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Blues 2016 off-season timeline |
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Here is my reconstruction of the St. Louis Blues off-season timeline, the more important parts occurring while I was without internet for the most part.
May 25, 2016 – Sharks eliminate the Blues in the Western Conference Finals
May 27, 2016 – David Backes, Dmitri Jaskin, Alex Pietrangelo, and Colton Parayko join Vladimir Tarasenko, Alexander Steen, and Jori Lehtera with Wold Cup of Hockey selections. Kevin Shattenkirk gets the snub. Some feel Brian Elliott was snubbed as well but I think he was a long shot to be selected.
May 29, 2106 – Tarasenko declines to talk to the media on locker clean out day.
May 31, 2016 – Ken Hitchcock signs on for a final season as the Blues head coach, fulfilling my long ago prediction that he would return if the Blues made the Western Conference Finals or better. Doug Armstrong comments that Jaden Schwartz is his number one offseason priority, says that he would love to have Vladimir Sobotka back (not sure where he thinks he will find the cap room for this) with the Blues and plans to keep both Jake Allen and Brian Elliott to fight for the job next year. Armstrong also hints that Shattenkirk might be traded and talks about how Schwartz’s contract will impact the Blues ability to bring back Backes and/or Troy Brouwer. Tarasenko talks to the media. Schwartz comments that he was playing at about 70% with 5 pins in his ankle. There is speculation that Steen will need shoulder surgery. Reports surface that Brad Shaw declined his extension offer and will not return to assist Ken Hitchcock.
June 1, 2016 – Reports surface that Kirk Muller has declined the Blues extension offer and will not be returning to assist Hitchcock.
June 2, 2016 – Reports surface that Mike Yeo was in St. Louis on the day before to discuss being the heir apparent to Hitchcock. Muller is hired by the Montreal Canadiens.
June 3, 2016 – Steen undergoes successful shoulder surgery. Muhammad Ali passes away.
June 7, 2016 – Stevens his hired by the Minnesota Wild as an assistant coach.
June 8, 2016 – The Wild hire John Anderson as an assistant coach who served as the head coach of the Blues AHL affiliate last season.
June 10, 2016 – Hockey legend Gordie Howe passes away, making two of the greatest athletes dying in a week.
June 13, 2016 – Mike Yeo and Rick (not Rik) Wilson join the Blues coaching staff with Yeo appointed as the head coach in waiting. Reports surface that Armstrong had already approached Scott Stevens weeks ago but had received a polite decline.
June 16th - Jaskin signed to a 2 year extension, $1mm AAV.
June 17th to 23rd – To be determined. Will they trade Shattenkirk? Will they trade a goalie? Will they trade Lehtera? Will they try and move someone like Jay Bouwmeester? Blues fans should expect that salary will be traded away. According to General Fanager, the Blues need to fill 7 forward spots with only around $13.5 million in available cap and you have to think Jaden Schwartz will take a fair amount of that cap room, even if just on a 1 year deal. As a result, the current situation doesn’t look good for bringing back Brouwer or Backes. Of course, as the Blackhawks proved, cap room is just a trade away. My expectation is that at least Kevin Shattenkirk will be traded.
June 24-25, 2016 – NHL draft – Blues currently have the 28th, 59th, 87th, 119th, 125th, 209th and 211th picks. The 211th pick is the last pick in the draft.
Interesting tidbits:
- Hitchcock picked up Yeo at the airport for his interview and had a long chat though their playoff series of a few years ago was not mentioned.
-Yeo beat out Hitchcock for the Wild’s head coaching job before Hitchcock later took the job in St. Louis.
- Back in 2010, Doug Armstrong offered Yeo the head coaching position for the Peoria Rivermen, the Blues AHL affiliate at the time, but he turned it down to take the same position for the Wild’s AHL affiliate.
- Wilson has already served as an assistant to Hitchcock, winning a Stanley Cup with him in Dallas in 1999.
- 2016 pre-season home games – 9/25 vs Columbus, 9/30 vs Dallas, and 10/8 vs Chicago
- Hawks rumors on Malkin? Don’t buy into these until you see a lot more salary traded out of Chicago or unless they include Seabrook as part of a blockbuster deal (think Seabrook and Shaw for Malkin and Dumoulin).
War-on-ice taking their site down derailed my hockey analytics blog. I think I finally found a replacement (Corsica Hockey) so I’ll work on that next week.
It’s a great day for hockey.
St Louis Blues Blogger • 
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