The Blues can’t rely heavily on free agent signings to build their team.
That’s just the way it goes in flyover country. Blues general manager Doug Armstrong admits as much.
ºüÀêÊÓƵ isn’t Las Vegas, Florida or New York.
“We’re not where free agents say they never want to go here,†Armstrong said. “But I’m a realist that the original six and non-state tax teams have an advantage (over) the other teams. Our goal is to be at the top end of the rest of that group, and I think that we’re in that area.
“That’s still 11th or 12th on that list.â€
The Cardinals face a similar challenge. These teams will lure some free agents to the STL, of course, but they are at their best while trading for impact veterans and convincing them to stick around.
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The Cardinals did that with Matt Holliday, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. The Blues traded for Jay Bouwmeester, Brayden Schenn, and Pavel Buchnevich, then got each of them to commit for the long haul.
“Bouwmeester, we took a flyer hoping we could sell in him the city and we did,†Armstrong said. “He loved it here. Buch is the same way.â€
ºüÀêÊÓƵ is quite different than the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, where Armstrong guided the Stars’ hockey operation.
“(Assistant coach) Steve Ott and I actually talked about this when he got here, I’m talking years and years ago, as a player,†Armstrong said. “He said ºüÀêÊÓƵ isn’t a market that attracts free agents, but ºüÀêÊÓƵ is a market that if you’re here, they don’t want to leave.
“I’ve held that to heart. When you have people that get to know our community, that get to love our community, it’s a great place to raise the family.â€
Armstrong, like Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak, has cited the value in employing players who want to be here.
“I find that, with what’s happening in the NHL today, when you find people that like your environment, you keep them,†Armstrong said.
That’s why the Blues have been willing to lock in key acquired players while also securing homegrown players like Colton Parayko, Jordan Binnington, Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou with long-term deals.
The Cardinals have more pull in free agency than the Blues, given their rich history, decades-long run of success and impressive fan support in this relatively small market. Most recently that helped sell pitcher Sonny Gray.
Because there is no salary cap in baseball, Bill DeWitt Jr.’s ownership can offer as much as it wants to free agents. The franchise could theoretically make offers so large that it could lure free agents who preferred a bigger market and/or a coastal city to the Cardinal Way.
But history tells us DeWitt won’t go to such extremes to overcome the market disadvantage. While the Cardinals will keep signing mid-level free agents like Gray, Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn, don’t expect them to outspend big market franchises for the Bryce Harpers and Shohei Ohtanis of the sport.
The Blues can’t match the Cardinals’ storied history, but the franchise has a maintained a diehard fan base over the decades. Tom Stillman’s ownership group has set high goals and delivered the franchise’s first Stanley Cup. Defenseman Torey Krug saw that firsthand as a Boston Bruin, so he came willingly to the STL.
The NHL salary cap limits payroll, which gives smaller markets more opportunity. But stars are often drawn by tax advantages, marketing opportunities and lifestyle amenities that aren’t available here.
In this summer’s free agent marketplace, Jake Guentzel signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Sam Reinhart stayed with the Florida Panthers, Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault landed with the Nashville Predators. Players on those teams don’t pay state income tax.
Then there were those who landed with original six teams: Elias Lindholm with the Boston Bruins, Tyler Bertuzzi with the Chicago Blackhawks, and our old friend Vladimir Tarasenko with the Detroit Red Wings. Teuvo Teravainen returned to Chicago, where he played before, while Patrick Kane reupped in Detroit.
Armstrong checked in with the free agents in this summer’s market, but the Blues weren’t serious shoppers at this point in their retooling.
Instead, the franchise’s big money was spent to retain Buchnevich past the final year of his contract with a six-year, $48 million extension. Armstrong and GM-in-training Alex Steen sold him on their plans.
The Blues’ goal is to use the veteran framework in place to help develop their high draft picks — forwards Jake Neighbours, Zach Bolduc, Jimmy Snuggerud, Dalibor Dvorsky, Otto Stenberg and defensemen Theo Lindstein and Adam Jiricek — and mold another Cup-contending team.
“(Buchnevich) met with Alex and I on what we are trying to accomplish today and tomorrow and wants to be part of it,†Armstrong said. “He understands when we’re at that right point, we’ll have the cap space and the assets to improve our team any way we want.â€
And we know which way that is: Acquiring players who can fit into the team and learn to love the city they play in.