When news surfaced over the weekend that talks had broken off between the St. Louis Blues and captain Alex Pietrangelo, speculation exploded all over the hockey world trying to figure out where the star defenseman will play next season. Almost every team in the league could use a Norris-level right-handed defenseman who can play in all situations, but the list that could actually fit him into their salary cap structure doesn’t appear to be nearly as high.
That won’t stop fans from trying to find a way (as evidenced by CapFriendly’s Toronto Maple Leafs page getting a surge of traffic) and it won’t stop discussion over what Pietrangelo’s presence would mean to a team looking to change their defensive identity. Toronto, a team that has struggled for ages on the defensive side of the puck, also happens to be where Pietrangelo grew up and is getting plenty of press as a potential destination. Today, Andy Strickland of Fox Sports Midwest spoke with Carlo Colaiacovo on TSN radio and gave his thoughts on whether playing in Toronto could excite Pietrangelo:
I think it one-hundred percent does.
You talk about pulling at the heart strings and the idea of playing there? I think that one-hundred percent exists. Now whether or not they can meet his demands–and again, Toronto is going to be competing with other teams to get his services.
You look at the signing bonus Toronto has paid at some of these other guys including Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews. The Blues don’t need to pay that kind of signing bonus money. When we talk about bonus money, he’s not looking for that level of bonus money from a team like St. Louis. But from a team like Toronto? Knowing they can afford to pay that? They’re going to have to pay bonus money in that range.
The entire interview is quite fascinating, given it takes place between someone who covers the Blues closely and someone who is close with Pietrangelo (Colaiacovo also played in St. Louis and was in his wedding party). Still, even with a lot of things pointing to the Maple Leafs entering the race for the pending free agent, it will be a difficult task for them to pull off.
Toronto isn’t in quite as dire of a cap situation as some seem to think, with more than $6MM in space and only two important restricted free agents to sign, but that doesn’t mean adding Pietrangelo is even a good idea. The team already has so much money tied up in the very top-end of their roster that adding another $8MM+ cap hit (the very low-end of what he’s expected to receive on his next deal) could potentially weaken their depth even further.
Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star argued against moving one of the team’s other top players in his latest column and Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas has never indicated a willingness to listen on names like Mitch Marner or Morgan Rielly. More likely, a move to land Pietrangelo would come at the expense of some names lower in the lineup like Andreas Johnsson or Alexander Kerfoot.
Past the Maple Leafs, there will be several other teams picking up the phone to contact Pietrangelo and Newport Sports on October 9th. In fact, Strickland suggested today that there actually may be some excitement from the defenseman to see what is out there for him.
I don’t think it truly comes down to the money. It does come down to how the deal is structured. At the end of the day I truly believe that Alex Pietrangelo, the idea of going elsewhere, of entering free agency, I think that excites him. I think he is interested in seeing what else is out there.
There is now less than three weeks until Pietrangelo and the rest of the class can start talking to new teams, when free agency opens on October 9.
Unless you think Doug Armstrong (the still defending Stanley Cup winning GM) is an absolute dunce, it stands to reason that Pietrangelo’s desire to play in Toronto has been known to him for a while. Viewed through the prism of knowing (not thinking, but knowing) that Pietrangelo was leaving, his deals for Faulk and Scandella make sense.
Conversely, the moves of Kyle Dubas that rebuilt his roster to have a bunch of UFA D men leaving this offseason (acquiring Barrie and Ceci) speaks to a guy who has an inkling that Alex P might want to come to town a la Tavares.
Even if it wasn’t a sure thing that Petro was heading out of town (Toronto or otherwise), I think Army was never keen on giving $8+ mil a year to someone over 30 for 7+ years. Faulk isn’t nearly as good as Petro, but he’s 28, the cap hit is $6.5 mil, and at the time the deal was made everyone assumed the cap would be going up and the $6.5 hit would age better as he approached 35.
It’s a shame, though, because I think Army wanted to lock this group up for a few Cup runs. With Petro leaving and Tarasenko’s career in doubt, it seems the window is already closing. Can’t complain though, after 2019. I wanted a cup – not going to complain about not getting a dynasty.
@forwhomjoshbelltolls – You know, when you first threw out your take on this, some balked at the idea. Off and on, I thought about your reasoning and theory behind the strong TOR push. And, of course, thinking what STL could do to fix a degrading situation with the contract talks. The biggest nagging thing was when you were hinting at Kyle having a “semi-under-the-table” agreement with AP27 to sign there. Then, it hit me – if there is anything close to a paper trail on that, Kyle would get hammered for tampering, as it would have happened while Alex was still under contract. What aggravates me the most, though, is that Doug Armstrong had already given up on any idea of *trying* to re-sign the Captain by getting Faulk and Scandella. He could have told Alex’s camp that due to his age, he could only go to his age 35 year, then extend him year-by-year, similar to Big-Z in BOS. Or, just structure a team-friendly deal for the last two on a 7-year deal. Of all of the guys on your team that you should do right by, AP27 is the guy…
Who knows, maybe he ends up in NJ and makes me look silly, but…
The ONLY way the moves made by Dubas (gave up Kadri and Brown, etc. for soon to be UFA’s almost like an NBA trade where cap space is more valued than assets) and Armstrong (Faulk, Scandella, etc.) over the past year make any sense to me is if they each believe Alex P is going to TOR.
The Covid cap could alter those plans, but that is, to me, the most likely reason behind each move we’ve seen thus far, including from Alex P and his agent.
There is but one team at the top of the wish list.
There are two teams at the bottom. STL & SJS.
Other than that,every team is interested,some more than others.
The TML are in play and will land AP or CP.
I would not trade MM. Find another way.
But this also tells us what the TML think of KK,knowing that he would be the bump up to the tops 6 if MM or MN’s son are moved.
Preliminary talks happen routinely. The first is about interest,cost and term.
The comical side is all parties know all three. If you think WG Is coming for 1yr $1M,you’re nuts. We all know the game. It’s who wants what and the amount that fits.
@Dave – I think there’s a 55% chance I know of one of the identities…
Are my comments getting screened?
@Dave – looks OK from here… (I’m still looking for CP & WG, but O-Dog’s adventures on Leafs Lunch today with wrong emojis is a distraction…)
CP is that name I’ll never be able to spell.
WG….Mac Job,he’s also known as the great one. (Just referring that we all know cost and term.
@Dave – That 55% chance was a pretty good guess, and I was roughly 99% sure I knew the other guy! :) If TOR gets pipped at the post, maybe they can bribe Coff & Larry R. to come out of retirement to bolster their blueline!
Tim?