Alex Pietrangelo Signs Seven Year Contract Extension With Blues

Wow. Talk about ask and ye shall receive. Thanks, JMill!

In all seriousness, though, Doug Armstrong's negotiating tactics proved why I, along with many others, was advocating common sense and calmness in this saga. Just because something takes a while doesn't mean that it's not going to happen - maybe it just takes a while to ensure that something is done right.

Alex Pietrangelo's contract, presumably, was done right. The Blues' franchise defenseman only has missed two days of training camp thanks to talks, as Armstrong signed him to a seven year contract deal today. The deal's a $45.5 million contract that counts as $6.5 million against the cap according to Jeremy Rutherford (which is halfway between the Blues' $6 million and Petro's $7 million! Amazing.) From the press release:

"We’re excited to have Alex in the fold for the next seven years as he will continue be a key component of our franchise," said Armstrong. "He is an elite defenseman in this league and will be for years to come."

This new "do-something" attitude seems to be growing Sure, it may take time to acquire what you want, but owner Tom Stillman and Armstrong are being beyond patient while being proactive. Want to bring in Brett Hull to add some cash raising abilities? Sure, it took a year, but Hull's back where he belongs. Want to sign a franchise defenseman to a long time deal? Took a while, but it happened. This isn't Chris Pronger being shipped off. This isn't an incompetent ownership group talking about "Market Avenue." This is a group of people who clearly not only have the franchise's best interests at heart, but a group of people who can make those best interests happen.

Stop worrying. Don't start planning for a Cup yet - we are Blues fans, after all. We're used to things happening. But maybe, just maybe, the things that are happening aren't the usual type that we're used to.