Contract Talks: Schwartz, Blues About $500,000 Apart

Doug Armstrong, presumably after seeing how his predecessor John Davidson was handling the Ryan Johansen deal in Columbus, decided to go mute on his attempts to get Jaden Schwartz signed and participating in camp and pre-season. That doesn't mean that there still won't be leaks to the press and the rumor guys, though.

That also doesn't mean that these leaks are earth-shattering.

Pierre LeBrun statesthat the Blues and Schwartz are about $500,000 apart, and are working on a "bridge deal" which will show the Blues that Schwartz's stellar season last year wasn't a fluke.

Does this surprise anyone?

Honestly, the main reason that they're having issues agreeing on amount is probably more due to the fact that the Blues are close to the cap than anything else. Yes, Vladimir Sobotka bolted to the KHL over less money, but Sobe is European and has played European hockey. The risk, to me at least, seems significantly lower with Schwartz, not to mention there are semantics at play to boot.

This is about cap management, not necessarily player value entirely. The next thing fans will here, in a week or two at the most, is that Schwartz has been re-signed. If I were a betting person I'd say the deal will be for $2.3 or $2.4 million, but I am not a betting person because I am rarely right.

But the deal will be reasonable, and it will probably be soon.