? That seems like a very pro-Army narrative. I am not saying it is wrong for sure but has any of it been reported or is it just your (albeit semi-educated/informed) guess as to what happened?

It is no doubt Pro-Army, but when he did his interview Army stated, they upped their price and were even willing to do a partial NMC and Petro still said no.

Now just based on that, who does it sound like did the negotiating and who does it sound like just made demands?