What becomes of Mathieu Schneider?
With Blues fans sweating out the Erik Johnson injury diagnosis, a hot topic at Blues camp was Mathieu Schneider.
The Ducks will deal the veteran offensive defenseman any minute now, in order to create the salary cap room needed to sign Teemu Selanne – who suddenly seems eager to play two more seasons.
The Blues camp was somewhat surprised the cross-town Kings haven’t snapped Schneider up, since that team is more than $9 million below the NHL salary floor. (The Kings appear to be no hurry to spend money, as the team has shown during protracted talk with restricted free agent Patrick O’Sullivan.)
Are the Blues interested? Certainly. Johnson is this team’s only legitimate offensive defenseman, which is why the front office is being coy about his injury.
The Blues are budget-conscious this season, but the franchise doesn’t have cap trouble. The team would want to move some salary rather than just eat Schneider’s $5.6 million in one bite.
Coach Andy Murray looked ready to open with Johnson and Paul Kariya as his power-play point men. Eric Brewer, Steve Wagner and Jeff Woywitka are second-unit possibilities.
Rookie Jonas Junland had a nice prospects camp in Traverse City, but it’s too soon to promote his candidacy for such a key role at the NHL level. And rookie Alex Pietrangelo is still playing catch-up after missing valuable training time during the spring and summer.
Both have long-term potential for the power play, but what will the team do to get through this season?
AROUND THE RINKS: Center Patrik Berglund is off to a terrific start in this Blues preseason and the team will give him every chance to land scoring-line work. Beyond Andy McDonald, Murray’s options at center are limited. Does he want Keith Tkachuk there at this late stage of his career? David Perron has the skill to play anywhere, but could he handle the defensive responsibility? The same could said for Brad Boyes and T.J. Oshie, who are similarly versatile . . . The on-again, off-again Mats Sundin bidding is reportedly on again. HockeyBuzz.com reports that a surprising entry from the Central Division is making a push . . . Old friend Rod Brind’Amour aggravated his surgically repaired knee, knocking him out of preseason play for the Hurricanes . . . Scott Bowman loomed large over the Blackhawks organization as camp opened. Chicago is driving to rejoin the Western Conference elite and Bowman’s front-office presence puts coach Denis Savard under the microscope . . . Crazy Mike Keenan is attempting to justify his acquisition of Todd Bertuzzi by playing him with Jarome Iginla and Daymond Langkow. But will Big Bert respond to all that ice time and get his skates moving again? Calgary assistant coach Wayne Fleming pulled the chute on Iron Mike, leaving the franchise to coach the Russian team employing Jaromir Jagr . . . Old friend Doug Weight could get lots of ice time with the Islanders, since top returning centers Mike Comrie and Mike Sillinger are still recovering from hip injuries suffered last season.
Only a team on the verge of making a splash in the playoffs should be shelling out big bucks to get a player at the end of their career. The Blues are not one of those teams. Do they Blues make a trade? Who would the Blues give up for Schneider?
Tkachuk? Not likely. We need his goals and we need his ability to play center. Besides, somebody has to eat the donuts on the bench.
Brewer? Only if you were an idiot would you trade Brewer for Schneider. If they both were are the same point in their careers, sure.
McKee? Maybe if the Blues don’t end up paying any more in salary. Of course we would need somebody to fill in defensively.
Kariya? Nope
Bag of pucks? Certainly, if we don’t have to pay anything more in salary.
I just don’t get these so-called hockey writers proposing all these short-sited, budget busting moves that won’t help us get anywhere except maybe the first round of the playoffs. While that may appease the simpletons, it gets us nowhere closer to the cup. We need to build the right way and spend money and roster spots wisely.
You do recall that the Blues have the reigning league-worst powerplay, do you not? Why WOULDN’T the Blues sign Schneider? It’s not a matter of needing to “[make] a splash in the playoffs” but one of trying to stay afloat in the West. Without Eeej back there making outlet passes and lugging the puck up the ice, the Blues are going to be hard pressed to score more than they did last year. That’s a scary prospect.
Deal a late round pick for Schneider. 3rd, maybe even 4th. That’s probably all it’ll take. If we struggle again like last year, you can re-deal him to a contender at the deadline and get that draft pick back.
There are always injuries, and when they occur on the blueline they can be catastrophic. Someone of Schneider’s abilities can rarely be had for such a discounted price. Do it JD/LP!
go blues
DT
Get Anaheim to pay half his salary and you go for it — as long as no significant portion of the Blues future is traded. Otherwise, forget it.
Unfortunately, the new CBA is fairly strict on clubs not paying salary of traded players. However this is a good thing, as the Ducks made some foolish decisions that have now left them with no cap room to bring back Selanne until Schneider is gone. The best thing for the Blues would be if the Ducks do “recall” Schneider, then they can claim him for only 2.8 million which also isn’t enough room for the Ducks to bring in Selanne.
(A reliable blogger has better details http://mirtle.blogspot.com/2008/09/schneider-clears-waivers.html)
With all of that said…The Blues are a fringe playoff team at best this season no matter who is on the roster. Bringing in a player at the end of his career like Schneider isn’t going to take this team to Cup contender. The Johnson injury gives JD and Company time to look at players already in the organization like Polak, Woywitka and Wagner at the NHL level. It may also get Pietrangelo a spot this season. This is much more desirable for 2009-10 and beyond than bringing in Schneider for this season.
Well stated RivFan. With what you said, then it would make no sense to make a deal unless we shed considerable salary. We won’t be able to shed salary without hurting our future. Anaheim does not want to take on any additional payroll anyway, which is why they are in this pickle.
Let him go to LA. Let’s see what the kids can do.
Shoot! We could have had Schneider for two roster players, a prospect and only if we paid his full $5.75 million salary! That sure would have been a small price to play for a 1 year rental.