Alex Pietrangelo To Miss Start Of Training Camp

Paging P.K. Subban... Subban. If Alex Pietrangelo wants to know what a bridge deal is like, he may want to pick up the phone and call the Montreal Canadiens defenseman, because that's what he's probably going to wind up getting.

The Blues' young stud defenseman, who is coming off of a season that probably is not indicative of his abilities, wants a long term, Drew Doughty style contract. The Blues want a slightly shorter term or a slightly smaller salary. Folks held out hope that a deal would be done before camp, but looking at the calendar, it appears that camp starts tomorrow, and there's no deal.

Pietrangelo will miss the start of training camp.

Is this a reason to panic? No. While things of this nature rarely happen in contract talks, they do occasionally pop up. Leafs center Nazem Kadri pushed his time limits and signed a bridge deal yesterday. Pietrangelo seems to be pushing his time limits farther, but there's nothing to indicate that he doesn't want to remain in St. Louis. If he didn't, he would have instructed his agent to look at offer sheets.

Will he hold out until December 1st? Probably not. Will he miss some pre-season games? Yes, and that stinks, but it's not a big deal. It's easy to get caught up and worried about things, but the Blues are a business first, and in businesses with unions, contract talks are a common occurrence. Talks may have "broken off," but it's not like Pietrangelo has scads of options. Not reporting to the Blues in a reasonable amount of time could hurt his Olympic chances, and regardless - he's still under contract with the Blues.

I'll get worried when word leaks that his agent is looking at offer sheets.