St. Louis Blues Rolling The Dice On Magnus Paajarvi

The St. Louis Blues signed Magnus Paajarvi to a one-year contract, completing one of their first questionable signings of the summer.

The St. Louis Blues brought back much maligned winger Magnus Paajarvi for at least one more season. The Blues announced the signing after it had been originally announced by the team beat writer, Jeremy Rutherford.

While there have been moves made by the team in previous weeks that were much more upsetting to fans, this one is honestly the first time I have questioned the team.  Paajarvi has been a relative disappointment and bringing him back for another season seems to take away a potential spot from some of the younger talent.

The Blues had hoped to get more out of Paajarvi to this point.  He was one of the key pieces coming in return when the Blues originally traded David Perron back in the summer of 2013.

Instead of proving to be a valued member of the team, he has regressed.  His career high remains 15 goals with Edmonton back in his rookie season of 2010-11.

His high point with the Blues is only six goals and 12 points in 55 games during the 2013-14 season.  He only had one point in 10 NHL games the following season and scored nine points in 2015-16 during 48 games.

Paajarvi’s problem has been a lack of playing time and also a lack of drive.  He’s got the tools.

He’s got the body at 6’3 and over 200 lbs.  He’s got the speed, as he is one of the quicker players in the squad.

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However, he has not translated speed into an ability to blow by opponents.  He has not built up an ability to stick handle through tough situations instead of getting into trouble.  He hasn’t developed the kind of vision you would think a player giving his potential should have.

The price on the deal isn’t that big of an issue.  $700,000 for one season doesn’t take a ton of money away, so it would not affect the negotiations with Jaden Schwartz.

On the flip side, the one-way portion of the deal is a bit more worrying.  Even if the Blues do not use Paajarvi, he is taking up a spot on the NHL team unless they are able to clear him through waivers.

$700K isn’t much money, but when you need the option to bring up players from the AHL and many of their contracts have differing amounts for playing in the NHL vs. the minors, then that amount of money could be the difference in being able to bring them up or not.

The signing of Paajarvi isn’t a big knock on this team.  It isn’t going to help or hinder their chances of going far in the playoffs.  It’s just an odd choice though.

For all the smart moves the Blues have made, this doesn’t seem one of them.  They continue to hope for the best with this kid with no evidence they are ever going to get it out of him.

If it was a two-way deal it would be a different matter, but a one-way contract seems like just putting the handcuffs in that initial lock position.  The cuffs are still loose enough to escape, but it is still another hurdle to overcome.

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Maybe Paajarvi will find his game.  Maybe getting a little more playing time might turn things around?  It seems unlikely, but at least the Blues have an additional body with NHL experience just in case they have the terrible injury woes they experienced in 2015-16.