Blues

[BluesGM]

St. Louis Blues :
D.Kulikov, max years TO
B.Schenn, max years TO
B.Sonne, 1 year TO Two-way
J.McClement, Arbitration
D.Moore, Arbitration
D.Hamhuis, Arbitration
E.Moreau, Arbitration
C.Kunitz, Arbitration
J.McKee, Arbitration
W. Mitchell, PO

Farm team :
P.McRae, max years TO Two-way
A.Peluso, max years TO Two-way
J.Lehtera, max years TO Two-way
A.Hellstrom, 4 years TO Two-way
N.Drazenov, 4 years TO Two-way

[Virtual Jarmo]

Kulikov: 6.75M (6.55 base + 200k SK)
Schenn: 4.2M (4 base + 200k FA)
Sonne: 1.9M (1.75 base + 350k def spec - 200k SH, PL)

McRae: 1,093,750 (25% inc)
Peluso: 729,166 (25% inc)
Lehtera: in-game
Hellstrom: in-game
Drazenov: 937,500 (25% inc)

[Virtual Jarmo]

Good with those numbers, Martin? Should I offer those contracts?

[BluesGM]

yes, agreed - but offer Schenn and Sonne a 1-year contract only.

[Virtual Jarmo]

Will do.

I have to get your arbitration PMs out to you. That'll happen very soon.

[Virtual Jarmo]

Awards have been determined in the Jay McKee, Jay McClement, Chris Kunitz, and Dominic Moore arbitrations.

McKee
Terms: 2 yrs + TO
GM proposal: 1.5M per; comps: McLaren
Agent proposal: 1.5M per; comps: Scuderi, Warrener, Visnevski

Not much debate here. Both parties agree to 1.5M per for McKee.

McClement
Terms: 1 yr + TO
GM proposal: 1.2M; comp: Slater
Agent proposal: 1.1M; comp: Lewis, Winchester, Brodziak, Campbell, Eaves

No two-way was specified in this deal, which McClement and his reps demanded as part of the negotiations. The GM's number actually came in above what the agents were looking for, so it'll be 1.2M for McClement.

Kunitz
Terms: 1 yr + TO
GM proposal: 3M; comps: Cleary
Agent proposal: 4M; comps: Franzen, Malone

Kunitz struggled after going to the Blues, however, that was more of an ownership problem than anything else. Kunitz was not used to his maximum effectiveness and his performance suffered.

He's really bounced around in EHEC, potentially as an overpaid player with no attributes that really stand out. Pittsburgh maximized his value in the first year of EHEC when he had a 30/30 season. He had a decent season with Tampa and still managed 52 points last season between LA and St. Louis. In some respects, Kunitz is a similar player to Dustin Penner, who received a 250k decrease in salary, even though he is coming off one of his best professional seasons. Kunitz, who struggled with the Blues, has very similar attributes to Penner, except for a CON in the mid-70s. One thing that works against Kunitz is that he can play C along with LW, but his faceoff attribute is too poor to play him there.

With a short-term deal and a chance to have a bounceback season, ruling in between the proposed numbers and giving Kunitz a slight decrease seems like a fair option.

I award Kunitz $3,500,000 for the 2012-13 season with an option for a second year.

Moore
Terms: 1 yr + TO
GM proposal: 1M; comps: Reasoner
Agent proposal: 1M; comps: Ward, Pisani, Kelly, LaRose

Both parties agree to the $1,000,000 salary and so do I.


Martin, you can accept/reject all of these awards.

[Virtual Jarmo]

Will act on STL's behalf and accept and enter all of these contracts.

[GoJetsGo]

32+ Subject to Arbitration
Robyn Regehr
Willie Mitchell
Ethan Moreau

Team options on Kunitz, Moore.

St. Louis can keep two of three above.

28-31 Arbitration
Dan Hamhuis

Option on Kari Lehtonen.

Formula

Clutterbuck
66.5 average, $950,000 current, 100% increase, under 70 73+ defense, = $1.9M new base
+250k (80 con) +350k (specialist) -300k (SH, PL, ST) = Total salary: $2,200,000

Eller
72 average, $1,659,375 current, 75% increase, = $2.9M new base
+100k FA, -200k (CH, HI) = Total salary: $2,800,000

Options on Sonne, Schenn, and McFarland.

[Commish Bub(NYR)]

Clutterbuck and Eller are the only ones who don't have options to be picked up, so don't worry about formula contracts for the others.

I'm sending out agent emails for the Lehtonen and Hamhuis arbitrations tonight.

As for the 32+ players, I'd recommend using the TO on Kunitz, and maybe Moore, sending Regehr to arbitration, and letting the others walk.

[Virtual Jarmo]

I'm not worried about arbitration for these guys. I'll just give them 1 year deals at current salary.

[Virtual Jarmo]

Offered Regehr and Moreau smaller salaries with POs. I just don't want to have to patchwork that roster like I had to do with VAN last offseason.

Offered some minor league scrubs contracts.

[Virtual Jarmo]

Signed Hartman to see if he'll boost for the orphaned Blues.