St. Louis Blues: As Usual, Free Agent Money Dried Up

The St. Louis Blues have been busier this offseason than many in the past. As has always been the case though, the money dried up before fans were ready for it to be done.

The St. Louis Blues cannot be accused of resting on their laurels this offseason. They made some very bold moves that have changed the face of the team.

As fans though, we are never completely satisfied. In this 24/7, everything available at a moment’s notice society we live in, we want it all and we want it now.

So, it should come as no surprise that Blues fans are in for a disappointment. We can keep hoping and speculating about the names that are left in free agency. The truth of the matter is the Blues are likely done.

Again, for once you simply cannot say Doug Armstrong did nothing. He unloaded the unwieldy Jori Lehtera contract and brought in a talented forward in Brayden Schenn.

While the fanbase is still split on the departure of Ryan Reaves, there is little doubt the ceiling is much higher now. Chris Thorburn is not the greatest of replacements, but the potential of Klim Kostin is high enough to more than justify the deal.

Unfortunately, the deals just whetted Blues fans appetites. As a group that yearns for that elusive Stanley Cup, we want more and are too involved to see things for how they truly are.

In his weekly chat, Jeremy Rutherford pointed out the Blues are likely done in free agency and he’s as likely as any to know that are not directly part of the organization. The money just is not there like we had hoped.

The Blues cleared up some space with the departures of Lehtera and Reaves. However, some heavy contracts are still preventing further moves.

Rutherford said the Blues have around $8.6 million in cap space. CapFriendly says the Blues have about $7.6 million.

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The bottom line is Coloton Parayko is getting the lion share of that. Rutherford and others have said that Armstrong wants to keep the Blues below the cap to give them freedom in bringing guys up and down from their system.

Even if the $8.6 million is correct, there just won’t be much left over. Let’s say Parayko gets a long term deal at $6 million.

It will be hard to find a free agent that can score more than a handful of goals willing to take $2 million or less. That would be the number you’d have to keep them under to give yourself some roster flexibility.

In terms of purely looking at this roster, I’m actually fine being done in free agency. Plenty of fans, including myself, are eager to see what this current group of prospects can do when given a real shot. If you keep bringing in more guys, you have less spots for them to earn.

From the overall sense, it is just tiresome to constantly be up against the cap and not feel like you have the best team you could. The Blues have a team that can compete with anyone, but they don’t feel like a cup contender just yet.

You can argue if they are one piece away or it would take more until you are blue in the face. The bottom line is they’re stuck as is until they can get some of the money freed up.

Paul Stastny‘s deal ends after this season, so that is $2 million to $7 million off the books, depending on if they could re-sign him to a cheaper contract. However, the Blues will have to pay Robby Fabbri soon, so that takes a chunk out of that number as well.

You have to reward your players and most champions were made through the draft, not free agency. It’s just a sour feeling always thinking you can’t add that final piece.

So, for now, we continue to wiggle around and flirt with the cap. Hopefully everyone lives up to expectations because there likely is not any more outside help coming.

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