The Blues Just Dropped Their Nuts On The NHL Again By Acquiring And Extending Justin Faulk

BOOM. Just like that the Blues have slapped the rest of the league in the face with a quick message that one Cup is not enough. I hate to see a good dude like Joel Edmundson as the price, especially as he was a great member of that locker room and a big part of the young core of the team the past couple years. Eddy will be a great addition to a talented Carolina team that could play well into the Spring this year.

Justin Faulk on the other hand is a huge addition to the Blues D corps. The 7 year extension is an enormous move by Army. Faulk brings a lot of skill on the back end and will not be asked to do TOO much while splitting minutes with Petro and Parayko.

LOOK at this Defense unit going into the year with Bortuzzo and Reinke waiting to slot in in case of emergency.

A right side of Pietrangelo, Parayko, and Faulk is about as much as you can ask for in the NHL.

As far as this meaning Petro is gone, I don’t think that is necessarily true.

Everybody knows they will be short on space at the end of this year but I don’t think there’s any way your Captain who has had a successful, beloved career here since the day he was drafted will just be gone for nothing. I think they will shift some money around and make it work as long as Petro is willing to be reasonable. As a Stanley Cup winning #1 D-man and Captain, there is really no cap on what he could command on the open market. That is no secret. With the deals going around nowadays you’d have to think he could EASILY get 10+ Million on the open market. Pietrangelo doesn’t seem like the type of guy to bend the Blues over for every spare penny and instead more likely to take a healthy pay raise while still staying in the place he has made his home a la Steven Stamkos. I think if they can somehow get him in the 8-10M range, he would be likely to stay.

Do I know this for a fact? Can things change immensely over the course of a long season? Did I ever think Albert Pujols would leave STL? No, no, and NO. But this is my immediate impression right now. I think there are much more expendable players the Blues could get rid of before losing #27 to free agency. That doesn’t mean its not a storyline we will have to hear about over the entire year.

I CANNOT WAIT for October 2nd. Hockey has been gone way too long.