On October 12, 2020, defenseman Alex Pietrangelo signed a seven-year deal price an annual common wage (AAV) of $8.8 million with the Vegas Golden Knights after leaving the St.Louis Blues, the place he performed 12 seasons and received a Stanley Cup in 2018-19. This signing would take away a vital defensive chief from the Blues and go away them with few defensive choices to take his place.
Right here’s a take a look at what this signing did for the Blues and Golden Knights afterward and the place it led the Blues immediately.
Blues Perspective After Letting Him Stroll
At the start, beneath basic supervisor Doug Armstrong, the Blues have been taking a unique path and have been seeking to rebuild their roster on the defensive finish. Hypothesis that Armstrong wouldn’t give Pietrangelo a no-trade clause (NTC) in an try and re-sign him at Free Company that offseason would fire up controversy inside the Blues fanbase. By letting go of Pietrangelo, the Blues wouldn’t have to fret a couple of large cap hit after he took up an AAV of about $6.5 million over a seven-year deal he made with the Blues again in 2013.
Associated: St. Louis Blues’ Prime 10 Prospects for 2024-25 Season
After letting Pietrangelo go, the Blues signed defenseman Justin Faulk on a seven-year deal price $6.5 million (AAV) in 2019 and Torey Krug in 2020 additionally on a seven-year contract price $6.5 million (AAV). Each would have an NTC included of their contracts. Faulk would be capable of give a listing of groups relating to his no-trade listing in 12 months six (2025-26), and Krug would have an NTC up till 2024-25, after which it will flip right into a modified no-trade clause (M-NTC) in 2025-26 by means of 2026-27 the place he would supply a 15 group no-trade listing.
To start with, it made zero sense when Pietrangelo would value about the identical worth to re-sign and would carry a no-trade clause in his contract. The one clarification is that perhaps Armstrong was attempting to get extra defensive expertise with the sum of money he might’ve bought Pietrangelo to re-sign for. It seems immediately that opting to signal Faulk and Krug made issues worse, as their numbers haven’t lived as much as expectations and now pose issues on the cap since they’re locked in with a no-trade clause on their contracts.
Krug not too long ago suffered an ankle harm, which might see him sit out for the whole 2024-25 season. This may power the Blues to undergo and maintain onto a defenseman who might doubtlessly be on the harm reserve, burning off one other season of his deal, which expires in 2027.
Golden Knights Received a Enhance On Protection
With the Golden Knights including Pietrangelo to their roster, there was now a well-rounded veteran who might change into a major key to their protection. Pietrangelo proved to be a profitable piece to their protection by profitable the Stanley Cup with the Golden Knights in 2023 and tied his career-high in factors (54) that very same season. To not point out, he was additionally an NHL Second Staff All-Star in 2022. This proves he nonetheless stayed constant together with his success with the Blues.
In 2021-22 and 2022-23, he additionally grew to become a top-10 defenseman in blocked photographs, one thing he by no means did in his 12 seasons with the Blues. The sudden absence of Pietrangelo from the Blues’ defensive roster made them lose a significant particular groups chief on the penalty kill, giving the Golden Knights a bonus in that division. When Pietrangelo arrived in his first season with the Golden Knights in 2020-21, they have been first within the league on the penalty kill after barely hanging onto a top-10 spot in that class a season earlier than in 2019-20.
Nonetheless, within the playoffs, it was a unique story. The ability play was way more sound in 2024, as they ranked fourth that 12 months, the second highest they’ve ranked on the facility play within the playoffs since coming into the league in 2017-18.
Total, at 34, it’s spectacular how properly he’s maintained his efficiency, particularly after being recognized with appendicitis, getting an appendectomy, then returning to the playoffs in 2023-24. He did all this that very same season whereas having the second-most complete minutes on ice on the Golden Knights through the common season and the playoffs. The Golden Knights bought to maintain their property and didn’t need to threat something however cap area for Pietrangelo and the providers he dropped at the group.
In spite of everything, if he’s nonetheless in good kind, he can be thought of for the Staff Canada roster for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
What the Blues Ought to Be taught From This Resolution
I feel the primary factor that the Blues have been targeted on was profitable so long as they may with out taking a look at their roster, they usually didn’t settle for the results of their star gamers who have been getting older, equivalent to Ryan O’Reilly, Vladimir Tarasenko, and even Pietrangelo. On prime of that, they didn’t construct good prospect depth, particularly after shedding Pietrangelo, and in addition thought they signed their method out of their issues by including Faulk and Krug to get extra for much less; nevertheless, that appeared to not work out properly because it has been two consecutive seasons that they haven’t made the playoffs.
As a consequence of their lack of acknowledgment for their defensive prospect depth, they appeared to rely extra on their youthful offensive core, Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou, to maintain them going, stopping them from making the playoffs slightly longer than anticipated. Now that they’ve gone extra towards their defensive facet within the 2024 NHL Draft and are being affected person with who and once they signal or commerce for, hopefully, get a brand new up-and-coming key defensive piece and never make the identical mistake they did with Pietrangelo.
