Deadline Aftermath

The Blues made three moves on Deadline Day. They signed Barret Jackman to a four year deal. They dealt Christian Backman for a 4th round pick. They dealt Bryce Salvador for Cam Janssen.

The Backman deal is easy to analyze. It is a salary dump. He is going to make in excess of $3 million next year (salary cap hit in the mid $2 million range) for a marginal player. Because of his large salary and his underperformance, he was worth only a mid-round pick and that's what the Blues got. The Blues got rid of an overpaid player, opened salary space for signings, and opened a roster slot for a young player. Not a bad deal.

The Jackman deal is also easy to analyze. He is a young (not yet 27 years old), tough player who started out the season poorly. He has played better lately but not up to his potential. And the Blues are paying a little for his potential. Four years and $3.6 million a year is quite significant for what he has brought this year. This ensures that the Blues will have a solid core of veterans (Jackman, McKee, and Brewer) to mentor the younger defensemen (Johnson, Woywitka, Wagner, and Polak) coming up (not to mention Al MacInnis).

The last deal, Salvador for Cam Janssen, is puzzling. With Backman being traded a slot opened up for Matt Walker and Jeff Woywitka to rotate in. (I was assuming that Wagner and Polak wouldn't make an appearance this year.) We could have kept Salvador and let him walk at the end of the year. I'm told that we would get a compensation pick if he signed for more than $3 million per year. Now two slots are open so Walker and Woywitka will play the rest of the season and perhaps Wagner or Polak will have to be called up. The other question is what is the value of Cam Janssen. I don't know him much except his stats. One goal in 95 NHL games. He is not a scorer. When John Davidson spoke about him, he described him as a young banger to free up space for the forwards. Besides the fact that we need scoring forwards, don't we already have those types of players?

Forwards who don't score on the Blues: Martin Rucinsky, Jamal Mayers, Dan Hinote, David Backes, Ryan Johnson, Jay McClement, and DJ King. Not one of these players has over ten goals this season. I didn't mention Mike Johnson (out with injury), Yan Stastny (too few games played), or Mike Glumac (too few games played). That is ten players who have played on the Blues who are not scoring threats. Three full lines. And now we add an eleventh. I'm not saying these players don't have value. Jamal Mayers and Ryan Johnson are outstanding defensive forwards and are key for the penalty kill. DJ King will beat the snot out of anyone. But how many do we need? Martin Rucinsky and Mike Johnson will be gone next year and Yan Stastny and Mike Glumac, in truth, are career minor leaguers. McClement and Backes are still thought of as potential scorers (but not by me). That would leave Jamal Mayers, Dan Hinote, Ryan Johnson, DJ King, and Cam Janssen fighting for time on the fourth line. Too many players. The only sense this acquisition would make is if one of these players didn't return. Ryan Johnson is an UFA.