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How Much Is Too Much For Blues’ Alex Pietrangelo?

What might the St. Louis Blues be looking at when it comes to Alex Pietrangelo’s new deal and who might they be competing with?

Tom Timmerman of the St. Louis Dispatch took a look at potential negotiations between the St. Louis Blues and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. As part of his recent mailbag article, a reader asked whether or not Blues general manager Doug Armstrong would or should pay between $8.5 million to $9 million to retain the team captain. If so, the Blues would likely need to come in around that number and for a minimum of six years if they believe he’ll re-sign.

That’s assuming few other teams come at Pietrangelo with a monster number.

There are two factors to consider here.

First, how much room do the Blues have and who has to go if Pietrangelo stays? Alex Steen seems to be at the top of that list. The forward has another season left after this one but the team may try to move him if there’s a taker.

Second, what will the salary cap do?

Status Quo vs. Higher NHL Cap

The Blues are one of a few teams where a massive jump in the salary cap for the NHL is not helpful. If this current pause becomes a suspension or cancellation of the season, the NHL might be forced to rethink their cap numbers for 2020-21. If things stay around $81.5 million, there will be far less teams lining up to pitch the stud d-man.

A lower cap means the Blues won’t have as many competing bids for Pietrangelo, Timmerman notes:

One interesting thing will be what the market is for Pietrangelo. How many teams will be in the bidding for him? Vegas? Tampa Bay? That will be a factor in driving his price tag. 

source – ‘Tom Timmermann: Read his complete Q-&-A from this week’s Blues chat’ St. Louis Post-Dispatch – 03/12/2020

At the end of the day, Pietrangelo is set to be one of the biggest free agent tickets on the market this free agency period, regardless of how long or short that period is. Can the Blues afford to pay whatever price is out there on the market to retain him? Or, do they need to consider other options?

What would those options be? Well, they’d start with Tyson Barrie, Justin Schultz, and Sami Vatanen. None of those names would make a Blues fan giddy with excitement.  

Related: NHL Focused On An 82-Game Season For Next Year

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