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Year 1 of the Steen Era begins.

Big questions in my mind:

What does he do with Kyrou?
What does he do with Binnington?
How does he use our 3 picks in the first round?

25-26 was so epically disappointing for 2/3 of the season, but there is so much tantalizing talent there. If we can keep the Thomas/Holloway/Snuggerud line healthy and clicking, plus find some reliable scoring from the second line, we'd look pretty good, I think.

Blues ink Holloway to a 5 year, 38.75M extension!

just saw that, nice deal for both sides!

Nice deal. Good to get possibly the biggest offseason priority out of the way early.

GeddyWrox wrote: ↑

May 1 26, 3:04 pm

Blues ink Holloway to a 5 year, 38.75M extension!

hot

Oh nice, I had missed that. Good deal for both sides is right. Holloway gets life changing noney and a chance at another good contract. The blues get 5 years of potentially bargain production.

If he’s healthy, watch out!

mikechamp wrote: ↑

May 4 26, 1:36 pm

Serious question: does $7M/year (potentially) qualify as bargain production in the NHL now?

I haven't been tracking NHL salary growth to know.

I think that's a pretty standard amount for someone who's really good but not quite elite. I think Holloway is easily worth that 7 mil if he stays healthy.

mikechamp wrote: ↑

May 4 26, 1:36 pm

Serious question: does $7M/year (potentially) qualify as bargain production in the NHL now?

I haven't been tracking NHL salary growth to know.

It absolutely is.

Fun maths: Next year, the salary cap will be $104m. Holloway’s $7.75m will be just under 7.5% of the cap

In 2018-19, the salary cap was $79.5m. 7.5% of the cap would have been a salary just under $6m, which is what guys who, like Geddy said, were what scoring line but not elite forwards were making. (That’s also why Borberg’s $8m deal is a bargain because that cap% is for a solid 2/3 and he’s already playing like a 1/1a. Its also why Thomas’ deal is a bargain, and Kyrou’s deal is better than people think.)

When healthy, Holloway is an elite player. He has had trouble staying healthy. So its a good compromise.

Plus the cap makes another big jump the year after (and probably the next year), so the deal wrt % of cap becomes better.

I don't think his injury history is really anything bad..the wrist issue was with EDM and has never had a problem with that here. He did have the high ankle sprain last year, but the prior year was a torn oblique, which IMO seems to be just a freak thing.

Thomas seems to get injured more than Holloway it seems