By Andrew Allsman| Posted: September 27, 2014| Contact |
The Blues have agreed to a two-year deal with restricted
free agent Jaden Schwartz that will keep the forward a Blue through the 2015-16
season, the club confirmed on Saturday.
"We are excited to have Jaden in the fold for the next
two seasons," said Blues general manager Doug Armstrong. "He is an
exciting young talent that will play a key role in the success of our club in
the near future."
The deal is reportedly worth $4.7 million over its term,
holding a $2.35 million average annual value. When the deal runs out, Schwartz
will become a restricted-free agent.
Schwartz is coming off of a 56-point 2013-14 campaign, in
which he netted 25 goals. In 132 career NHL games, the young forward has
tallied an impressive 72 points (34 goals, 38 assists). However, with such a
small sample size, Armstrong wanted to be cautious in negotiations, which is
why the two sides began discussing a short-term contract, also known as a ‘bridge’
deal, earlier in the offseason.
“I think the two-year contract is good for both parties,”
Armstrong said. “It gives Jaden a chance to establish himself in the NHL. He
really had an excellent second season. In two years, he will have four seasons
under his belt and we will be able to talk about something with some greater
term.”
It is believed that during negotiations Schwartz and his
agent, Wade Arnott, were asking for around $3 million per year; the Blues
wanted to keep any deal closer to $2 million. This past week, an ESPN report
claimed that the sides were inching closer together on the value of the deal
and remained just $500,000 apart. In a matter of days, that gap was closed.
Armstrong said the negotiations lingered into the preseason because
it took time for both sides to come to the realization that they had very
different views when it came to the other's rights under the collective
bargaining agreement.
“There was never any question on the year he had last year,
on his character, his professionalism,” Armstrong said. “The disagreements
weren’t with anything on the ice, they were with rights under the collective
bargaining agreement, how we viewed it and how he viewed it. Neither side was
wrong, but we both had to sort of take a while to understand each position
before we could get something done.”
By discussing a ‘bridge’ contract, the risks were substantially
fewer for the Blues, but there are benefits for Schwartz, as well. For example,
if the forward proves over the next two seasons that last year’s numbers were
not a fluke, it sets him up for a high-paying, long-term deal following the
expiration of his current contract. At that point Armstrong has no problem
paying Schwartz fair value.
“When you are projecting out term on any player, it is
easier to do when they have a longer resume,” Armstrong said. “If he’s a
three-time 20-goal scorer next time, we are prepared to pay him. We just want
to make sure we are getting a consistent player moving forward.”
Though a conclusion has been reached, it hasn’t escaped the
Blues that the 22-year old may be a step behind his teammates at this point,
having missed the first t10 days of the Blues’ training camp.
Schwartz will
join the club on the ice on Monday for the first time this preseason. At that
point, he will have to work hard to make up for the missed time.
“I think training camp is a very important part of the
season,” admitted Armstrong. “If it wasn’t, we’d just have everyone start on
Monday. I think he is going to be a little bit behind, but the good thing is he
has been training and he is young, so I think physically he will be able to
catch up quickly.”
But Armstrong harbors no hard feelings about the way
negotiations went.
“It’s water under the bridge now,” Armstrong said.
With Schwartz signed, the Blues have just slightly over $1
million in cap space remaining. Armstrong said no transactions will need to be
made, despite the small amount of breathing room.
“I think we are in pretty good shape,” Armstrong said.