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What’s Jaden Schwartz waiting to hear from Blues?

(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)
(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)

One of my favorite moments when we interviewed NHL No. 1 draft pick Aaron Ekblad on “Marek Vs. Wyshynski” was when he admitted that CapGeek.com was the hockey site he frequented the most. Hey, players are just like us: Curious about other contracts and their team’s own cap situation.

So one wonders if Jaden Schwartz’s Internet is down.

Cap Geek tells us that the St. Louis Blues have $2.783 million in cap space, with 23 players currently under contract, 21 of them on one-way deals. It tells us that Schwartz is a restricted free agent who doesn’t have enough games to his credit to be eligible for an offer sheet. It tells that that Cam Atkinson of the Columbus Blue Jackets, who has similar numbers in a similar amount of games played, is making $1.15 million against the cap.

It also tells us that the Blues have roughly 10 players due for new contracts in Summer 2015, among them goalie Jake Allen and forward Vladamir Tarasenko, who will be directly affected by whatever the Blues give Schwartz.

GM Doug Armstrong is a funny guy. He opened the purse strings for free agents this summer, including that $7 million cap hit for Paul Stastny. But he can play hardball with the best of them when it comes to talent already on the roster, which is partly why Vlad Sobotka is playing in Russia this season.

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"We have to find common ground that Jaden's comfortable with, that the St. Louis Blues are comfortable with. There's a host of dynamics that are involved from his performance on the ice, his character off the ice. He's got two check marks in both of those areas,” said Armstrong, via In The Slot.

“Now we have to look at the collective bargaining agreement and use the system to put him in where he should be based on his play and also based on the right that he has and based on the right the team has."

The St. Louis Dispatch has reported that Schwartz and the Blues are about $1 million apart in their talks. It’s a manageable gap, one assumes, but with the Blues’ cap situation, Armstrong’s battling for every cent. And he and the team have the high ground, for sure.