The St. Louis Blues did the smart thing by extending qualifying offers to almost all their restricted free agents. However, the gamble might have bit them as they could be stuck with two lumbering pieces.
The St. Louis Blues did what almost all teams do before free agency begins. They gave qualifying offers to almost all of their restricted free agents.
The Blues have since been ticking off the boxes and getting many of those guys signed. Some of the draft picks and minor league guys have not yet put pen to paper, but there is little danger of many walking away.
The flip side is that the gamble of offer sheets might have turned around to bite the Blues. Dmitrij Jaskin and Oskar Sundqvist pulled a surprising move, filing for salary arbitration, thus guaranteeing that they stay with the Blues organization.
Joel Edmundson did the same thing, but that is a good thing. The Blues cannot lose Edmundson to another team now since outside parties cannot send offer sheets while arbitration is going on. So, the Blues have locked themselves in with Edmundson for either a year or two years, unless a further extension is worked out before seeing the judge. That happened with Colton Parayko, so there is little to fear from this on Edmundson’s part. If nothing else, it should be seen as a positive that he went the arbitration route instead of letting deadlines pass and seeking out free agency.
The opposite is true of the other two names. No offense, but there were many secretly hoping that Sundqvist and Jaskin might just slip into the night. There will be no such luck.
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By filing for arbitration, they both guaranteed they will stay with the Blues organization for 2018-19. Now, it just boils down to the terms either the judge comes up with or the team and player decide on before a hearing.
It is a smart play by Sundqvist. That cannot be denied. There was not going to be a market out there for someone who scored one goal and four points with little else to show for his time on the ice.
Sundqvist obviously has talent or he would not have reached the NHL level. That said, at this level his talent is only seen by the coaches and management. Fans have no clue why he is put on the ice other than to justify being included in a trade of a popular player. We would all like to believe teams are above such posturing, but it is hard to see any other reason since he just is not that good.
Sundqvist was not fast, did not possess great pucks skills and was not overly physical. You have to be able to hang your hat on one of those attributes, normally.
Of course, it must be noted that a contract does not guarantee a spot. The Blues could still send Sundqvist down to the minors, but it just feels like it takes a spot away.
It will be interesting to see what happens. St. Louis is deeper on centers now, so he does not have that advantage. They also have quicker players like Nikita Soshnikov and Zach Sanford for the fourth line. It seems hard to find a spot for him. (*editors note: Blues have signed Sundqvist to a one-year deal worth $700,000.)
Jaskin is another matter. It was always likely he would return, but it just feels like a fresh start for both would be beneficial.
Jaskin has skills and a touch of speed when called upon, so he is not devoid of merit. People that read this space regularly will know I have been in favor of ending the Jaskin experiment for some time though.
Jaskin did have a decent 2017-18. He set a career high for assists and fell just short of one for points. They simply are not the numbers of someone Ken Hitchcock glowed about when he first saw him.
Maybe that is the issue. For someone with such experience like Hitchcock to praise him so much and then for nothing to come from it is frustrating.
At this point, if he is fine with a fourth-line role, then so be it. The Blues are deep enough, however, that they had better not push him further up the roster though. Experience is great, but Jaskin’s skills do not outweigh the potential of Robert Thomas or Jordan Kyrou.
I fully admit that I and plenty of other fans are putting a lot of pressure on those kids. I’d still rather see them get more time than Jaskin or Sundqvist.
Next: Blues Filling Out Very Interesting AHL Team
Now that the Blues have created a situation where guys are literally fighting for jobs, maybe it pulls something out of both of those guys.
Personally, it feels like we are stuck with them for another season.