The 2021 Offseason Thread

[SterioDesign]

1 minute ago, mfitz804 said:

Now all we need is someone to mention John Quenneville’s hog and we covered all bases. 

You forgot the Nasraddine hate posts

[Nicomo]

7 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

Right after devils fans talking sh!t about the Rangers. What a crazy day. 

Well, I’m sure you can see the difference between constantly bashing the guy that built 3 Cup winning teams, and people hating on our biggest rival (no it’s not the Habs ). 

[mfitz804]

5 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

You forgot the Nasraddine hate posts

Thats because I’m fixated on #NowWeRise. 

 

[Nicomo]

1 minute ago, mfitz804 said:

Thats because I’m fixated on #NowWeRise. 

 

You getting it signed by Q?

[SterioDesign]

11 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

Well, I’m sure you can see the difference between constantly bashing the guy that built 3 Cup winning teams, and people hating on our biggest rival (no it’s not the Habs ). 

I can. But i'm also not a black or white guy. I can also see nuances that it's not because someone built 3 cup winning teams decades ago (I was praising him then). That i should ignore and put my head in the sand about all the very bad moves he did that did cost us long-term and still to this day.

i use to LOVE Green Day. Dookie is my all time favourite album. I can still sh!t on their new stuff cause I REALLY hate the decisions they took down the line.

Edited August 2, 2021 by SterioDesign

[Nicomo]

4 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

I can. But i'm also not a black or white guy. I can also see nuances that it's not because someone built 3 cup winning teams decades ago (I was praising him then). That i should ignore and put my head in the sand about all the very bad moves he did that did cost us long-term and still to this day.

i use to LOVE Green Day. Dookie is my all time favourite band. I can still sh!t on their new stuff cause I REALLY hate the decisions they took down the line.

That’s cool. But could you see where it would get a little irritating to those that still like them more than you if you bashed them 24/7 on a Green Day forum? 

I do think some of it is relevant though when you’re talking about what he’s doing in NY. It’s a fine line though. At least for you lol. 

[SterioDesign]

4 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

That’s cool. But could you see where it would get a little irritating to those that still like them more than you if you bashed them 24/7 on a Green Day forum? 

I do think some of it is relevant though when you’re talking about what he’s doing in NY. It’s a fine line though. At least for you lol. 

For sure, i see stuff posted about him in hear that is also irritating me. That's what internet forums are.

The difference is if someone post something i don't agree with on a forum. I'll just either stay silent or engage to give my point of view on why i don't agree. I don't do the whole gatekeeping thing where people are not allowed to have certain opinions and express themselves. 

[mfitz804]

21 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

You getting it signed by Q?

I did buy it specifically to try to do that. 

[Nicomo]

1 minute ago, SterioDesign said:

For sure, i see stuff posted about him in hear that is also irritating me. That's what internet forums are.

The difference is if someone post something i don't agree with on a forum. I'll just either stay silent or engage to give my point of view on why i don't agree. I don't do the whole gatekeeping thing where people are not allowed to have certain opinions and express themselves. 

I don’t really think I was gatekeeping, but ok. Post about Lou all you want. Just seems so repetitive at this point, but it’s obviously your right. 

[mfitz804]

19 minutes ago, SterioDesign said:

I can. But i'm also not a black or white guy. I

I’m pretty sure you are a white guy. 

[SterioDesign]

Just now, Nicomo said:

I don’t really think I was gatekeeping, but ok. Post about Lou all you want. Just seems so repetitive at this point, but it’s obviously your right. 

That kind of stuff only bothers people when they don't agree with what's been repeated.

There's countless very boring things/jokes repeated countless times in here that nobody call out for been repetitive cause it's just not triggering them, they just skip past it. 

[mfitz804]

Just now, SterioDesign said:

There's countless very boring things/jokes repeated countless times in here that nobody call out for been repetitive cause it's just not triggering them, they just skip past it. 

Now you’ve crossed a line lol. 

[SterioDesign]

3 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

I’m pretty sure you are a white guy. 

Did you just assume what ethnicity i identify as based on my skin colour?!?

omg, i'm literally shacking right now. 

Edited August 2, 2021 by SterioDesign

[Nicomo]

Just now, SterioDesign said:

That kind of stuff only bothers people when they don't agree with what's been repeated.

There's countless very boring things/jokes repeated countless times in here that nobody call out for been repetitive cause it's just not triggering them, they just skip past it. 

Nah, I actually agree with you that Lou was a disaster in the later years. Just kind of feels like what’s the point of constantly rehashing it. 

[mfitz804]

1 minute ago, SterioDesign said:

Did you just assume what race i identify as based on my skin colour?!?

omg, i'm literally shacking right now. 

 

[SterioDesign]

2 minutes ago, mfitz804 said:

 

yeah EXACTLY. this is the second time you've done it!

[mfitz804]

Just now, SterioDesign said:

yeah EXACTLY. this is the second time you've done it!

It’s just as true as the first time I posted it. 😉

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 minute ago, Nicomo said:

Nah, I actually agree with you that Lou was a disaster in the later years. Just kind of feels like what’s the point of constantly rehashing it. 

7/23/2025

Save the date.

That will be 10 years exactly since Lou resigned and left the Devils, to become the Leafs' GM.

Maybe that's when the rehashing/jabbing ends.  

 

Anyway, on the Tarasenko front, Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that there doesn't seem to be much interest in Tarasenko at all...interesting to hear what a local beat writer has to say about him.  He brings up things we probably haven't given much thought to...like how meh he was at the Worlds (and how that might be further weakening whatever market there is for Tarasenko):

All quiet on Tarasenko front as Armstrong finishes off roster | St. Louis Blues | stltoday.com

 

It has become increasingly apparent that a trade market for Tarasenko has not materialized. That became painfully obvious 10 days ago in the expansion draft when the Seattle Kraken had their choice of defenseman Vince Dunn or Tarasenko.

They chose Dunn.

In essence, the Kraken didn’t think Tarasenko was a better asset than Dunn. A popular narrative when the Blues left Tarasenko exposed was that Seattle would simply flip the pick and trade it for assets. In the end, Seattle decided that Dunn was better than any assets they may have gotten for Tarasenko.

 

Things have reached the point where it’s become known in the league that Tarasenko has relaxed his no-trade clause completely. He’s basically willing to go anywhere in a trade.

 

If there were any options, they’re shrinking. NHL teams spent in excess of a billion dollars in total contracts during the opening days of free agency, eating into cap space and filling rosters.

 

When it came to negotiating contracts and trades in the NFL, former St. Louis Rams president Jay Zygmunt always used to say: “All it takes is one phone call.”

 

That phone call has yet to arrive at Blues headquarters.

 

The bottom line is, Tarasenko didn’t play very well last season in coming back from his third shoulder surgery in a little over three years. He said so at the end of the season; and so did coach Craig Berube. It’s now clear that his surprising appearance in the World Championship for Russia after the Blues’ season concluded was an attempt to market his services — show NHL teams he was healthy and ready to go.

 

In a watered-down field at the Worlds, Tarasenko scored a shootout winner but his overall play was so-so. Can Tarasenko return to his 30-goal form, or is what scouts saw at the Worlds what they’ll get in the future?

Perhaps a team that’s close to winning it all but needs a little more offense takes a chance on Tarasenko. The New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes are two teams that might fit that description, and both appear to have the cap room to fit Tarasenko’s $7.5 million.

But $7.5 million for a player who scored four regular-season goals in 24 games last season, and has a history of shoulder issues, is a tough sell. Would the Blues be willing to retain some of Tarasenko’s cap count to facilitate a trade? That doesn’t seem to be in Armstrong’s DNA.

Maybe that changes down the road. But for now, Armstrong isn’t talking about Tarasenko. In his last comments on the subject before he said he was done talking about it, Armstrong broached the possibility of Tarasenko staying in St. Louis if a trade didn’t materialize.

 

That seems far-fetched after all the complaining by the Tarasenko camp about allegedly botched surgeries and his reduced role on the ice late in the season. But we’ll see.

 

I'm guessing Fitz has a price in mind for Tarasenko that's pretty low, and he's simply not willing to budge on it.  I'm OK with that.

[Muevelos]

Lou was horrid his last few years here but he's been doing really well for himself and I'm happy he is. 

[SterioDesign]

34 minutes ago, Nicomo said:

Nah, I actually agree with you that Lou was a disaster in the later years. Just kind of feels like what’s the point of constantly rehashing it. 

 

15 minutes ago, MB3 said:

Don’t you think there’s a discernible difference between saying “I hate the music that Billy Joe Armstrong has been putting out there lately for Green Day” and “I will take any and every opportunity even in unrelated topics to bash Billy Joe Armstrong.”?

We all hate what Lou did his last few years here. We all recognize how bare he left the cupboard by striving to ice mediocre teams. But you’re on a Devils fan forum throwing weekly temper tantrums about the sole reason this franchise exists.

And don’t mistake it for a goddamned second: the Devils don’t exist today without Lou. 

Imagine you're going on a long road planned vacations with your brother. Who for wtv reasons insists to take his old car. You don't agree cause the car showed a bunch of times that it needs repairs constantly and lots of red flags. So you strongly advice not taking that car. You argue for weeks about it and finally give up and go on that trip with that car. Now you're on a long ass highway in California in the Mojave Desert and the car inevitably breaks down. Tell me you'd just say "i told you so" once while you're walking for like days to get back to civilization lol

Even back when we were winning i kept saying Lou's way of running the team (constantly letting top players walk into free agency instead of trying to lock them up the year before/not firing Conte after years of doing a sh!tjob) was problematic and that it would inevitably run the team to the ground. Like systematically there was just no way around it. And that it would not impact the team's success to do it the normal way, it would even improved their chances to keep thing going. And i'd always get called out and crazy for daring say anything negative about him. Not a single soul agreed about what they say they are agreeing about him now) It was literally me against everyone else here. All i'd get was "SEE HIS WAYS ARE OBVIOUSLY WORKING, WE'RE IN THE PLAYOFFS NOW AND WE HAVE 3 CUPS". Well now that we've inevitably got the the point i was saying it would lead to (literally everything went exactly the way anyone willing to see it would predict). You can be sure decades of that bitterness and repressed i told you so's won't just go away lol And that's partially on many of you guys, sorry but. And i get why people don't want to hear about it now cause it would be admitting they were wrong.

Also some may have noticed it's just not against Lou, i said the same thing about Colombus. Who went all-in in a year where they barely made the playoffs. Traded a bunch of future assets PLUS let 2 of the best players in the league walk for nothing. And yeah, sure enough, it fvcked them up.

That's all i'll say there's no point getting into another argument about it. 

Edited August 2, 2021 by SterioDesign

[Lateralous]

Lou is obviously not the right guy when it’s clear you need to go into a rebuild but man, can he fill out a roster.   Ironically, you know who could have really used him these last few years?   Toronto.   I don’t think he would have bit on the Tavares thing and even if he did, he definitely wouldn’t have let the kids run him over in their contract negotiations.   

[MadDog2020]

28 minutes ago, MB3 said:

And don’t mistake it for a goddamned second: the Devils don’t exist today without Lou. 

 

[MadDog2020]

5 minutes ago, MB3 said:

I read the first two sentences of your reply and realized I’m way too sober for this sh!t. I’ll catch you back later tonight.

I did the exact same 🤣

[Devil Dan 56]

A three paragraph analogy bashing Lou followed by "I don't want to fight about it" seems disingenuous at the very least. 

Also MB3 is right. Without Lou this team is probably celebrating their 26th year in Nashville

[SterioDesign]

44 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Anyway, on the Tarasenko front, Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that there doesn't seem to be much interest in Tarasenko at all...interesting to hear what a local beat writer has to say about him.  He brings up things we probably haven't given much thought to...like how meh he was at the Worlds (and how that might be further weakening whatever market there is for Tarasenko):

All quiet on Tarasenko front as Armstrong finishes off roster | St. Louis Blues | stltoday.com

 

It has become increasingly apparent that a trade market for Tarasenko has not materialized. That became painfully obvious 10 days ago in the expansion draft when the Seattle Kraken had their choice of defenseman Vince Dunn or Tarasenko.

They chose Dunn.

In essence, the Kraken didn’t think Tarasenko was a better asset than Dunn. A popular narrative when the Blues left Tarasenko exposed was that Seattle would simply flip the pick and trade it for assets. In the end, Seattle decided that Dunn was better than any assets they may have gotten for Tarasenko.

 

Things have reached the point where it’s become known in the league that Tarasenko has relaxed his no-trade clause completely. He’s basically willing to go anywhere in a trade.

 

If there were any options, they’re shrinking. NHL teams spent in excess of a billion dollars in total contracts during the opening days of free agency, eating into cap space and filling rosters.

 

When it came to negotiating contracts and trades in the NFL, former St. Louis Rams president Jay Zygmunt always used to say: “All it takes is one phone call.”

 

That phone call has yet to arrive at Blues headquarters.

 

The bottom line is, Tarasenko didn’t play very well last season in coming back from his third shoulder surgery in a little over three years. He said so at the end of the season; and so did coach Craig Berube. It’s now clear that his surprising appearance in the World Championship for Russia after the Blues’ season concluded was an attempt to market his services — show NHL teams he was healthy and ready to go.

 

In a watered-down field at the Worlds, Tarasenko scored a shootout winner but his overall play was so-so. Can Tarasenko return to his 30-goal form, or is what scouts saw at the Worlds what they’ll get in the future?

Perhaps a team that’s close to winning it all but needs a little more offense takes a chance on Tarasenko. The New York Islanders and Carolina Hurricanes are two teams that might fit that description, and both appear to have the cap room to fit Tarasenko’s $7.5 million.

But $7.5 million for a player who scored four regular-season goals in 24 games last season, and has a history of shoulder issues, is a tough sell. Would the Blues be willing to retain some of Tarasenko’s cap count to facilitate a trade? That doesn’t seem to be in Armstrong’s DNA.

Maybe that changes down the road. But for now, Armstrong isn’t talking about Tarasenko. In his last comments on the subject before he said he was done talking about it, Armstrong broached the possibility of Tarasenko staying in St. Louis if a trade didn’t materialize.

 

That seems far-fetched after all the complaining by the Tarasenko camp about allegedly botched surgeries and his reduced role on the ice late in the season. But we’ll see.

 

I'm guessing Fitz has a price in mind for Tarasenko that's pretty low, and he's simply not willing to budge on it.  I'm OK with that.

There so many ways to look at this, it really depends on what people want.

What are the pros of Tarasenko coming here.

- Gives Nico or Jack a sniper on their wing. Boosting their confidence and value. 

- Push down guys like Johnsson that shouldn't play as many minutes.

- Might give us a few extra wins through the season IF he stays healthy and produce.

- Won't impact our cap negatively

Now the cons:

- We'd be giving up assets for him. 

- He might get injured again.

- He might not be able to play his game like he use to and suck.

- His cap hit could make it possible to trade away Subban and still hit the cap ceiling

 

So with that said. I think it's fair to assume we're not going to win the cup in the next 2 seasons. So with that in mind, would this move have a positive impact? I guess it truly depends on what we want out of it and what are the assets going the other way. Also - If he actually does well enough for 2 years and then leave... depending on where people stand on "having to finish higher in the standings to show progress" or "seeing progress outside of standings and getting better draft picks"