Page 1 of 1

Blues sign Steen to 3 yr, $17.5 M Extension

Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 4:46 pm
by dmiles2186
This is a fantastic deal if you ask me.

http://www.stltoday.com/sports/hockey/p ... 64.twitter
The Blues and Alexander Steen have reached an agreement on a contract extension, keeping one of the NHL's best all-around players in the fold.

Steen, who would have become an unrestricted free agent next June, has agreed in principle to a three-year, $17.4 million extension ($5.8 million annual average value). He is expected to sign the deal Thursday morning, when the club will also host a press conference at Scottrade Center.

Neither Steen nor Blues general manager Doug Armstrong will comment on the contract until the press conference.

Steen, 29, leads the Blues with 22 goals and 36 points and he's tied for second on the club with a plus-minus rating of plus-13.

His 22 goals places him in a tie for second place in the NHL, trailing only Washington's Alex Ovechkin, who has 28. The Blues' forward is just two off his career high of 24 goals, which he established in the 2009-10 season.

ALEXANDER STEEN'S CAREER STATS

While Steen has improved his offensive numbers, he has remained a consistent contributor in many areas of the game.

On the team's power-play unit, which ranks No. 5 in the NHL (23.1 percent), Steen has five goals and nine points. He averages a team-high 3 minutes, 2 seconds of ice time on the man-advantage.

And on the Blues' penalty-killing unit, which ranks No. 9 in the league (84.5 percent), Steen comprises one of the club's top forward pairs. He averages 2:04 of shorthanded ice time, which is tops among forwards.

A former first-round draft pick of Toronto, Steen was acquired by the Blues in November 2008 in a trade with the Maple Leafs. He has played 570 NHL games and has 145 goals and 339 points.

Re: Blues sign Steen to 3 yr, $17.5 M Extension

Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 5:58 pm
by cardsfan04
I love it. I was pretty sure he was gone after the season, so this is really good news.

Re: Blues sign Steen to 3 yr, $17.5 M Extension

Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 6:22 pm
by STLADOGG
I did not expect to see that, but glad I did.

Re: Blues sign Steen to 3 yr, $17.5 M Extension

Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 7:19 pm
by sseagle
Great (Franking) move!!!
Glad army is glad at lying when he said they wouldn't be talking till the offseason during the game last week.

Re: Blues sign Steen to 3 yr, $17.5 M Extension

Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 7:36 pm
by dmiles2186
I was walking out of work when this update popped on my phone. It took everything I had not to fist pump and jump around on the spot. A) I think it shows the loyalty of Steener to forgo free agency in a year he's going to end up with his highest goal total to sign with the team that gave him a chance. B) It clearly shows that Army knows what he's doing. C) Players want to come here and want to stay here. They can see the nucleus of this team is a good one. D) Our top line is all signed to 3 year deals or longer. And those deals don't break the bank.

You now look at the guys signed long term: Backes, Oshie, Steen, Petro, Shatty, J-Bo, Roman, you've got to feel pretty good about that. That leaves Schwartz and Boat (both RFA's) the biggies to sign before next year.

Re: Blues sign Steen to 3 yr, $17.5 M Extension

Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 8:35 pm
by glen a richter
In the midst of some pretty rotten news coming out of Blues land with Backes going down, everyone getting the flu, Reave's injury, losing non-stop to California teams and Oaklandblues being on suicide watch after each loss, this is finally something to be happy about. I entirely did not expect to see this bit of news today. Good stuff indeed.

With regards to Boat and Schwartz, remember the salary cap will be going up soon. I'm beginning to think it may actually be possible to keep all the most important pieces of this team together for the long term. Is Army a genius or what?

Re: Blues sign Steen to 3 yr, $17.5 M Extension

Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2013 8:49 pm
by sseagle
glen a richter wrote:In the midst of some pretty rotten news coming out of Blues land with Backes going down, everyone getting the flu, Reave's injury, losing non-stop to California teams and Oaklandblues being on suicide watch after each loss, this is finally something to be happy about. I entirely did not expect to see this bit of news today. Good stuff indeed.

With regards to Boat and Schwartz, remember the salary cap will be going up soon. I'm beginning to think it may actually be possible to keep all the most important pieces of this team together for the long term. Is Army a genius or what?
Just have to remember, we haven't really sold out a game all year, and if we don't get 3-4 games at home in the SECOND round of the playoffs, Stillman won't be able to spend the current amount, nor the 71.1m cap next year.

Re: Blues sign Steen to 3 yr, $17.5 M Extension

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 1:43 am
by Oaklandblue
sseagle wrote:
glen a richter wrote:In the midst of some pretty rotten news coming out of Blues land with Backes going down, everyone getting the flu, Reave's injury, losing non-stop to California teams and Oaklandblues being on suicide watch after each loss, this is finally something to be happy about. I entirely did not expect to see this bit of news today. Good stuff indeed.

With regards to Boat and Schwartz, remember the salary cap will be going up soon. I'm beginning to think it may actually be possible to keep all the most important pieces of this team together for the long term. Is Army a genius or what?
Just have to remember, we haven't really sold out a game all year, and if we don't get 3-4 games at home in the SECOND round of the playoffs, Stillman won't be able to spend the current amount, nor the 71.1m cap next year.
This is why I love Glen dearly. Always thinking of my wellbeing. Owe you a beer for that one :)

As for the rest, what bothers me is, the whole attendance issue is a pain in the neck from what I've heard. From those I know who've been to the 'Trade, and mind this is coming from someone who has never stepped foot in there, that the place itself needs alot of upkeep work that's not getting done, the concessions are of poor quality and are ridiculously expensive and just other things in general that would give a better, more welcoming atmosphere that isn't present. On top of that, they raised tickets..how can Stillman make a profit even if he could sell out the Trade every night?

As for selling it out, the team would have to be gauged to go all the way. We can't beat a California team (so far) this year and they're the ones that are the biggest obstacle to us. Also mind that, in the NHL, there is no other team that has gone without a Cup as long as us who doesn't already own a Cup.

Lot of obstacles. Doable, if everyone on the team pushes and we do something historic. And that pushing isn't happening.

The team is playing sloppy hockey, that's just the truth. I don't think Hitch wanted to call the AHL for help and if there's no money to be had, we have to dig from within and from our prospects and this is something that Hitch is historically against and that needs to change. Ty should be playing a few games, along with some others. The solution we're looking for may very well be in our system waiting for an opportunity. Instead, we dress players like Cola or Bergy or so forth when we should experiment and see how far we can go, with what we have.

With the playoff structure changed, we have to mindful that a current record isn't much before the All-Star and Olympic break. Many teams have fallen apart in the second half and failed to make the playoffs. We have to think ahead and, if necessary, be prepared to move players for those who will help us make the push. But that's just preaching to the choir, and I'm sure...very sure...that Army is looking.

As an optimist, I have a feeling that Stillman isn't going to have even 60m to spend, so this year has to make a statement for this to work. I'm hoping Brett Hull gets directly involved and bitches out the team a few times and helps support Hitch. Hitch's system works, if he's got the right people and it works against the teams we need to beat. We got half that, right now. We need the other.

Saying all of that, Steen's signing sends a clear message that makes me a believer that we're not done yet and that this may very well may be our year.

Re: Blues sign Steen to 3 yr, $17.5 M Extension

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 9:59 am
by WaukeeBlues
I have to say I've been quite impressed with the handling of the salary cap and being able to maintain our depth without losing potential superstars. Having Tarasenko and Schwatrz coming up for their "real" contracts is going to be tough, no doubt about it. At least we have Roy and Lapierre coming off the books and Bouwmeester's cap hit becoming much more manageable here in the near future.

The $5.8 hit on Steen will hurt but you can't argue with it because 1) he probably could command more in the free market 2) he's been the rock of our offense and consistently on the ball and even on pace this year to challenge Ovechkin for the Art Ross which is ridiculous to me (in a good way).

Re: Blues sign Steen to 3 yr, $17.5 M Extension

Posted: Thu Dec 19, 2013 5:52 pm
by sseagle
The real problems are this : the Blues have a SHITTY lease deal, they have a SHITTY terrible TV deal as well. I'm sure you all have noticed the distinct lack of much talent on blues broadcasts, the cameras dont work, the camera operators seem to be half drunk, and 90% of the filler material is repeated over and over.

When does baseball start again? :facepalm: