St. Louis Blues Get Smart With ‘Contract Tracker’ Feature – Hockey Writers – St Louis Blues

Launched on Aug. 28 and still running, allowing fans to check out different contracts throughout the Blues system; However, let’s look at the details within this feature.

Shows Only Players On NHL Roster

Unfortunately, one problem with this contract tracking feature is that it is limited to the Blues’ NHL roster and players on one-way contracts. This is more limited than the previous CapFriendly website, which featured everything from one-way to two-way contracts and/or American Hockey League (AHL) players, as well as player depth, prospects, and draft picks.

Related: St. Louis Blues’ Three Most Valuable Players for the 2024-25 season

The Blues also do not feature players who have a no-trade clause (NTC) or a modified no-trade clause (M-NTC) in their contracts. That said, they show players on free agent (UFA) and restricted free agent (RFA) contracts. With more and more additions to the Blues roster, their fans can see how long their contracts will be in effect.

This feature also includes the player’s acquisition date and links to more information. The details are very good. It also notes any re-signed players and shows how long they will be at the club.

With all the contract issues in the Blues’ roster and all their recent acquisitions, including the latest with Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg, this is something to look out for in the future should there be any more disappointing seasons for the players. long term deals.

Using it to Better Understand Contract Problems and Solutions for the Blues

As mentioned, the Blues have a major contract problem with their veteran defenders. Specifically, Nick Leddy, Justin Faulk, and Torey Krug have not yet reached the value of their contracts. The bad thing is that they are bound by NTCs and M-NTCs, depending on what their contracts are.

Faulk and Krug’s contracts expire after the 2027-28 season and cannot be traded until 2025-26 when their NTCs change to M-NTCs. Krug is the main concern here as he will undergo ankle surgery for his pre-arthritis issues and will miss the 2024-25 season. Therefore, he is wasting his contract year, for which he will still be paid $6.5 million in annual average value (AAV). As for Faulk, he played well, and it would be good to use this contract tracker to keep an eye on how his performance is worth his $6.5 million AAV over the next two seasons.

Leddy, on the other hand, did not do so well. His contract will expire in 2026-27, and his NTC will change to M-NTC in 2025-26, meaning that his contract and performance in the upcoming 2024-25 season will be closely watched. Last season, he did not reach the $4 million AAV he re-signed in 2022 when he was traded from the Detroit Red Wings, as listed on the contract tracker. Leddy had 28 points in 82 games and has yet to score more than 30 points since signing with the Blues.

What the Blues’ Contract Tracker Says to the NHL Fanbase and Community

With CapFriendly, it made everything clear to individual fans in the NHL and gave them the right to see how contracts and player depth work. This is also something the NHL has not acknowledged since the sale of CapFreindly in June, and they made it public before. In 2015, when asked about the former scouting site Capgeek.com, which was shut down after its founder, Matthew Wuest, died of lung cancer, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said, “GMs know how to get information. The tools we have for internal business use are different, but everything we do internally for business purposes doesn’t have to be exposed to the public and be discussed.”

After Bettman confirmed it, it seems that the NHL does not want anyone to know anything related to the cap because if it becomes too obvious, it causes many problems for players and fans to know how much the player’s contract is and how. affects the team’s cap space. Adam Wylde of the Steve Dangle Podcast Network (SDPN) explains why the NHL strongly opposes these cap-tracking websites and features in the “Cap Angry” episode at the 50:00 time stamp.

I hope more fans will be open about their thoughts on the cape and why they want to see it more often. The NHL can offer its opinion by keeping a veil over the CapFriendly purchase of the Capitals and prove that if it is a money and business organization that wants to see itself and care about its best interests, it will have its own cap website to show how much they want to increase the interests of the NHL among the fans who pay to watch and follow. groups include the Blues. There will always be another website that will track deep cap information, like PuckPedia, which is probably the top fan tracking site right now. Meanwhile, this cap tracking feature from the Blues could be a stepping stone to show that NHL teams care about their fans and want to showcase all aspects of their team.