The Hawks are the victims of poor planning in a salary cap sport. You can't hand 3/4 of your cap money to 4 or 5 players and expect to fill-in the other positions with league minimum salary players. And it goes from bad to worse when one or more of those highly paid players has an off-year and/or injuries.
The Blues will have to make some very hard decisions the next 2 off-seasons and those decisions will define this team for the next 5-10 years. Obviously, Petro is the biggest one but there are others that will want and deserve to get paid. I would not be shocked to see some moves this season, before the trade deadline. They have some wiggle room when a few of the older players' contracts are up this year and next. They'll let them walk and that cap space will be available. But certainly not enough to keep everyone. I suspect they will invest heavily in the scouting and AHL team. The only way to stay at the top is to develop within, especially when you're drafting late in the first round every year.
I’ve taken chit for it here, in the past but I have been a staunch defender of Doug Armstrong since he took over as GM. Yes, he’s made a few blunders but show me a GM that hasn’t. In his entire tenure with the Blues, he’s never had to buy out a contract. He’s been masterful at correcting his mistakes. Sure, Buffalo may never do another deal with him but what he did with the O’Reilly trade was akin to the Brock / Broglio trade. I am confident he has a plan and will execute it. Then it is up to the players to play up to their potential.
Go Blue!!
-------------------- "Hunts are best measured by the endurance of the memories they produce..."
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