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

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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.

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Vegas actually has less cap space than the Blues, as of October 1. They also only have 18 players under contract.

None of that is to say they would not find ways to make space for Pietrangelo. Maybe they make the big (perhaps foolish) deal to trade away key pieces for the rare commodity of a top pairing, right handed defensemen.

However, the fact they might make those moves does not automatically put them in any better spot than the Blues. In fact, they are on level ground if anything.

The Blues have the fact that Pietrangelo’s family is now from St. Louis going for them. They also have the fact that he’s never known another team and wants to stay here.

It’s not completely apples to apples, but we saw that Albert Pujols leaving for money did not really work out. Sure, it padded his expense account, but Angels fans never looked at him the same way Cardinals fans would have.

The same might be true of Vegas fans and would definitely be true of Toronto fans. Even as a hometown guy, Maple Leaf fans would eat him alive as soon as the deal was signed and they then failed to get a Cup.

We don’t even really know if the Maple Leafs are interested. They should be, based on talent alone, but anyone that is from anywhere near Toronto is automatically being pursued by Toronto every offseason.

Vegas is apparently attractive because Nevada has no income tax. At least that makes some sense.

In actuality, we should be more worried about a team like Colorado. They have space and would love to poach the Blues top defender. However, those in the Mile High City don’t seem to optimistic their team will even make a run.

None of this is to say Vegas or Toronto cannot find a way. Teams determined to be stupid with their finances have always found a way.

However, there are far too many statements about this team or that team swooping in with no consideration for what their own salary cap issues are.

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