Blues' Robert Thomas Taking Leave Of Absence For Personal Matter
St. Louis Blues center will not dress on Thursday against the Seattle Kraken as he steps away from the team due to personal matter.
Video Transcript
And, and what St. Louis has in him long-term?
Well, I think Broberg hit the lottery in the sense that he's on a team where every defenseman who- in their top four is over the age of 30.
So they looked at the situation where we've got Fowler, we've got Falk, we've got Parekh, you know, all 34 or 32 years old.
This guy is 24, and he's coming to the end of the two-year deal from the offer sheet from Edmonton.
I think they're paying him based on what they think he's gonna be, because if they're paying him on what he is right now, this was a massive miscalculation by Doug Armstrong.
You have situations around the league where general managers are speculating on players like Luke Hughes getting the $9 million contract in New Jersey, and now Broberg getting $8 million for six years with St. Louis.
I don't think this is a trend that a lot of general managers are gonna like, but they're probably gonna have to, you know, roll the dice with a lot of these players.
And, and, you know, with the cap going up, paying defensemen who aren't proven, you know, big money is, is gonna be w- the- that's the path that they have to follow.
I, I, I don't think it's a particularly good contract, but we'll see.
Yeah, interesting, you know, talking about the age of St. Louis' defense corps, but there's no way Colton Parayko is that old, because I remember watching him before he got to the Blues, at the Traverse City Prospects Game, and I'm not old, so how can he be that old?
but Devin, you are very familiar, with that central division.
your thoughts on what we've seen from Broberg so far, 'cause, you know, he, he had a big injury last year, but when he was on the ice with St. Louis after that, offer sheet, he looked pretty good.
Yeah, I mean, he's a great defenseman.
Like, can't get that wrong, but i- it's a lot of money.
you know, 15 points, $8 million a year, and, you know, when these teams sign these long contracts, the, the idea, you know, the, the, the player gets the security and very good money in this case, and the team is hoping that he ends up performing at a higher level than $8 million.
Now, that again, is, is, y- we have to wrap our head around the dollar amount, because that's just the way it's going with the cap going up and the money available.
you know, you, you go five years ago, six years ago, $8 million for a defenseman, or any player for that matter, was a lot of money, and it's just the way it is now.
It's just not the same, and it's gonna continue, you know, with the revenue coming in.
So you kinda have to wrap your head around that, and, You know, but, but still, it does seem like, you know, a lot of money for a long period of time for an unproven guy.
But like you mentioned, th- that- it's the situation they're in right now.
They need, they need to completely, change the direction of that group.
it's not working there.
They're getting older, and if this is a guy who they look at as, as kind of a centerpiece of the back end during the retool, then it's important, and you gotta, you gotta pay somebody and, and make sure he's there.
So, hopefully for St. Louis, he ends up, you know, at least getting to that value, and he certainly has looked like he can.
