ufas

[clemonsonroots]

Blues will have some cap space and some decsions here. My personal favorites to target:

David Rittich G- solid backup if Binny is traded. 1.75 mil 2 year

Charlie Coyle C- If the Blues decide not to get into the Matthews sweeps, I think a middle six center will be needed. Coyle is the type who could play the 2C or 3C depending on when Dvorsky is ready to take over at the 2C. I think something like 3 years at 5.5 mil a year should get him given his age.

Rasmus Andersson D- Only if we do trade Parayko, which I think is unlikely unless we try to trade up to get San Jose's number 2 and he accepts a trade to them. In that scenario, I think you have to go hard at a 2nd pairing RHD. I think it comes down to Andersson and Trouba in that case as we need a defense first type who can play some offense. Probably talking a 6 year at 8.5 mil a year deal for someone like this.

[STL fan in MN]

This appears to be an especially bad UFA class IMO. There’s some decent players but I expect pretty much anyone decent to get albatross contracts.

https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/top-5 ... vsky-tuch

That said, some guys end up being cheaper than expected. For example, pretty much every guess at what Pius Suter would get was more years and more term than what the Blues signed him for. So if the Blues can add a decent player for a fair price then good.

But I think Rasmussen will end up getting paid too much. And if he does leave money on the table, it’ll be for Vegas.

TBH, I don’t see any glaring holes on the Blues roster. Obviously they need to get better and they could absolutely use a bonafide 2C but all I see on the UFA market are stopgap options that are really more 3Cs than 2Cs. I think I’d rather just start the year with Dvorsky and Suter as the 2/3Cs and but keep an eye on the trade market if it’s warranted.

I also don’t see much in Finley. He can win faceoffs but he’s a black hole otherwise. So wouldn’t mind upgrading the 4C spot. I also have never really liked Toropchenko but apparently the Blues do as they keep extending him. But he’s also a complete black hole and the Blues have been caved in for 3-4 years now everytime he’s on the ice.

Any big, needle moving changes to the roster could have to come via trade IMO.

[aslord]

just say no to UFAs that don't move the needle big time.

[LGB73]

Agree that there isn't much worth signing out there. With the cap moving up so much, I'm wondering if fewer quality options will hit the market as UFAs the next several years. Could increase the value on assets in trades as the path teams take to improve their teams.

[2forDiving]

This appears to be an especially bad UFA class IMO. There’s some decent players but I expect pretty much anyone decent to get albatross contracts.

https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/top-5 ... vsky-tuch

That said, some guys end up being cheaper than expected. For example, pretty much every guess at what Pius Suter would get was more years and more term than what the Blues signed him for. So if the Blues can add a decent player for a fair price then good.

But I think Rasmussen will end up getting paid too much. And if he does leave money on the table, it’ll be for Vegas.

TBH, I don’t see any glaring holes on the Blues roster. Obviously they need to get better and they could absolutely use a bonafide 2C but all I see on the UFA market are stopgap options that are really more 3Cs than 2Cs. I think I’d rather just start the year with Dvorsky and Suter as the 2/3Cs and but keep an eye on the trade market if it’s warranted.

I also don’t see much in Finley. He can win faceoffs but he’s a black hole otherwise. So wouldn’t mind upgrading the 4C spot. I also have never really liked Toropchenko but apparently the Blues do as they keep extending him. But he’s also a complete black hole and the Blues have been caved in for 3-4 years now everytime he’s on the ice.

Any big, needle moving changes to the roster could have to come via trade IMO.

I was a Toropchenko fan, but his play the last two years has been lacking. And I don’t even think he was very good on the forecheck, which is something he could do effectively most of his career. Personally, I don’t think anyone on that 4th line should have a spot locked up. I realize contracts come into play, but honestly don’t know if some combo of Dean, Peterson, Stancl, Kaskimaki, etc would be any worse.

[STL fan in MN]

This appears to be an especially bad UFA class IMO. There’s some decent players but I expect pretty much anyone decent to get albatross contracts.

https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/top-5 ... vsky-tuch

That said, some guys end up being cheaper than expected. For example, pretty much every guess at what Pius Suter would get was more years and more term than what the Blues signed him for. So if the Blues can add a decent player for a fair price then good.

But I think Rasmussen will end up getting paid too much. And if he does leave money on the table, it’ll be for Vegas.

TBH, I don’t see any glaring holes on the Blues roster. Obviously they need to get better and they could absolutely use a bonafide 2C but all I see on the UFA market are stopgap options that are really more 3Cs than 2Cs. I think I’d rather just start the year with Dvorsky and Suter as the 2/3Cs and but keep an eye on the trade market if it’s warranted.

I also don’t see much in Finley. He can win faceoffs but he’s a black hole otherwise. So wouldn’t mind upgrading the 4C spot. I also have never really liked Toropchenko but apparently the Blues do as they keep extending him. But he’s also a complete black hole and the Blues have been caved in for 3-4 years now everytime he’s on the ice.

Any big, needle moving changes to the roster could have to come via trade IMO.

I was a Toropchenko fan, but his play the last two years has been lacking. And I don’t even think he was very good on the forecheck, which is something he could do effectively most of his career. Personally, I don’t think anyone on that 4th line should have a spot locked up. I realize contracts come into play, but honestly don’t know if some combo of Dean, Peterson, Stancl, Kaskimaki, etc would be any worse.

I would tend to agree. And so do the analytics. I like Walker and Torpo for what they are but they shouldn’t be everyday players and our 4th line has been way under league average for a few years now. And got notably worse when Faksa left too. Not that he was amazing or anything but clearly better than Finley or the 2025-26 version of Sunny.

Of the prospects, I could see a few pushing for bottom-6 spots but don’t see any and really being much better options, at least at first. Kaskimaki is the one I like the most. He could probably be a NHL 3rd liner in time but he’s got plus speed and a good two-way game so I would like to see how he would look on our 4th line. He’s not a traditional mucker and grinder type but would be excellent on more of an energy type of 4th line that wouldn’t be absolutely devoid of offense.

I think Peterson could be similar to Torpo in terms of impact, but he’ll also fight. I’d like to see him get a shot but he has stone hands the same as Torpo.

Dean has worked his way back on the map. I still lean towards him not making it but he has a chance. I’d be interested to see how he might look as the 4C.

Stancl isn’t close to ready yet IMO.

All that said, no team is going to insert 3 rookies in as their new 4th line so I guess we’ll see what happens. But I do think Kaskimaki will spend a solid part of next season with the Blues. TBD on the others.

[netboy65]

This appears to be an especially bad UFA class IMO. There’s some decent players but I expect pretty much anyone decent to get albatross contracts.

https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/top-5 ... vsky-tuch

That said, some guys end up being cheaper than expected. For example, pretty much every guess at what Pius Suter would get was more years and more term than what the Blues signed him for. So if the Blues can add a decent player for a fair price then good.

But I think Rasmussen will end up getting paid too much. And if he does leave money on the table, it’ll be for Vegas.

TBH, I don’t see any glaring holes on the Blues roster. Obviously they need to get better and they could absolutely use a bonafide 2C but all I see on the UFA market are stopgap options that are really more 3Cs than 2Cs. I think I’d rather just start the year with Dvorsky and Suter as the 2/3Cs and but keep an eye on the trade market if it’s warranted.

I also don’t see much in Finley. He can win faceoffs but he’s a black hole otherwise. So wouldn’t mind upgrading the 4C spot. I also have never really liked Toropchenko but apparently the Blues do as they keep extending him. But he’s also a complete black hole and the Blues have been caved in for 3-4 years now everytime he’s on the ice.

Any big, needle moving changes to the roster could have to come via trade IMO.

I was a Toropchenko fan, but his play the last two years has been lacking. And I don’t even think he was very good on the forecheck, which is something he could do effectively most of his career. Personally, I don’t think anyone on that 4th line should have a spot locked up. I realize contracts come into play, but honestly don’t know if some combo of Dean, Peterson, Stancl, Kaskimaki, etc would be any worse.

He’s a perfect example of size not being the be all end all

[SameOldBlues]

This appears to be an especially bad UFA class IMO. There’s some decent players but I expect pretty much anyone decent to get albatross contracts.

https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/top-5 ... vsky-tuch

That said, some guys end up being cheaper than expected. For example, pretty much every guess at what Pius Suter would get was more years and more term than what the Blues signed him for. So if the Blues can add a decent player for a fair price then good.

But I think Rasmussen will end up getting paid too much. And if he does leave money on the table, it’ll be for Vegas.

TBH, I don’t see any glaring holes on the Blues roster. Obviously they need to get better and they could absolutely use a bonafide 2C but all I see on the UFA market are stopgap options that are really more 3Cs than 2Cs. I think I’d rather just start the year with Dvorsky and Suter as the 2/3Cs and but keep an eye on the trade market if it’s warranted.

I also don’t see much in Finley. He can win faceoffs but he’s a black hole otherwise. So wouldn’t mind upgrading the 4C spot. I also have never really liked Toropchenko but apparently the Blues do as they keep extending him. But he’s also a complete black hole and the Blues have been caved in for 3-4 years now everytime he’s on the ice.

Any big, needle moving changes to the roster could have to come via trade IMO.

I was a Toropchenko fan, but his play the last two years has been lacking. And I don’t even think he was very good on the forecheck, which is something he could do effectively most of his career. Personally, I don’t think anyone on that 4th line should have a spot locked up. I realize contracts come into play, but honestly don’t know if some combo of Dean, Peterson, Stancl, Kaskimaki, etc would be any worse.

All that said, no team is going to insert 3 rookies in as their new 4th line so I guess we’ll see what happens

This might butcher the post, but i was trying to to take out everything except the sentence I wanted to comment on…

Which is…I realize no coach is going to to insert 3 rookies into a line either, but I sure wish Monty would think outside the box and give it a try, could they really be any worse? Wish we’d get back to having 3 behemoths dedicated to crush checking the opposition while addin the occasional scoring here and there.

[BleedingBleu]

Watching the Thunderbirds transformation occur in the Calder Cup Playoffs makes me feel some of those players will make a case to not chase UFA’s. This includes the likes of Stenberg, Lindstein, and even the controversial Dillon Dube.

I know there’s a lot of investment in Dean, and he’s attempting to turn the corner, but he might be trailing Dube coming into Training Camp.

Naturally, there’s recently added Carbonneau & Adam Jiricek that could factor in. However, I wouldn’t be shocked if both get opportunities at Camp but find their way in the AHL purely for injury-time call-up and regular playing time.

[noted]

Watching the Thunderbirds transformation occur in the Calder Cup Playoffs makes me feel some of those players will make a case to not chase UFA’s. This includes the likes of Stenberg, Lindstein, and even the controversial Dillon Dube.

I know there’s a lot of investment in Dean, and he’s attempting to turn the corner, but he might be trailing Dube coming into Training Camp.

Naturally, there’s recently added Carbonneau & Adam Jiricek that could factor in. However, I wouldn’t be shocked if both get opportunities at Camp but find their way in the AHL purely for injury-time call-up and regular playing time.

Dube doesn’t have a contract with the Blues yet

[Backesdraft]

Agree that there isn't much worth signing out there. With the cap moving up so much, I'm wondering if fewer quality options will hit the market as UFAs the next several years. Could increase the value on assets in trades as the path teams take to improve their teams.

Yeah but what’s the going rate for those top 5 draft picks? Those are the only players anyone is interested in.

[smilinjoefission]

I'd sign Greer and Lauzon, and right a wrong I felt the Blues missed out on when he was available on waivers and that's Eeli Tolvanen. These three will give the Blues a much harder to play against feel. Out with Finley and Torop, and sadly probably Tucker.

[Blues Dave]

I'd much rather keep things inside the house if possible.

[BalotelliMassive]

I would love to add a vet like Tuch but at what price...? This might be his last chance to cash in but I wouldn't want him for more than three years.

[mph6689new]

The UFA group is why I think there are going to be more teams willing to make trades for guys like Kyrou, and pay decent price. Teams have .cap to spend and less options to spend it on. They can absorb high cap it with less dollars due to be paid.

I wonder if it will also lead to an uptick in RFA offersheets. Of course, teamss’ available draft picks to pay compensation will be a factor.

[the miracle]

If Kyrou were a UFA in July, he'd be the #1 UFA hitting the market, commanding 10-12 million per year. And its not even close.

Do with that whatever you will.