Stanley Cup Champion threatens to leave the St. Louis Blues.

The St. Louis Blues are riding high after their huge and unexpected victory in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs but that does not mean that all is well behind the scenes in St. Louis. 

There is an old adage in sports that goes something like "winning solves any problem" however it seems like young St. Louis Blues forward Ivan Barbashev may not have gotten the memo. You see Barbashev is currently a restricted free agent like many players at this time of year, but unlike many of those players Barbashev has very little negotiating power due to his contract status. You see Barbashev signed his contract with the Blues when he was just 18 years of age, which means he needs 4 years of professional experience before he is eligible for salary arbitration in negotiations with the Blues. The Blues of course know this and as a result Barbashev currently sits without a contract and without any signs of such a contract materializing in the near future. 

Barbashev does have one card to play however, the young forward is a Russian and he could always choose to simply return home and play in the Kontinental Hockey League if he truly grows frustrated with the situation in St. Louis. In fact according to comments recently made by his agent Dan Milstein, it sounds like Barbashev is threatening to do exactly that. 

“We are looking at options on both sides of the ocean,” said Milstein as per The Athletic.

There is a clear threat in that statement and it reads something like 'pay me or I will go play in the KHL.' It remains to be seen however how Blues general manager Doug Armstrong and the Blues organization respond to that threat given that they know Barbashev really has no negotiating power this summer. Milstein however rejected the notion that his comments were designed to be a threat, instead Milstein stated that he knows such a threat would not motivate the Blues, but added that it remained an option for his client moving forward.

“I am not using it as a negotiations tool. Team knows where we stand.”

The situation is similar to the one the Blues were involved in with restricted free agent Vladimir Sobotka a few years ago, and in that situation Sobotka called the organization's bluff and crossed the ocean. That particular negotiating ploy would hurt the Blues in the long run, and you have to wonder how willing they would be to risk another Sobotka situation coming off a Stanley Cup Championship.