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psoglav

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Forum: Armchair-GM20 sept. 2020 à 19 h 3
Sujet: Oilers Recover 2020 Draft Picks Change D and G
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>psoglav</b></div><div>No, I think the trade is terrible because it is terrible for the Blues.

It saves the Blues $4m in cap? Entirely disingenuous. If the Blues are willing to retain 50% on Bozak then there are plenty of teams who would want Bozak at a $2.5m cap hit and $2.125m salary. Bozak at 50% for a mediocre prospect doesn't do anything for the Blues... they can find that easily elsewhere.

So this trade is Kelfbom for Parayko. Which saves the Blues $1.33m in cap.

First, Parayko is comfortably a top-5 defensive defenseman in the League, he's significantly better than Klefbom in this regard. Klefbom is a top-pairing defenseman, but Parayko is elite defensively.

Is Klefbom better than Parayko offensively? Sure. Parayko average 33.77 points per 82 games in his five years in the League. In the same five year span Klefbom averages 36.23 points per 82 games. 2.5 points a season better offensively isn't closing that defensive gap.

Then we come to the fact that RHD are more valuable than LHD. Then we can talk about the fact that Parayko has missed 13 games in his five years in the League. Klefbom has missed 99 in that same span.

Klefbom has an extra year on his contract, and that's great... but it doesn't add the value you think. It's far, far easier to be comfortable giving a healthy Parayko a long term extension at 29, how comfortable will it be giving an injury-prone 30 year old Klefbom the deal he's looking for in three years?

As for the whole right-left balance on defense... that's a load of nonsense. If Parayko was a lefty then he still wouldn't be playing with Pietrangelo, if you have two stud defensemen then you want them on different pairings; so that one is on the ice 45-50 minutes a game and they are raising the level of their two defensive partners.

As for your proposed pairings for the Blues should that trade happen... Dunn-Faulk would not be a good second pairing when you consider their skill sets. There isn't the issue that some like to pretend there is in having so much money tied up on one side of the defense, particularly when one can play either side.

Then the fact that the Blues have Dunn, Scandella and Gunnarsson on the left side, with Mikkola viewed as NHL ready and the organisation extremely high on Perunovich. Yet, we've got nobody beyond Pietrangelo, Parayko, Faulk &amp; Bortuzzo in the right. Taking a RHD to add a lefty wouldn't make sense.

Downgrading Parayko to Klefbom to save $1.33m in cap is a terrible, terrible idea for the Blues. We save more than that buying Steen out.</div></div>

Thank you for engaging thoughtfully. I take your point about Bozak at $2.5m having more suitors. That's fair. I'll need to reconsider how to make it more enticing or if there is a way for Edmonton to take the contract straight across. I also appreciate the insight on Mikkola and Perunovich. I'm not convinced that a left-side of Dunn, Scandella, and Gunnarsson is terribly attractive. Dunn and Klefbom would be a better top 4 by far with whoever the Blues wanted to slot in at number 3. My intent with the pairings was less about the chemistry of the combinations and more about pointing out the top 4. With AP, CP, and JF on the right side, you've got three righties that can and expect to play lots of minutes so that's the argument I was making for balance. I think more and more, NHL coaches prefer to play their D on their natural side.