St. Louis Blues: 5 Reasons Fans Oversimplify Alex Pietrangelo Situation

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ST LOUIS, MO – OCTOBER 02: Pietrangelo #27 of the St. Louis Blues shows off the Stanley Cup prior to playing against the Washington Capitals at Enterprise Center on October 2, 2019 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

The St. Louis Blues upset some fans with their recent action. Fans tend to not see the entire picture, however.

The St. Louis Blues, according to multiple sources, recently told Alex Pietrangelo to see what his options are in free agency. They have not ruled out continually pursuing a contract extension, nor has Pietrangelo ruled out a return.

What this does mean is the Blues odds to keep their captain definitely went down. They’re not zero, nor are they single digits, but something that was a high probability suddenly became more 50/50.

Of course, fans are going to be upset. Those that want Pietrangelo to stay see this as a monumental mistake.

The Blues are essentially playing Russian roulette. It’s dangerous, but we have to trust Doug Armstrong at this point.

Would most of us rather this have been done already or get done before free agency? Absolutely yes, but it’s not as simple as many want to make out.

Regardless of which side they support, the team or the player, fans tend to oversimplify things. It’s much more complex.

ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 11: Alex Pietrangelo #27 of the St. Louis Blues is congratulated at the bench after scoring a goal during the first period of a game against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on March 11, 2020 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

Blues must be responsible

One of the big things you see across social media is that the Blues should just pay Pietrangelo. These comments are made from the heart, with no consideration as to how much Pietrangelo might be asking for or what it might do to the team.

The problem with this shortsightedness is it doesn’t take the future into consideration at all. The only consideration is the hear and now.

This particular group of fans doesn’t care that the Blues don’t even have the money to pay Pietrangelo whatever he wants. They think making a trade or buying out a contract is simple with no repercussions.

St. Louis cannot just deal away a bunch of players to afford one. Pietrangelo is one of their better players, but you do still need to have a team to win a championship. The Blues won based on having four lines they could confidently throw out there. Maybe they have the prospects to fill those holes and maybe not, but it’s a risk.

Speaking of risks and prospects, if you give a huge deal to Pietrangelo now, you might not have the money to give younger players raises later. The Blues are scheduled to have restricted free agents in the 2021 offseason, plus Jordan Binnington being a free agent. Colton Parayko is a free agent in 2022 and will likely want more than the $5.5 million he is getting now.

There are not a lot of older players ready to come off the books yet. If you put yourself jammed up against the cap right now, you will have just as little room when those deals come up.

You can, and former NHL players have, made the case that Pietrangelo is better than those players are or will be. Still, you cannot live off prospects forever. Eventually you need to keep guys that have proven themselves in the NHL and you hope that Robert Thomas and Parayko will be those types of players by then or sooner.

Blues don’t have “Pietrangelo money”

Another oversimplification that makes my head spin is the statement that the Blues can spend Pietrangelo’s money better elsewhere. You can argue if there are better ways to spend money, but the problem is they don’t have Pietrangelo money. If they did, he would already be signed.

As of October 1, the Blues have $5.15 million in cap space. That is the only money they have to spend on either Pietrangelo or anybody else.

There is this odd perception that if Pietrangelo leaves, the Blues will suddenly have an extra $6.5 million to spend. Until Pietrangelo re-signs, he should be considered a free agent at this moment, even though it’s not official until October 9.

That means, his money is already off the books as far as what the team has available.

On the same token, they don’t have Jay Bouwmeester money or Vince Dunn money. They have just over $5 million in cap space no matter how you slice it.

There is no more money coming off the books unless the Blues make another trade. To afford Pietrangelo or anyone else that costs more than $5 million per season, they have to make another trade.

Rumored teams in the same boat

Circling away from the Blues predicament for a moment, it has been rather interesting to see all the team names rattled off by fans as to who will sign Pietrangelo. There will no doubt be teams interested, but very few are any better off than St. Louis is.

Let’s forget the fact that the Blues have the ability to offer an extra year on the contract. If they cannot afford Pietrangelo, the extra year might be of little incentive anyway.

However, the teams mentioned most are in the same boat as the Blues. The biggest names popping up are the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Vegas Golden Knights.

Toronto barely has an extra $1 million in space compared to the Blues. They only have 18 players under NHL contracts compared to the Blues 22.

Pietrangelo has to accept realities

There is absolutely no reason that any fan should pity Alex Pietrangelo. No matter who he signs with or how long he plays, he will end up in a situation where one year’s salary is more money that most of us will earn in a lifetime.

That said, even I can feel a little bad for him. Based on the complete game that he plays, plus being right handed, he would have had a gigantic payday under normal circumstances.

Fully admitting bias, I feel like he is a better overall player than Roman Josi. So, there is a strong argument to be made he should be paid more than Josi and Josi just signed a deal worth over $9 million.

Therefore, $9.5 would have been quite fair for the Blues captain. Under normal circumstances, $9.5 might have been a starting point with other teams pushing their deals closer or over $10 million.

This is not a normal circumstance. This is not a normal offseason.

To be frank, the NHLPA was probably quite lucky the league decided to keep the salary cap at $81.5 million. If they lowered it, which was rumored, there would be a lot of guys with gas still left in the tank that would be out of jobs.

According to reports from Andy Strickland, Jeremy Rutherford and even national names, Pietrangelo came to the Blues with a starting off of $9.5 million. Again, in a normal year, the Blues might have jumped on that as a deal to keep him under the eight-figure mark.

This is not normal and we may not get back to “normal” for a long time. While nobody knows for sure, most analysts are saying the cap might not go up for three to four years and some say longer.

That’s a long time to hope you can fit $9.5 million and give other players raises under your cap. It’s just not realistic.

We can say that is just a starting number and they would meet in the middle, but it’s also just not realistic in today’s situation.

That is not to say Pietrangelo should leave money on the table if he feels someone else is willing to pay. However, he has to realize the Blues are not the only ones in this situation.

Trying to build up a bidding war won’t be as successful as it might in years past. Right now, barring moves and unforeseen circumstances, there are two options for Petro.

The captain can chase money, pure and simple, but go to a team that is not a contender and might not be a contender for years. The second option, whether it is with St. Louis or someone else, is to sign with a winner for less money because the money just isn’t there the way he and his agent thought it would be.

As of late-September, half the NHL had $10 million or less in cap space. 20 teams have $15 million or less in cap space.

The vast majority of those teams have several free agents, restricted or unrestricted, to sign if they want. Pietrangelo might be a good (bordering on great) player, but teams are not going to be lining up to spend the vast majority of their remaining space on one player if they have three to five slots to fill.

Both sides need to be less demanding

As fans we like to pick one side or the other and feel the opposite side is unjustified. Really, we do that as humans.

Just look at anything from sports to politics to clothing or video games. We pick our side and the other is the enemy.

The truth in this matter is that both sides are being somewhat stubborn about things that most don’t understand.

For example, the Blues last reported offer was an AAV (average annual value) of $7.7 million. If we believe the reports, the Blues told Pietrangelo he has to agree to the AAV before they will even discuss any of the more detailed parameters of the contract.

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That sounds fine to those of us working hourly wages, but even if you’re making millions, you don’t know what you’re signing up for.

Conversely, Pietrangelo is apparently asking for things that Doug Armstrong has never given out. One such thing is a no movement clause.

The Blues have given out several no trade clauses under Armstrong, but the differences are subtle. Boiled down to its simplest form, a no movement clause gives a player all the power.

In a no trade clause, often a list of acceptable teams or unacceptable teams is provided and the team still has the freedom to waive a player or send them to the minors. In a no movement clause, you lose all freedom.

So, for example, if Petro got a no movement and started spiraling downward at age 34, the Blues are stuck. They cannot attempt to put him through waivers, send him to the minors or attempt to trade him without his permission. If you reach that stage, you’re unlikely to get permission because the player will know they are devalued and want to hang on to their contract.

Armstrong has never given one of those out and I see no reason to now. No trade clauses are tricky enough, but to lose all your freedom in the possibility that a player is no longer effective is not smart.

Additionally, Pietrangelo actually wants a bounus-heavy contracts. Not long ago, I wrote about how this could benefit the Blues.

Perhaps this is the area that the Blues need to give a little. However, that is up to Tom Stillman more than Armstrong.

The benefit of having bonuses built in is that it keeps the AAV down, while giving the player a higher total, usually at the start of the contract while they are at their most productive. The drawback is it becomes much more cost prohibitive to buy anyone out.

On top of the penalties you would pay in a buyout situation, bonuses are guaranteed for that year. For example, a signing bonus is paid out on July 1 (the normal beginning of a new NHL year).

So, if you’ve paid out $5 million of an AAV of $6.5, you’re not saving much with a buyout since you technically already paid. Often, this is used as a deterrent for buyouts. While I used the Duncan Keith example as a positive, his bonus-heavy contract may also be a reason the team has not bought him out.

In the end, this just is not a simple equation. The Blues cannot just spend crazily with no thought to the future. We can talk about championship windows closing, but you may not open another one for decades if you make the wrong deal.

Conversely, the Blues are not trying to be cheap. If the salary cap had gone up as predicted, there should be little doubt that the contract would have been finished long before now. However, we are living in different times.

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We shouldn’t put our blind faith 100% behind one side or the other. Each has justifications for how they are acting and what they want.

Pietrangelo is not a player the Blues would wither away and die without, but he is also someone who should retire with this team if afforded the chance. Pietrangelo is not a player the Blues should break the bank for, but he has earned a big contract and the Blues have rewarded lesser players with more than they should earn in the past. Hopefully they find a way to meet in the middle.

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