The Blues have been stockpiling on centers, filling a clear positional need. Unfortunately for some, it's not with the players that they feel the Blues need. Many fans don't seem to think that Derek Roy fits the Blues' mold. The problem is he does. Too well.
The Blues have signed Roy to a one-year deal worth $4 million. It's one of general manager Doug Armstrong's trademarked "let's see what happens" contract, and that's appropriate with Roy. He has 168 goals and 287 assists in 591 games played. He is not a bad player. Unfortunately for Roy, the past few seasons have not been good for him. Last year, splitting time between the Dallas Stars and Vancouver Canucks, Roy had just seven goals and 21 assists in 42 games. Thank goodness that new contract is a million and a half less than the last year of his previous one, eh?
He hasn't had a bang up season since 2009-2010 where he scored 26 goals and 43 assists. In 2007-2008 he scored 31 goals. So, basically, looking at his stats, he's your typical Blues first or second line player and center, with a face off percentage of just under 50%.
Nothing exciting, but there's your second line center for next season, gang. It's a big signing and the status quo all rolled up into one. Hopefully he'll help develop some plays, but I'm not 100% sure of that.
At least he's got a positive attitude:
Proud to part of the St Louis Blues organization Excited to get started #longlivethenote
— Derek Roy (@Roy9ner) July 6, 2013
Jesse Spector's assessment of the Blues' game plan is interesting: "annoy you until you do something dumb." More often than not it winds up being "try to annoy you until they do something dumb," so maybe the addition of Roy and Maxim Lapierre will actually help out. They're super annoying and occasionally effective.
To learn more about our newest Blue, Nucks Misconduct has a great primer sheet on Roy. I'm pretty sure it would read exactly like what I would right but funnier, and I'm currently eating dinner, so there you go.