Leafs find out how much they’d have to pay Pietrangelo to come to Toronto!

We all know the St. Louis Blues are hoping to get their captain Alex Pietrangelo back on their roster next season, but they will need to offer big money and fight off other teams looking to entice the star defenseman onto their lineup as he could test free agency in October. 

And one of these clubs is the Toronto Maple Leafs would NEED to get a talented blue liner on their back end. But they face obstacles as well. It is believed that Pietrangelo wants to stay with the Blues and is willing to take less money to stay than hit the open market. When your salary is already at $6.5 million, it remains a good chunk of money for both the Blues and the Leafs. 

Because you just know the Leafs will have to offer more! That’s what prompted Hosts and Gord Miller on Leafs Lunch to report that the Maple Leafs would probably have to offer Alex Pietrangelo over $9M AAV to match the money St. Louis could offer with the extra 8th year.

That means general manager Kyle Dubas would have to move bigger contracts to make room for that kind of money for Pietrangelo. 

The Blues have a lot to do too to keep Pietrangelo in St. Louis and it won’t be easy: general manager Doug Armstrong already has $16.5 million invested in his defense corps for next season and he still needs to get Vince Dunn inked to an extension.  After signing Justin Faulk to a long-term extension (seven years, $45.5 million) and locking up Marco Scandella (four years, $13.1 million), a major move would be required to find the space required to retain Pietrangelo. And to make things worse, the Blues don't have a single player making more than $7.5 million in their salary structure. 

However, we’re not sure the rumours sending him to Toronto makes sense when it comes to Dubas’ wallet. Of course, he would be the help they need to be a true Cup contender, but will he want to come to Toronto and could they afford him at the aforementioned price? 

That sounds like a lot of ifs and buts…