It’s no secret how important it is for the St. Louis Blues to go on a good playoff run this spring.
So given the recent injuries to impact forwards Vladimir Tarasenko and Alex Steen, you’d have to think there would at least be some temptation to call on the best replacement option at their disposal: Vladimir Sobotka.
A couple rival NHL teams certainly expect the Blues to bring him back from Europe, although those executives could have some ulterior motives for making the suggestion (more on that later).
As of now, it doesn’t appear as though Sobotka is even on the radar as St. Louis gears up for the post-season. Both general manager Doug Armstrong and Petr Svoboda, the player’s agent, told Sportsnet that he’ll participate at next month’s IIHF World Hockey Championship before a decision is made on his NHL future.
“We want him back for a full year,” Armstrong said Thursday night.
Sobotka owes the Blues one more season whenever he elects to return to the league. An arbitrator awarded him a $2.725-million, one-year contract last summer, but that came after the 27-year-old had already signed on with Avangard Omsk in the KHL.
Should he decide to return to North America at any point, he’ll need to honour that deal before becoming eligible for unrestricted free agency.
That’s where the current situation potentially gets interesting: Were he to dress for the Blues in the playoffs, it would take that contract off the books — much like Alex Radulov did in Nashville a few seasons ago. Doing so would give Sobotka an immediate chance to chase the Stanley Cup while also establishing himself as a highly sought-after commodity in a weak free agent class on July 1.
Hence all of the interest from other teams.
Rumours about Sobotka’s imminent return have been circulating for the better part of a month and seem to be fuelled by potential suitors. The Czech is a reliable two-way centre with nearly 400 games of NHL experience and would be in high demand on the open market.
He could certainly provide added depth right away in St. Louis, although the team expects to have both Steen and Tarasenko back in the lineup by the start of the first round.
Further clouding the unique situation is the fact the world championship is being played on Sobotka’s home soil in Prague, and the player has had limited opportunity to represent his country as a pro. A knee injury forced him to miss the Sochi Olympics last year.
Sobotka is also currently rehabbing a groin ailment that kept him out of an entire round of the KHL playoffs with Omsk. It was only this week when he was able to join the Czech national team on the ice for practice.
“He’s fine,” said Svoboda. “He’s skating already and he’s getting ready for the world championships.”
The agent’s focus only seems to be on next season. He expects a decision on Sobotka’s future in St. Louis to be finalized next month — once the “out-clause” window in his KHL contract opens on May 1.
That timeline appears to suit Armstrong just fine, although the Blues GM hopes he’s still preoccupied with the playoffs at that point.
Sobotka bolted for more money in Russia when contract negotiations stalled last summer, but the relationship between the parties wasn’t strained beyond repair. Armstrong indicated that he traded a few emails with the player this year and spoke with Svoboda on four or five different occasions.
“There’s no ill will there,” said Armstrong. “He made a business decision.”
Delaying Sobotka’s NHL return until the start of a season, rather than the end of one, certainly makes the most long-term business sense for St. Louis.
And if there’s any temptation to do otherwise, neither the player’s camp nor the Blues are letting on.
