St. Louis Blues GM was ‘nervous’ when Stars landed Spezza
By Cory Buck
The St. Louis Blues signed center Paul Stastny to a four year deal worth $28 million on the first day of NHL free agency. Before they did that though, they watched conference foe Dallas Stars make a splash by trading three young players and a draft pick for All-Star center Jason Spezza, along with a flurry of other moves made by Western Conference teams. Blues GM Doug Armstrong admitted to the Post-Dispatch that the moves gave him pause.
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“I was a little bit nervous this morning when Dallas made their acquisition about what our Plan B would be,” Armstrong said. “But we never got to there …”
Instead of falling behind in Tuesday’s arms race for anyone who could play defense or center, the Blues kept up with their rivals by landing the former Colorado center who can step in the lineup and play the key role of No. 1 center in St. Louis. The Stastny signing, along with the two-year extension of promising center Jori Lehtera, allowed St. Louis to keep up with the rest of the teams in the West that improved as well.
That list of teams grew by the hour on Tuesday. There were the Nashville Predators, who traded for sniper James Neal. Then there was the Chicago Blackhawks, who took a nice deal for Brad Richards. Stastny’s former team, the Colorado Avalanche, also made a splash by acquiring Hall-of-Famer-to-be Jarome Iginla.
There were plenty of other moves made around the league on the opening day of free agency, but no one of them saw more money change hands per year than the one struck between the St. Louis Blues and Paul Stastny. That’s why you’ll have to forgive GM Doug Armstrong if he takes it easy for a few days. He’s earned it, after all.