After saying that the budget was tight and that the high-priced free-agent forwards were probably too costly, the Blues stretched out and landed one of the top veteran forwards available in left winger Paul Kariya.
Kariya, 32, signed a three-year contract for $18 million with the Blues late Sunday night, giving the Blues' offense a drastically different look now with Keith Tkachuk and Kariya in the fold.
"We hope so," said an exhausted John Davidson. "Put it this way: When you looked at the Blues a week ago, and then you look now, we're a little better hockey club. This should send vibrations through the organization that, 'Man we're getting better.'"
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Davidson said the Blues worked on the Kariya deal "all day." The team had Al MacInnis, Doug Weight, Tkachuk and owner Dave Checketts speak with Kariya.
"I think he felt wanted," Davidson said. "Knowing Paul, he could have gone elsewhere for more (money). But I think he felt wanted by the club. In our discussions, he asked lot of questions about the city and the franchise. He's had experience with (Blues coach) Andy (Murray) at the World Championships. That plays into these things. We're lucky to have Andy."
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A week ago, Kariya expressed through his agent, Don Baizley, that he was not keen on returning to Nashville, which is going through an ownership change.
He was one of the more attractive free agents on the market, after posting 24 goals and 52 assists in 82 games with the Predators last season.
The fourth overall pick of the Anaheim Ducks in the 1993 draft, Kariya has played in 821 NHL games, notching 366 goals and 500 assists. In 46 playoff games, he has 16 goals and 23 assists.
He is expected to be a key addition to the Blues' power play, which was horrific last season. Last year, 25 of his 76 points with Nashville came on the power play.
So what happened to the Blues' payroll crunch? With Kariya in the fold, the payroll for 2007-08 is approximately $44 million.
"I've had discussions with Dave, and the only thing we've been told is, 'Don't go and spend silly money,'" Davidson said. "Whenever I've gone to Dave, if it's reasonable, he's never said no. This is more than a reasonable situation.
"It gives us more identity in the market, he's an exciting player to watch play. Very few play with more energy and speed than Paul."
Checketts, however, did say last week that if the Blues signed a free agent that put the payroll over $40 million, the team would have to trade a player to get back to that number.
Davidson said that isn't the case as of now.
"No, we're not going to do anything," he said. "We're just going to look at our team, see how they play and hope that this is going to be a better team."
Well it should make for at least a better power play. I was expecting the Blues to get shut out of the "elite forward" market this summer, especially when I saw the deals some of these guys were getting. Scott Gomez, 8 years for $52 million? Chris Drury, five years for $35.25 million? In a sense it is the contract length of the Kariya deal that I thought would make it a non-starter. I'm surprised he didn't hold out for a 4 or 5 years deal, since that seems to be the way it is done in the "new" NHL. The money ($6 million a year) is either right at or slightly under market value.
Throwing all that aside for the moment, this is one happy Blues fan. Bringing Tkachuk back (as a center it seems) was a good move, but it didn't "add" anything we didn't have for most of last season. Kariya gives the Blues honest to God firepower, and a chance to outfit two scoring lines that can cause match-up problems for opposing teams. With Weight and Tkachuk at center, Stempniak, Boyes, Backes and now Kariya on the wings, and some nice depth to juggle things around when needed...I think it will add up to a much more potent offense.
And many more fans in the seats.
Davidson and Co. are impressing me more each with each passing week.
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