Army sur Barbashev : « Nous avions parlé d’une prolongation et il a estimé que c’était le bon moment pour lui d’explorer le marché, et je le comprends certainement. Nous avons donc pu obtenir un joueur que nous aimions (Zachary Dean) dans son année de repêchage, un joueur que nous avons surveillé. »
Army on Barbashev: "We had talked about an extension and he felt that it was a proper time for him to explore the market, and I certainly understand that. So we were able to get a player that we liked (Zachary Dean) in his draft year, a player we've monitored." #stlblues
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) February 27, 2023
—
STLBooze3
9 Comments
[Army on Dean: « He’s a player that’s a good player in the Quebec Major Junior League. He checks a lot of boxes of skating, character, tenacity, and he’s going to turn pro next year. We believe that’s a good add for us, for a player (Barbashev) that was going to test the market. »](https://twitter.com/jprutherford/status/1630279531360649218?s=46&t=dZ3n-8RTKalPXAm2NOWLSQ)
[Army on whether there was a lot of interest in Barbashev: « Yeah, there was. Probably of all the players that we’ve talked about, he had the most interest. Not the greatest return, but the most interest because of his salary situation. »](https://twitter.com/jprutherford/status/1630279891391324160?s=46&t=dZ3n-8RTKalPXAm2NOWLSQ)
I’m interested in what barby signs for in the free agent market. Obviously he’s a bowling ball out there, but if he tries to get paid for the one 60 point season he has, it might be interesting what comes of that.
Barby banking on himself. If he has a good stretch run with Vegas he could cash in pretty nicely on possibly 5mil a year and that’s what he’s likely banking on. It’s smart by him. He’s in a win win situation. He can’t lose. He can always come back here where he knows he’s valued and make say 3-4mil a year. Or get a 5mil AAV contract by having a strong stretch with Vegas, especially in the playoffs
This is a lot more clear than the resigning him in the off-season post was yesterday. Barbs thinks he has the value so he’s exploring it.
While it sucks to let him go I understand what he was thinking and at least we got a player that we were eyeing.
I’m still going to believe this is all 4d chess and we’re getting everyone back next year + Sunny.
I really like Barbashev, and I’ve enjoyed watching him mature into a good pro. I wish him the best. But teams can get themselves into trouble if they are sentimental about players like him. You can find players to fill his role in free agency, and you can grow them fairly regularly without having to get lucky in the draft. A good organization shouldn’t overextend itself on those kinds of players.
Happy cake day, u/STLBooze3. Thank you for always providing us with such timely and informative posts!