Dmitrij Jaskin, Blues Hope to Be Closing in on Contract
St. Louis Blues second round pick Dmitrij Jaskin has to be one of the best stories coming out of the CHL this season. The strong power forward leads the league in scoring with 81 points in just 43 games. It certainly paid off playing against men in his native Czech Republic as a teenager.
It won’t be long before he joins the long list of recent St. Louis draft picks to land in the NHL.
Sources say getting Jaskin signed to an NHL contract is slightly complicated.
Here’s why….
Even though Jaskin has spent this season with Moncton in the QMJHL, he remains under contract with Slavia Praha in the Czech League. His contract runs through the end of next season which means he can’t sign an NHL deal until he and Slavia Praha reach some type of agreement.
Sources say those talks are ongoing.
They did allow Jaskin to leave this season to play junior in Canada and he isn’t the first player to be in this situation. The problem Jaskin faces is there isn’t a transfer agreement between the NHL and the Czech Republic. The same situation also exits with the KHL in Russia.
This is different than Sweden, Finland, and Slovakia who do have transfer agreements in place. The NHL hasn’t had a transfer agreement with Russia or the Czech since 2004.
There’s a window from the end of the World Championships to mid July when NHL clubs can sign players from Sweden, Finland, and Slovakia. The NHL sets the amount with each federation but wants no part of any transaction involving players from the Czech Republic or Russia without a transfer agreement in place.
Sources say a deal between the Blues and Jaskin is virtually done with the only hurdle being the Czech contract he signed as a teen. He’ll receive a strong deal with St. Louis that puts him at the top of his round.
There’s no rush here as the Blues wouldn’t likely announce any deal until after March 1st, this would allow the contract to begin next season.
But first this wrinkle with Slavia Praha must be ironed out. Both the Czech and the KHL are stubborn to sign transfer agreements as neither country is motivated to cut a deal with little financial benefit.
For example in the Czech Republic they can make more money from selling a player to the KHL than the NHL. If you remember when the Pittsburgh Penguins were trying to sign Evgeni Malkin, his KHL club demanded an outrageous payment in the $25 Million range.
This whole situation is dependent on how hard of ball Slavia Praha wants to play with Jaskin. They have the ability to make things as easy or as difficult as they want. The club is coached by former NHL forward Vladimir Ruzicka.
Like Ty Rattie, another CHL stud currently playing with Portland in the WHL, Jaskin will push for a roster spot with the Blues next season.
Rattie could finish the season with Peoria in the AHL but his Winterhawks team has a chance to go all the way which would have him playing into May.
Scouts this season have raved about Jaskin’s potential as he’s considered a strong player with size. He has good offensive instincts with hands and a shot. He isn’t afraid to use his body either.
Blues Clues!
The Blues landed just past 6:30 this morning following an ordeal with their charter company Swift Aviation. This forced Blues players to check into a hotel near the Vancouver airport where they would wait over 12 hours by the time the team headed back to St. Louis.
The Blues were in a high end hotel and taken care of but with back to back games beginning tonight it created a less than desired scenario.
The team landed around 6:30 a.m. and took the morning off. Morning skates are overrated anyway so it shouldn’t impact their performance tonight. Wednesday in Colorado is the game Blues coaches are concerned about as the team will arrive in Denver well after midnight tonight.
I’m told the repair wasn’t considered major and shouldn’t have taken as long as it did.
The Blues did consider flying back today which (flying on gameday) is frowned upon by the NHL. The risk of another mechanical issue along with the time difference led to the decision to leave late last night. The last thing the Blues needed was to get stuck in Vancouver and unable to make it back in time to play San Jose.
These are the situations when medical and equipment trainers shouldn’t be overlooked. Both Ray Barile and Bert Godin, along with their staff, were at the rink early this morning preparing for the day.
More to come,
Andy Strickland
Strickland.andy@gmail.com
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Allen let in a softie but he made a lot of great saves before and after so I can deal with it.
Oh the merry Christmas had more to do with some troubling noncalls and a couple of calls. Like calling Steen for tripping when he just lost a battle and Couture fell over him because he was trying to use his body to get position. I do not know on what planet that is trip.
Interference on the chip play by the Sharks was constant and not called. After the first four calls some of which both ways were weak or crap we then watched hardly any calls where there were obvious calls to be made.
The reason the Blues lost ends up being their inability to score regularly five on five and when they fail to score on the power play it makes them vulnerable.
I can't help feeling worried about them tomorrow.
On the flip side, the Blues have given up 36 of their 50 goals against at even strength. The worst team in the conference, the Blue Jackets, have given up 51.
Obviously there's been goaltending issues but this team needs a serious upgrade to its defense if they're going to make any kind of run at the cup. Teams are scoring right in front of their net WAY too easily. Rarely do you see the opposition's forwards take half the punishment from the Blues D that Backes, Oshie, and Berglund end up taking regularly when they go to the front of the other teams net. flag this comment
Of course the goals against I think is skewed a bit because of Elliott's poor performance but that knocks it down at most five goals and probably not that many.
That second goal was a softie but he made so many other incredible saves last night it's hard to fault him completely. If everyone else was playing tired then surely it affected him as well.
I agree it is our defense that is a problem and it begins on the left side. flag this comment
I agree, I'd like to see them score a little more regularly 5 on 5 but if they can tighten up defensively, the PK would improve as well. If they can do that, they'll be able to kill teams with that power play. flag this comment
I have watched him play two games this year for his junior team and at the WJC and he was a beast! An absolute beast with good vision and some impressive hands. That kid could turn out to be one hell of a pick. The only thing is to see him show the same strength at a higher level.
Andy this article would have been the perfect time to talk about another Blues draft pick who happens to be Jaskin's linemate--Villeux. That kid is also strong and shows strong two way play. He's a winner as well. I see both of these guys playing for the Blues in the future. Of course at some point the Blues will need to get a young centerman. I think Oshie should be the first line center.
Can the Blues get any left side Dmen that don't put big meatballs aka HUGE give aways in their own zone? I hold out the most hope for Cole. If only the Blues had a legit left side Dman.
Faceoffs were horrendous last night.
Blues need a big, skilled, left hand d shot. Honestly, I don't care if he plays power play. Just be able to make reads, passes, and be physical. That's it. I know, it's asking a lot. Buffalo will be a seller. Calgary will be a seller. Washington will be a seller. Philly loves to make a splash. Maybe Columbus would be interested in making a deal... flag this comment
With Rattie, Jaskin, et al on the way, now is the time to move Perron.
I'm not seeing that same fear this year. He's too much of a game changer.
I think the big question stepping back is how do you afford to fill the holes on the left side while keeping Berglund, Shattenkirk, Stewart and Petro when ownership started early and often letting us know they didn't have money to spend to the cap?
I think Allen might just the goaltender we were lacking. He's still got a lot of growing to do before he can be that number one. But if he were ready by the end of Halak's contract that could depending on how much he costs afford some contract relief temporarily.
It might be the one error I believe Armstrong made--not locking Petro up to a back loaded deal while he had the chance. flag this comment
With all the prospects the Blues have knocking on the door, I'd try to package Rattie to bring in some help on D.
I'd say Mcdonald is expendable too. He's entering the downward slope of his career so if you can get some value, now's the time. flag this comment
It has been tried a number of times the last two seasons and he has some of his most ineffective games.
If only Backes and Perron could score more goals this season.
Backes seems to have lost all scoring ability whatsoever. I hope he scores 3 tonight do not get me wrong.
Let's not forget Sobotka is still young and has shown the ability to produce consistently at other levels. Many times he has been asked to contribute in other ways. So there is the chance something could click for him giving he has a plus shot, maybe average or below getting it off and has tremendous strength on his skates and the puck. So he can still evolve.
RIght now he has found a great spot on the third line. In the past he was brought up onto the first or second line because of injuries. So in that perspective many times there was less talent on those lines at those times. The other players that he would be teamed with have also evolved so there are differences in the way we can view his past stints.
I thought before that making a big line with Berglund, as far as size could create some offense and though he is not big he plays big and that is great. Before the line had trouble sometimes transitioning from the cycle to offense other than the points. Sobotka seems to be able to transition off of the cycle to the net. That will open the points up further as well as getting plays towards the net for both Berglund and Stewart. That will generate a lot of offense five on five.
I hope the Blues are able to find their legs tonight. It was obvious as the game wore on that they just didn't have their legs and they started losing races to a team that mostly slow. flag this comment
I have learned that the hard and proven way myself.
Please See - Aaron Palushja , Brett Sonne (who let the WHL) Lars Eller etc etc
Watching Jaskins he thinks the game well, has size and strength on the puck and good hands. This translates well to the NHL. But I don't know know how immediate his ability will translate to the NHL. Perron played one season of junior as an over ager and was successful. They said it would be three years before he would be NHL ready and said the same of the number one over all pick Patrick Kane. I think you have to see if the player has drive, heart and passion to go along with ability. Often times I think the player lacks the ehart and drive to work off the ice to compete on it. Skating is really good way to judge success at the NHL. Before Skinner had the kind of success in his last junior season that opened a lot of eyes you could tell he could play at the NHL level despite not being as strong or as big as you would like a player of his ilk to be coming into the NHL. The reason was his strength on his skates compensated for that aspect. He was a figure skater as well as a hockey player.
Other things that can affect young players is confidence and injuries. This is what you watch right now with Tarasenko, Schwartz and Allen. They all have the skill and ability to think the game at the NHL level. They are used to dominating the game at the levels they played at. So when suddenly aspects of their games are exposed at the highest level and they face challenges learning the speed and strength they are getting body blows to their confidence. How they cope with that will affect their confidence. That's why people always question do you bring up a guy like Schwartz who would play twenty minutes or so at other levels or do you play him far less as a way to get him used to that higher level and bring him along slowly. Montreal likes to bring young players up and play them on lower lines and slowly allow them to earn their way to more ice time. That is what they did with Eller. Palushaj failed in a fourth line role. The belief is that these kids are talented enough offensively but they need to learn the responsibility at both sides.
That's of course all my opinion. At the same time during the rebuild I looked into more and more because of the exciting young crop of players we had. Team building changed with the cap as well.
To me I find it all immensely fascinating. There's still no hard fast way to see if a player will make it. There are the curve balls like I said earlier of injuries, heart, desire, discipline and confidence. Some players have ridden their talent to jobs in the NHL while being mediocre players. Some players that don't have the it talent have highly successful NHL careers because they apply their desire to hard work. Why is Erik Johnson with that immense talent not as successful as Petro or Shattenkirk? I think most would say it has been a combination of injuries slowing his development and confidence. I have no idea how hard he works off of the ice. I do not recall him scoring high on strength tests.
Crosby and Perron are examples of talent, desire and work ethic. flag this comment
Coulda sworn that's what the Blues did. Additionally, teams trade draft picks all the time.
I just don't understand your original assertion. Please explain more so that I can understand where you're coming from. flag this comment
In Buffalo they have three that are set to be UFAs. I would rank them Regher, Pardy, Leopold.
But could they have interest in moving Erhoff and would the Blues take him for eight more years at $4million and maybe even more in pay yet for a few years?
More reasonably priced and most interesting to me is Sekera. He has a few more years is decently priced and has upside. I think Ruff wasn't managing his players wisely and thankfully for Buffalo fans he has been axed three years too late.
They also have Sulzer who plays the left side.
It looks like they only have three that are right handed and one is a rookie. They could have interest maybe in some of our right handed ones down low or other prospects.
So I can't figure out what Olver was even doing going into the area for the hit. The entire time he was moving to Tarasenko, Tarasenko was facing away. When he turns without the puck he blind slides him. This is something the NHL has asked not to happen.
Despite all of that he hit him in the face a part of the freaking head. That is what???????????????????????? A head shot. There was blood that magically appeared.
Backes gets called for a major, Cole and Stewart in the last year. Maybe one of those was a major. But that wasn't a major????
Who the freak is Olver??? Nobody and nothing. When he was told to face up he pussed out.
Of course the Blues lose this game. What in the garage league was the scheduler thinking that in February you should send a team from Vancouver home and then back to Colorado?????????
The thing that sucks the most is I cannot beat the shit out of one of those COlorado players. I would have beat the ever living crap out of the guy talking smack and Olver(not on skates though).
The Blues out played COlorado and Varlamov played great.
Again they lack the killer's edge. Kill your enemy when they are down and don't look back.
I know the Blues were playing for the points and didn't want to lose one and they play Colorado again but they should go after Duschene the next time they play them. Pick one of their top players and take them down. Head hunt. Have a fourth liner head hunt. It's not like the league will do much to you no matter if you paralyze a guy you won't get kicked out of the league. Hell you can take out a couple of stars and nothing much. You can keep making money while the other person ceases that ability and probably has a hard time with life. I still have bad days from a concussion I had seven and a half years ago.
NHL is a joke.
Man the avs TRIED to give them that game. They've got to be the worst looking team I've seen this season and the Blues just couldn't score on them. I know they had to be jet lagged but damn how many chances did they miss out on?
D'agastini at least played a pretty good game. He's the reason I'd be willing to trade a guy like Perron. You can easily slide him on the third line and get some production. I like Perron but it seems like when he gets set up on the half boards, there's too much waiting around for an open man. I'd rather see him spend some time hunting out some good shots instead of using his shot mostly as a last resort. flag this comment
4 clowns cannot even decide a blatant head shot blindside hit on a rookie.
Disgusting
Oshie's stick is slashed right out of his hands , the night before it was a penalty agains't Perron, did something change ?
It is the officiating that has increased the injuries in the NHL - Truth
Blatant Head shot you see him raise his arm to Tarasenko's head plain as day.
Blues had better get some explanation about this from the league after the Backes/Detroit Fiasco.
Funny watching Pittsburgh earlier almost every call - non call goes their way.