Shattenkirk: why the rumours?

[jman]

I'm not always 100% up to speed on the Who said What in the NHL so maybe I'm missing something obvious here. But, why are there so many Shatty rumours? Is it cap reasons?

[joe jones]

yup - big contract and stl cap concerns

[havanablast21]

Is Stl really in such bad Cap peril? I haven't looked specifically but this surprises me a bit

[Axeman33]

I'm not sure it's the contract. He's still got one more year left on his current deal so they can't be worried about that right now

[RizzeeDizzee]

Parayko's emergence ahead of schedule is no doubt helping matters. Plus, Shatty's two straight years of injury issues might be bearing on them.

[deantime419]

Maybe they trade him in the offseason if they don't see an extension coming but it makes no sense to make that deal until then.

[2014olympicgold]

His value will be higher today than in 5 months during the offseason. Think a Yandle type of situation when it comes to trading early. The earlier they trade someone in this situation, the better the return. I wouldn’t think STB are actively calling teams about him, but they aren’t opposed to trading him if the deal is right.

Backes, Bouwer, Berglund, Steen, Gunnarsson, Bortuzzo, Parayko, Edmundson, Benoit, Shattenkirk, Allen, and Elliot are all off contracts by the end of the 2016-17 season. And Lehtera goes from a 2.75mill cap hit this yr to a 4.7mill cap hit next yr for 3 years.

They are in for a hard few years trying to get everyone under the cap especially when Statsny, Tarasenko, and Peitrangelo over 7mill/yr. Bouwmeester is also a 5.4mill cap hit for like 4 more yrs. So yeah they’re in a bind.

They trade Shattenkirk for someone who can be under their control for a few more years (RFA), they’ll be in a much more manageable spot. They are lucky Allen is an RFA tho.

[J0e Th0rnton]

I'm not always 100% up to speed on the Who said What in the NHL so maybe I'm missing something obvious here. But, why are there so many Shatty rumours? Is it cap reasons?

The emergence of Colton Parayko on the right side has made a Shattenkirk headed for a big contract expendable.

[Front89]

This is about how STL has put themselves in a cap squeeze more than anything to do with Shattenkirk or Parayko IMO.

Shattenkirk is still their best offensive d-man and perfectly solid defensively as well. The biggest mark against him is his recent injury history, but even then he has been a consistent ~45 pt guy on a team with limited offensive talent besides Tarasenko, Schwartz & Steen.