It wasn’t as hard of a decision for Blues GM Doug Armstrong as some may think in deciding to move heavy weight D.J. King and keep Cam Janssen.
Sometimes it comes down to keeping who you know and in this case Armstrong has seen very little of King over the last two years. While injuries limited King it paved an opportunity for Janssen to show the organization he could do the job.
Now even a bigger opportunity awaits Janssen as he’s finds himself in a situation he was hoping for all along.
It’s not too often that we see good ole’ sign and trades in the NHL. These shouldn’t be confused with what we see the NBA where players will sign with their original team strictly for financial purposes. In the NBA, a player can often be signed to a more lucrative contract if they sign with their current team even though a trade has already been orchestrated.
In this particular case, Capitals GM George McPhee wasn’t willing to pull the trigger on the D.J. King deal unless he was coming to Washington with a signed two-year deal in his back pocket. Knowing King was going to be an unrestricted free agent after next season, McPhee wasn’t going to part with a prospect of Stefan Della Rovere’s caliber just to have King for one season. This is especially the case when Washington has another tough guy prospect that may only be another year away
Armstrong targeted SDR as the player he wanted in return and was willing to take whatever steps necessary to finalize the deal. The Blues really liked SDR’s leadership capabilities and feel he’s made a greater commitment to conditioning himself over the last few years. At the end of the day things worked out pretty well for King who was looking for a multi-year deal all along. His $625,000 salary for this coming season was likely higher than what the Blues were looking to pay him anyway. King will also be paid $650,000 in 2011-2012.
I do find it interesting that the Blues did not tell King which team he was going to be traded to while they were negotiating his two-year deal.
Washington is getting exactly what they need, a legitimate heavy who’s willing and more than capable of going head to head with the monsters eating space in the Eastern Conference. There has certainly been a shift or power in the NHL with Derek Boogaard and Jody Shelley joining the Colton Orr’s, Eric Godard’s, and Pierre-Luc Letourneau- Leblond’s of the world.
Armstrong was smart in gong through the rosters of his upcoming Western Conference opponents and feels more than comfortable Janssen can do the job. As Armstrong said to me, in his two years with the Blues he’s never seen this club be intimidated or pushed around with Janssen in the lineup.
Will we see more of Janssen this season? It’s clear Head Coach Davis Payne was not interested is keeping both Janssen and King on his roster. Not only is it probably unfair to the players, it isn’t all that fair to the Head Coach either. Telling one of these guys they aren’t playing that particular night isn’t always the easiest thing to do. Going back to last season, it became obvious Payne wasn’t very interested in dressing Janssen and King on the same night.
It had to be somewhat difficult to move a D.J. King who I believe is the most underrated fighter in the league. The fact that he’s been injured the majority of the last two seasons has left him somewhat unknown to the casual hockey fan. How much running around will Alexander Ovechkin do now knowing King Kong is on the bench?
In other news the Blues are no longer looking to add a verteran D-man to the roster which not only officially eliminates the chance of a Mike Weaver return but also creates a bigger opportunity for Alex Pietrangelo to stick.
Earlier Story….
The Blues have traded tough guy D.J. King to the Washington Capitals. Hearing former Washington 7th rounder and winger Stefan Della Rovere is coming the other way from Washington.
Della Rovere Captained the Barrie Colts this past season while also representing Canada in the World Junios the last two years. Speaking to one of his teammates in Barrie, Della Rovere is considered a strong power forward who sees the ice well. He's not considered a heavy weight by any means but he won't back down when challenged. He put up points in Barrie and is projected to one day play in the NHL. He's known to come unglued every once in a while and is a strong forechecker who won't shy away from pounding opposing blueliners below the dots. He's also a close friend of former 4th overall draft pick Alex Pietrangelo.
The Blues had been in negotiations with King over the last several weeks but were struggling coming to terms. He obviously wanted a two year deal, something the Blues were reluctant to do. Part of the deal was to have King signed before Washington was willing to pull the trigger. King agreed to a 2 year deal before the Blues made the deal with Washington which will pay him $625,000 in the first year and $650,000 in 2011-2012.
As we wait to hear an arbitrator's ruling on Bruins forward Blake Wheeler can we please end the ridiculous specualtion of Boston walking away from their 23 year old stud?
Why would Boston let a 23 skilled offensive player walk away and get nothing in return?
Can they trade him? Sure, they can trade any of their players but they sure as heck won't let him become a UFA. If boston has to create cap space to hang on to him then they will do just that.
Expect Wheeler to receive a contract between $2.1-$2.4 million. He could find himself back in the same position at this time next year as he'll once again be arbitration eligible.
Congrats to Rick Wamsley on being named the goaltending coach for the Ottawa Senators.
Former Nashville D-man Denis Denis Grebeshkov has verbally agreed to a two-year deal to play next season in Russia. The deal will pay Grebeshkov north of the $3.15 salary he made this past season in Nashville.
Prior to signing, Grebeshkov's agent made one last round of phone calls to NHL GM's in an effort to land a contract.
No dice.
Teams aren't willing to pay the money Grebeshkov was lookng for. Right now with several teams dealing with Ownership issues combined with internal salary constraints, the money just isn't there.
Throughout the NHL there's a traffic jam filled with bad contracts and bad decisions which is forcing players like Grebeshkov to run where the money is.
Players under the age of 28 have to sign a minimum of a two-year deal in the KHL. There are often agreements that allow a player to buy their way out of a deal after one year but in this case Grebeshkov is locked in for two-years. In order for him to get the money he was looking for he was unable to negotiate any type of out clause.
If it comes down to the money then he's probably making a good decision. Why should anyone think next summer will be better for UFA's than what we are witnessing right now?
He'll be joing some pretty decent players in St. Petersberg where former NHL players Evgeni Nabokov, Sergei Zubov, Alexei Yashin, and Mattias Weinhandl.
Washington forward Tomas Fleischmann avoids arbitration hearing and agrees to 1 yr deal worth $2.6 million to remain with Capitals. He will be a unrestricted free agent after this season.
Lee Stempniak continues to speak to several temas but no formal negotiations have begun with any clubs.
Billy Guerin has narrowed things down to two or three teams. He'd like to return to Pittsburgh but they have yet to offer a contract even though they say they remain interested in bringing him back.
The Blues and Erik Johnson continue to talk in an effort to get something done. I do think some progress has been made but neither side appears too eager to budge.
More to come,
Andy Strickland
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St Louis Blues Blogger •1380 ESPN • 
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