NHL - St Louis Blues News

Earlier this season, some speculation suggested the Vancouver Canucks might pursue Los Angeles Kings left winger (and Vancouver native) Milan Lucic via free agency. The Kings and Lucic, however, are reportedly working toward a new deal that will keep him in L.A.
The Canucks could find another local boy potentially available on July 1 to help them on the wing. St. Louis Blue right winger Troy Brouwer recently told Vancouver’s News 1130 radio he’s thought about joining the Canucks. “Family and friends, playing for my hometown, it would be an experience for sure,” Brouwer said.

Lacking skilled depth on right wing, the Canucks could use the services of the 30-year-old Brouwer. The 6-foot-3, 213-pounder is experienced, durable, physical and has three 20-plus goal seasons on his resume. He’s also coming off a strong playoff performance, with eight goals and 13 points in 20 games.

Brouwer’s completing a three-year, $11-million contract. His postseason play this spring could push his free-agent value to over $4.5-million per season on a four- or five-year deal. The Canucks have limited salary-cap space ($9.2 million) for 2016-17. While their core players are under contract, that still doesn’t leave much to significantly bolster their roster. They could get $2 million in cap relief if they buy out aging winger Alex Burrows later this month.
Just because Brouwer’s open to the possibility of joining the Canucks, however, doesn’t mean he’s the guy Canucks GM Jim Benning has his sights set on. Earlier this spring, there was talk Benning could pursue Boston Bruins right winger Loui Eriksson if he hits the open market on July 1. Eriksson, 30, played alongside the Sedin twins for Sweden in international competition. Benning also knows him from his days as the Bruins assistant GM.
It’s rumored Eriksson seeks a five-year deal worth $6-million annually. If the Canucks land him, they won’t have sufficient cap space to chase Brouwer.
After recently acquiring defenseman Erik Gudbranson from the Florida Panthers, Benning might not be done adding to his D-corps. TSN’s Darren Dreger claims Benning could target Dallas Stars rearguard and shot-blocking specialist Kris Russell if he becomes available on July 1. Russell, 29, is finishing a two-year deal worth an annual average salary of $2.6 million. Depending on his asking price, his addition could hamper Benning’s efforts to bolster his scoring depth.
Defenseman Tyson Barrie’s contract negotiations with the Colorado Avalanche remain a point of off-season interest. The 24-year-old RFA is completing a two-year deal worth an annual cap hit of $2.6 million. He also has arbitration rights this summer. Sportnset’s Elliotte Friedman recently suggested the Avalanche could move Barrie if unable to work out a new deal with him. He followed up last Friday by saying there’s “nothing fresh” on the status of those contract talks, maintaining his belief the blueliner could be dealt this summer.
Terry Frei and Mike Chambers weighed in on the Barrie contract situation, taking seriously Friedman’s belief the rearguard might get dealt.
Frei claims Avalanche coach Patrick Roy wants to add a big, physical defenseman, adding there’s concern an expensive new deal for Barrie could skew their salary cap. Chambers, however, believes losing Barrie’s puck-moving skills would be a big mistake. Both pundits ultimately expect the Avs will get Barrie under contract, though it could take arbitration to get it done.
Around this time last year, Vladimir Sobotka came close to returning to the St. Louis Blues, but in the end the Czech center decided to spend at least one more campaign in the KHL. But with the Blues’ season over and Sobotka having an apparent window to return to the NHL, it looks as though he could actually make the jump back to North America this summer.
During an end of season press conference, which was used in part to announce a one-year contract extension for coach Ken Hitchcock, Blues GM Doug Armstrong said that he has been in consistent contact with Sobotka’s agent over the past two seasons to “find out what’s going on.” And Armstrong, who said he thinks Sobotka will be back, sounds confident the 28-year-old pivot will be wearing a Blues uniform next season.

“I thought he was going to come back — a couple times during the season, we had conversations, he was getting himself out of his KHL deal, they (asked) me if we had room for him and I said we’d make room for him,” Armstrong said. “For whatever reason, it just didn’t work out…I’ve never read his KHL contract. I’ve never seen it. I don’t know what the window is. I’m going on reports that he has a window. If he exercises the window, he’ll be a St. Louis Blue. I’d love to have him back.”
This may sound eerily familiar, and it’s because a similar saga played out last season. At first, it appeared likely that Sobotka would exercise his option to leave his KHL deal and return to the Blues, but as the reported window began to close, Sobotka’s KHL club, Avangard Omsk, announced that he was staying in the primarily Russian league.
The entire situation, however, dates all the way back to the 2013-14 campaign. Sobotka scored nine goals and 33 points during that campaign for the Blues, but following the season he and St. Louis were unable to come to terms on a new contract. Sobotka, a restricted free agent, went to arbitration with the Blues and was awarded a one-year, $2.725-million deal. Instead of remaining in St. Louis, though, Sobotka accepted a three-year deal from Omsk worth a reported $12 million. Because of the arbitration deal with the Blues, though, St. Louis owns Sobotka’s NHL rights. If he chooses to come back to the NHL, Sobokta owes the Blues one season at $2.725 million.
Sobotka has scored 28 goals and 72 points in 97 games during his past two seasons in the KHL while averaging second-line minutes. In St. Louis, though, Sobotka was used more in a second- and third-line role, which is likely to again be the case if he comes back in time for the 2016-17 campaign. During his four seasons with the Blues, Sobotka scored 29 goals and 101 points in 247 games.
Sobotka will be playing in North America next season regardless of whether or not he chooses to return to the NHL. However, his stay could be brief. Sobotka was selected to the Czech Republic’s World Cup roster, and he should be suiting up at the tournament in September.