Blues to cut payroll
The Blues trimmed their payroll for this season by a few million dollars after losing in the first round of the 2003 playoffs.
After struggling to get into the playoffs and then making an early exit again in 2004, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports general manager Larry Pleau plans to trim the payroll again and go with a younger team next season.
"We want to be competitive," Pleau told the paper. "We're going to cut payroll. We did some last year and we'll continue to cut payroll. ... If you look at the National Hockey League today, success is not dictated by how much your payroll is. The parity of the game is so close right now.
"Things can change quick. It's easy to say we're going to change everybody. We're not going to change everybody. We're going to try to make the proper changes, create a chemistry that's competitive and get ourselves back to being competitive with other teams. ... Is it going to take a year, is it going to take two years? Only time is going to dictate that. But we are going to get younger and our payroll is going to be less."
Pleau told the Post-Dispatch the size of the payroll hasn't been set but will be "considerably less" than the $60 million the Blues spent this season. He also said the team will stay out of the high-priced free agent market.
The Blues plan build around Chris Pronger and his $9.5 million salary. Keith Tkachuk will make $9 million and center Doug Weight $7 million.
Getting rid of Tkachuk or Weight will be tricky, claims the newspaper, since both have no-trade clauses. One player who seems likely to be dealt is forward Pavol Demitra, a restricted free agent who made $6.5 million last season.
The Blues also have to make a decision about goalie Chris Osgood. The team has an option on him for next season at $3.3 million. If the Blues decide not to keep him, they will have to acquire a goalie or turn the spot over to young backups Reinhard Divis or Curtis Sanford.
Maybe ergibt sich da ja was für DIVIS!
The Blues trimmed their payroll for this season by a few million dollars after losing in the first round of the 2003 playoffs.
After struggling to get into the playoffs and then making an early exit again in 2004, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports general manager Larry Pleau plans to trim the payroll again and go with a younger team next season.
"We want to be competitive," Pleau told the paper. "We're going to cut payroll. We did some last year and we'll continue to cut payroll. ... If you look at the National Hockey League today, success is not dictated by how much your payroll is. The parity of the game is so close right now.
"Things can change quick. It's easy to say we're going to change everybody. We're not going to change everybody. We're going to try to make the proper changes, create a chemistry that's competitive and get ourselves back to being competitive with other teams. ... Is it going to take a year, is it going to take two years? Only time is going to dictate that. But we are going to get younger and our payroll is going to be less."
Pleau told the Post-Dispatch the size of the payroll hasn't been set but will be "considerably less" than the $60 million the Blues spent this season. He also said the team will stay out of the high-priced free agent market.
The Blues plan build around Chris Pronger and his $9.5 million salary. Keith Tkachuk will make $9 million and center Doug Weight $7 million.
Getting rid of Tkachuk or Weight will be tricky, claims the newspaper, since both have no-trade clauses. One player who seems likely to be dealt is forward Pavol Demitra, a restricted free agent who made $6.5 million last season.
The Blues also have to make a decision about goalie Chris Osgood. The team has an option on him for next season at $3.3 million. If the Blues decide not to keep him, they will have to acquire a goalie or turn the spot over to young backups Reinhard Divis or Curtis Sanford.
Maybe ergibt sich da ja was für DIVIS!
