Bozak re-signs

[glen a richter]

1 year, 750k.

So what's the deal with Thomas?

[gaijin]

750k works for me!

[JCShutout]

Great deal! Woot!

[theohall]

750K with performance bonuses. No idea what those are, but if he hits the bonuses and it puts the Blues over the cap, that gets subtracted from next year's cap. Still, looks like a good deal on the surface.

Here is the major negative. How in the heck do the Blues sign Thomas with only 781K in cap space. Yes, Sundqvist is expected to wind up on LTIR when the season starts which would provide enough for Thomas, but what happens when Sundqvist is off LTIR?? Expecting injuries to solve the cap space problem isn't a good plan. The only real solution is trading Tarasenko, but that's way up in the air relying on some other team to have a major injury issue.

[theohall]

Just to pile on - with Bozak signed, the Blues are at the 23 roster position limit without Thomas being signed.

This guarantees someone being sent down - likely McEachern or Santini and maybe Walman if Perunovich shows in camp he is as good as his draft position - plus being a Hobey Baker winning defenseman with an NCAA Championship pedigree. Winning the Frozen Four is darn near as challenging as winning a Cup due to the tournament, from round 1 to the final, being single elimination. Every game is a Game 7.

[glen a richter]

If someone gave Thomas an offer sheet, which I'd say is pretty damn possible at this point, and the Blues didn't match, what would the compensation be for him? Is it based on the value of the offer sheet or what exactly?

[theohall]

Yep. It's based on offer-sheet value. https://www.capfriendly.com/offer-sheet-calculator

For what Thomas is supposedly asking, it'd only be a 2nd round pick.

Someone else pointed out if the Blues send down the players expected to be sent down, they can create anywhere from 2-3M of cap space likely needed to sign Thomas. The only issue with that is the handcuff it puts on moving players around during the season.