Tarasenko Signed!!!! 8/$60MM

[cardsfan04]

8 years/$60MM, $7.5MM AAV. Love it!!!

[ecbm]

8 years/$60MM, $7.5MM AAV. Love it!!!

My brother just called to tell me same...not seeing it online yet. Link?

Definitely hoping this is true. Great deal if it is. And something to feel positive about...we've got the 21st-Century-Euro-Hull&Oates locked up!

[cardsfan04]

Oops, sorry.

http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2015 ... ith-blues/

[abc789987]

Sweet!

?

[dmiles2186]

Tarasenko was married a week ago, honeymoon, comes back and gets paid. Patience was just needed by some Blues fans out there.

7.5 AAV is a steal for Tarasenko. And he's locked up through his prime. Fantastic move.

[gaijin]

w00t

New bride, fat new paycheck, now he's ready for his Blues-mandated 40% drop in production.

[abc789987]

Anyone know if he received or viewed any offers from other teams?

[WaukeeBlues]

LOVE it.

The price for the term is what makes this a killer deal.

Great, great signing. If he becomes even 3/4 of the player we all hope he'll be, $7.5 is the bargain of the century in 2-3 years.

Just think, Saad was paid only a $1 million less than Tank. Crazy.

SO glad no team offer sheeted him. That'd be in the $8.5+ rhealm I'd be willing to bet.

edit: After a review at NHLnumbers.com, with Tank taken care of, we have $2.339 million in cap space wiggle room this year. Not bad. Not bad at all.

With Ott and Brouwer presumably coming off the books next season there's another $6.35 million to play with, we'll have enough to re-sign Schwartz. Maybe a cap-friendly trade here and there.

We're in business

[KrustyKevo]

What a great deal. Now make him captain.

[ecbm]

Patience was just needed by some Blues fans out there.

Neither the first nor last time that's been leveled at me.

Now hurry up with the rest of the changes...

What a great deal. Now make him captain.

Think that's a matter of when more than if.

[Nyghtewynd]

Shrug. At that price, he has to be a yearly top-5 player in the NHL. If he can, it's a good contract.

If he can't, well...

[ComradeT]

Shrug. At that price, he has to be a yearly top-5 player in the NHL. If he can, it's a good contract.

If he can't, well...

Aaaaaaand Captain Obvious has arrived. Welcome, Captain.

[cardsfan04]

Shrug. At that price, he has to be a yearly top-5 player in the NHL. If he can, it's a good contract.

If he can't, well...

You really have a gift. You can find what's wrong in anything. It's uncanny.

[theohall]

Great deal! 22 signed and ready. Now it's just a matter of figuring out which of those 22 actually deserve to stay over minor leaguers (Barbashev) who deserve an opportunity.

Looking at the cap - it's tight even to move players around.

69.061 - not counting Benoit's contract, yet.

Cap hits for minor league guys currently not counting.
Lindbohm .7M
Barbashev .894M
Fabbri 1.107M
Rattie .894M

And that's the top 4 prospects. With something under 2M to use given the Benoit contract. Fabbri's contract alone means he probably stays in the minors, unless a trade of one of the bigger contracts happens.

[glen a richter]

Like I posted elsewhere, I saw a tweet that Fabbri was promised a 9 game look, I guess depending on how his camp goes that may or may not change but I'm inclined to think he'll get it. Barbashev too. I think now that Vova is locked up, we'll probably see one more deal go down to shed what can be shed (Berglund?) and then it'll be obvious what the 3rd and 4th lines will be. I'm inclined to believe they're not interested in trading Bouwmeester and the D is set. Dumping Berglund really helps set up a nice 3rd line featuring Jaskin, Fabbri and Barbashev, and perhaps Rattie from time to time, or more permanently if Fabbri's look is only 9 games. Keeping Berglund means deserving guys won't get the time.

[TheoSqua]

My hope is they find some poor team willing to take on Steve Ott's contract.

Something like Steve Ott and a 6th round pick to Phoenix in return for a bag of peanuts.

[Oaklandblue]

My hope is they find some poor team willing to take on Steve Ott's contract.

Something like Steve Ott and a 6th round pick to Phoenix in return for a bag of peanuts.

Ott + Boomer would get us a serviceable player, hopefully a forward.

Just really happy Tank is signed. The cornerstone of the team is SET.

[WaukeeBlues]

Shrug. At that price, he has to be a yearly top-5 player in the NHL. If he can, it's a good contract.

If he can't, well...

What top five player salaries are you looking at?

2015-2016

Toews: Being paid $13.8. Cap hit of $10.5
Kane: Same
Crosby: Paid $12. Cap hit of $8.7
Malkin: Paid $9.5. Cap hit of $9.5
Kessel: Paid $10. Cap hit of $6.8 but only because of retained salary
Ovechkin: Paid $10. Cap hit of $9.358
Getzlaf: Paid $9.250. Cap hit $8.250
Perry: Paid $9. Cap hit $8.625
Giroux: Paid $9. Cap hit $8.75
Parise: Paid $9. Cap hit $7.538
Suter: Same.
Stamkos: About to sign an extension. We'll see the number on that...

And these numbers are only going to be going up. Kane and Toews set the "superstar" ceiling for what top NHL players are about to be paid.

(Franking) Ryan O'Reilly is set to be paid $11 million with a cap hit of $7.5 in 16-17 and the most goals he's ever scored in a season is 28.

The salary cap increases every year, and top guys are demanding more and more payment of top dollar.

We may only have a 3 season sample size of Tarasenko but holy (Franking) shit... The kid can play. He can score. It doesn't take a brain surgeon to see break-away talent on the ice when it exists. There's always a possibility he doesn't pan out: that's virtually any player anywhere in the first three years.

This isn't Jonathan Cheechoo lined up next to Joe Thornton. This kid produces on his own. Frequently. You pay him. $7.5 isn't low, I know that, but for 8 years it absolutely is.

[glen a richter]

I know a lot of us have been down on Army and Hitch and the players this offseason, and the constant playoff failures haven't helped our morale as a group, but there really is no one more a Debbie Downer than Nyghtewynd, we know that. We all know that. This team goes on a 10 game win streak, he's nowhere to be found. We lose the next 2 games, he's bombarding the board with pessimism oozing from every crevice. Unless Tarasenko agreed to play for free, he wouldn't have been happy. I'm not surprised by his reaction.

[dmiles2186]

Shrug. At that price, he has to be a yearly top-5 player in the NHL. If he can, it's a good contract.

If he can't, well...

Is there anything in your life that will make you happy? I mean, do you enjoy a good rainbow after a spring shower? Do you enjoy a serene sunset on a beach? Do you ever find solace in a good, hearty laugh?

Or do you just sit around and listen to the Cure and paint your fingernails black and write poetry about the atrocities of life? Are you the type of person that likes to be the first to tell someone that someone else died or was horribly injured or just to deliver bad news in person?