McDonald's deal averages out to be $4.7 per year. The deal includes a No-trade clause.
The contract is front loaded.....
$5.2 09-10
$5.2 10-11
$4.2 11-12
$4.2 12-13
There is a chance McDonald plays tomorrow night VS. Vancouver.
Earlier story.
The Blues made a simple statement by placing goaltender Manny Legace on waivers.
Every player is expendable.
It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done in the past.
The bottom line is you better show up prepared to work, bring a positive attitude with you, and if you don’t you better be the best player on the ice otherwise there will always be a player there to replace you.
Now Legace is headed to the repair shop down in Peoria, Illinois in an effort to fix his game and reputation. If successful he should find his way back into the National Hockey League.
Whether that happens this year could very well be up to him.
The Blues are putting themselves in an interesting position. If Chris Mason gets hurt, the Blues could be in trouble. The chances are greater of a team taking Legace on a re-entry situation where they are only responsible for half of his remaining salary.
Could this mean a trade is in the works?
Obviously we hope Mason stays healthy, but if he were to go down can the Blues really rely on Chris Holt and Ben Bishop?
The Blues will give Legace a chance to find himself and in a sense save his career. I’m told Legace is slated to start eight of the next ten games for Peoria beginning this Wednesday.
It’s been documented on this very blog for several months that Legace was disappointed with the Blues refusal to negotiate a contract extension last spring.
Outside of a superstar here and there, how many players actually get their contract extended with a full season remaining on the deal? In reality the Blues couldn’t even negotiate until July first of last summer anyway.
Prior to this season the former All-Star goaltender visited several Doctors to determine if he was in need of a knee operation. The surgery he was seeking involved a plug being inserted into his knee and required a lengthy rehab. Sources tell me this type of surgery hasn’t been performed on any other goaltender they know of and very few, if any, athletes in general.
I’m told there was one Doctor who suggested this type of procedure as a possible option. After receiving multiple opinions from Surgeons in Cleveland, New York, and Chicago if was determined this type of procedure would not be necessary.
Legace would eventually have a simple maintenance clean up procedure done by Dr. Rick Lehman, reputable Doctor here in St. Louis.
The Blues were behind the cleanup procedure which Legace has repeatedly told me has made his knee feel as good as ever.
The relationship strain between the Blues and the veteran goaltender actually began several years ago when Legace shocked the organization by having knee surgery just a few days after the Blues rewarded him with a two-year extension towards the end of the 2006-2007 season. The Blues nearly fell out of their seats when Legace came to management with the news.
Any tension that might have been created seemed to disappear when Legace showed up last season in terrific shape and made the Western Conference All-Star team. He stayed in St. Louis the entire summer of 2007 working with Blues Assistant Coach Rick Wamsley and was one of the best goaltenders in the NHL during the first half of the 07-08 season.
During the second half of that year he ticked off the Blues again by saying he would need another knee surgery at the end of the season. The Blues handled the issue internally but kept no secrets about being upset with their number one goalie.
According to several sources, this past spring the tension grew once again when Legace and his former agent Ed Ratuschny approached the Blues asking for the contract extension. Word is Legace, through his agent, told the Blues if he wasn’t getting a contract extension he would go ahead and have knee surgery and could miss significant time.
It was at this time the Blues began to discuss alternatives with their goaltending situation. Obviously the Blues needed to protect themselves and their goaltending position because they didn’t know what Legace’s availability would be.
Enter Chris Mason and his infamous $3 million per year deal.
Chances are the Blues don’t trade for Mason if Legace had never raised the idea of a serious surgery in the first place.
The Blues were completely against Legace having any procedure other than a scope after several Doctors determined his knee did not require the more serious operation.
When you look at the Blues recent history of re-signing players who perform well in their contract year, it’s fair to believe there was still the possibility of the Blues bringing Legace back if he performed at a high level on the ice.
As I recently wrote, we’ve seen it in the past with players such as Eric Brewer, Barret Jackman, Brad Boyes, and even Legace who they extended a few years back. The Blues are in process of negotiating with center Andy McDonald.
All he needed to do was show up in shape, keep a positive attitude, and play well. After that the rest would take care of itself.
It’s hard for me to be overly critical of Legace who has been great for the St. Louis community and who I feel has more to give to an NHL roster.
Teams shouldn’t be concerned about how he might affect an NHL lockerroom because for the most part he was a great teammate during his time here. He’s simply lost focus and it’s entirley up to him to straighten it out.
If I were Legace I would follow the path of guys such as Brian Boucher, Patrick Lalime, and Dwayne Roloson to name a few. All these guys saved their NHL careers in the American league.
Rink Rats!
Avalanche forward Paul Stastny is expected to return in about 10 days after having surgery on his broken arm.
Word is Bruins goaltender Manny Fernandez wants out of Boston due to the lack of playing time he’s receiving there.
Smart move by Legace to turn to Agent Allain Roy to handle his representation. Roy and Legace have known each other for years going back to when both goaltenders played with Canada’s National team.
Blues Clues!
Blues forward Paul Kariya will undergo surgery in Colorado on his left hip this Tuesday after having his right hip operated on several weeks ago.
No word if Kariya is having the operation because the Blues were unwilling to negotiate a contract extension! (wink, wink)
I hesitate to say Blues Center Andy McDonald could return this week, but you never know. He is wearing four year old Graf skates because his Bauer boot was diggin in right where the fracture in his ankle took place. He is waiting for his new Graf's to get in.
Blues fifth round pick back in 2008 Kristoffer Berglund is playing 22 minutes a game for Lulea HF in the Swedish Elite League. His 22 points are more than promising prospect Jonas Junland put up last year in the same league. Berglund, no relation to Patrik, is under contract for one more season with his SEL club.
Blues off-ice official Terry McKenna took in his son Mike’s first career NHL victory Saturday night in Tampa Bay. McKenna and the Lightning shutout the Islanders 1-0.
McKenna is the fifth St. Louis AAA Blues alumni to play in the NHL this season joining Paul (Col) and Yan Stastny (STL), Cam Janssen (STL), and Chris Butler (Buf)
Congrats to two more St. Louis AAA Blues who have received scholarship offers to play Division 1 hockey next fall. Goaltender Jeff Larson, University of Connecticut and Tyler Elbrecht, Minnesota State University-Mankato.
The Blues and the American Red Cross are teaming up for the annual “Do You Bleed Blue?” blood drive on Monday February 9th from 3 p.m.- 8p.m. at the following locations.
The Pointe at Ballwin Commons
Old Hickory Golf Club in St. Charles
Meramec Arnold Elks Club in Imperial
O’Fallon YMCA in O’Fallon, Illinios
Gateway Center in Collinsville
Yan Statstny hopes to return soon from a broken hand, he will see a hand specialist on Monday.
Please join myself and Blues forward Alex Steen Monday night at Johnny Mac’s on Watson Road from 6-7 p.m. My radio show Blues Buzz will broadcast live and can also be heard on Team 1380 am.
More to come,
Andy Strickland
[email protected] 
St Louis Blues Blogger •1380 ESPN • 
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