Parise Still Undecided
Zach Parise still isn't ready to make decision on where he'll sign. In the meantime the rest of the free agent market appears to be jammed up.
Several teams remain interested including the Chicago Blackhawks who employ fellow Shattuck St. Mary's alum Jonathan Toews. Sources say the Blackhawks have turned to some current players to help recruit the NHL star. The New jersey Devils are right there as well.
Chicago has also expressed interest in D-man Ryan suter
Carle quiet...
Sources close to Matt Carle tell me things remain very quiet as he won't sign before fellow free agent Ryan Suter. Word is Carle would like to sign in Colorado where he starred for the University of Denver. His brother was on the DU coaching staff as a student coach before recently taking an assistant job with Green Bay in the USHL.
Salvador...
Bryce Salvador heard from 10 teams yesterday and remains undecided where he'll sign.
Woywitka returns...
The Blues have brought back Jeff Woywitka on a 1 yr, 2-way deal worth $700,000/$105,000. he spent last season with the New York Rangers.
Langenbrunner mulling Options...
Jamie Langenbrunner has an offer from the Blues but doesn't appear to be in any rush to sign. He has spoken to a few other teams as well.
Filip Kuba...
The Blues showed interest in Kuba who signed a two year deal worth $8 mill with Florida. He owns a home in the Miami area and was looking to return to the team that originally drafted him.
Taylor Chorney...
The Blues are excited to have Chorney back as they weren't happy to see Edmonton pluck him back off of waivers last season. He'll compete with Wotwika and Ian Cole for the final spot on the Blues defense. He and Woywitka will need waivers to be sent down assuming they don't make the team out of camp. This is assuming the team doesn't make a trade between now and the start of camp.
Paul Martin?
Add Pittsburgh's Paul Martin's name to the list of possible trade targets on defense.
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More to come,
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a game,or listen to Dan Kelly thur the years and yes
there have been down times,however i feel we finally are closer than ever,it might not be next year,or the year after that,but we are close,I just can't wait for the day
that we have that crazy parade downtown with the cup.
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(And please dont post another response with "I have been following the Blues my whole life" we get that.)
There have been others as well. Get this...not a lot of teams have actually signed a free agent for many years and benefited from the cost unless they made a trade. flag this comment
But you can believe a politician's family. Its not like the Danforths haven't owned this team before or anything. I mean you merely look at some of these partners' business history and you know there is not one reason to trust them. They are not your friends. They didn't buy the team out of civic responsibility. I can understand they may not be a quite a cap team but they didn't spend near it last season and making it two rounds was box office gold for them. flag this comment
But let's be real neither is a top flight player. 69 points for a forward and he's going to be paid serious money. If he's smart he goes to a team that has talent and pays him.
But the teams that end up with these guys have a two year window before those contracts start to feel pretty heavy.
The prices being tossed about is the pay of two good young players. FOr instance would you want one Parise or two Backes on your team? I'm for the latter. Parise has an injury history, getting older and is looking to cash in.
Suter is looking to win and balance that with cashing in. He was thinking Detroit but it seems everyone is jumping that ship and the stars of that team are getting a bit rusty and has anyone seen Detroit lately????? It looks worst than Iraq! Seriously I would be more afraid to go into Detroit than Baghdad.
1) we all think that he'd be more inclined to possibly sign here if the Blues re-signed Langenbrunner. However, while Langs might provide some good queues for Parise, Langs has like another 2 years left in him before he hangs them up....Parise is looking for 10 years. Not sure if it would peak Parise's interest want to play in STL if Langs isn't around...but who knows.
2) all of this is null and void anyways as it's being widely speculated that Parise has a short list of team's he's most willing to go to at this point. {I doubt the Blues were even a consideration}
3) ...probably the most damning thing as to why the Blues wouldn't get him (even if they were interested) is that he wants a $12M signing bonus at the point that he signs on thte dotted line and then an additional $12M bonus this time next year. With the Blues financial situation, that's never gonna happen in a million years. flag this comment
My predictions for where Parise and Suter end up:
Parise - 65% (New Jersey) / 25% (Pittsburgh) / 10% (Minnesota)
Suter - 80% (Detroit) / 10% (Chicago) / 8% (Minnesota) / 2% (Nashville)
If you want to get excited about signing a "big name" UFA or getting someone around the trade deadline, you should switch your rooting talents to Philly, Pitt, Wash, Bos, Tor, Det, LA, etc etc. I'm content being a Blues fan! I like "underdogs" who can make the playoffs and wreak havoc and not feel as much pressure as any of the teams I mentioned above.
Look, winning a Stanley Cup requires skill AND luck. If Grant Fuhr doesn't get knocked out of the playoffs by the Leafs, there's a good chance that they never lose to the Wings, etc. This team will win a Cup. I will be alive to see it. I'm nearly 40 years old.
you are right winning a cup is skill combined with luck. we are close with this team. a couple of players learning to play harder and some more maturing and we could go real far.
i will never say we will win the cup just because its pointless. it's not up to me and my predictions. it's up to the players to learn from mistakes and get better.
HAPPY 4TH EVERYONE
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