It will easily be one of the bigger stories of a shortened offseason in the NHL. That is, what will Alex Pietrangelo do and will he stay with the St. Louis Blues?
There’s already been a ton of talk regarding the captain’s status with the Blues going forward. A pending free agent, his contract demands may be among the highest of any free agent in the NHL. For the Blues, a team that won’t have all the money in the world to spend to keep him, can they afford his next deal? And, if they do, will a player like Justin Faulk wind up a cap casualty in a trade?
Finally, Pietrangelo is speaking about all the speculation.
The Score’s Sean O’Leary cites comments from the Blues defenseman to NHL.com’s Louie Korac and Pietrangelo notes he’d like to stick around. His priority would be to sign an extension with the Blues, even though it’s not clear how much he’ll be asking for. To be honest, he may not know that yet.
Related: Toronto Maple Leafs Pontus Aberg Left Off Postseason Roster: He’s Headed to KHL
Who Knows How Teams Will React to the New NHL Cap
There is so much uncertainty surrounding the NHL salary cap and how it will affect big-money deals, that Pietrangelo likely doesn’t have a good gauge on the marketplace. He’s in the final season of his seven-year, $45.5 million deal and he may or may not have teams lining up to give him the same type of deal moving forward. For all 31 NHL franchises, pinching pennies will become the norm.
If the Blues can’t afford Pietrangelo, he will become an unrestricted free agent and so far, he admitted he and GM Doug Armstrong haven’t held any contract talks.
Like a lot of teams getting ready for the play-ins and round robin games, frankly just to get safely into the NHL bubbles of Toronto and Edmonton, contract talks will have to wait. Pietrangelo knows those conversations will come.
Related: Benning Shoots Down Boeser Trade Rumors
