Brad Boyes: Right Price, Wrong Time

St. Louis Blues President John Davidson made the case for extending center Brad Boyes's contract to the tune of four years and $16 million:

"Brad, he's got 32 goals ... six of them are game-winners ... A lot of them are in games where his goal put us ahead by one or got us back tied. They're important goals that he's scored for us. We think he's going to get better as time marches along."

The major crtitique of this signing, announced during the team's game against San Jose on Saturday, is that Boyes has been absolutely frigid lately offensively: Three goals in his past 17 games. But that would ignore the incredible season and, as Davidson explained, significant impact Boyes has had on the Blues. His 10 power-play goals are tied for the team lead. His recent slowdown could jeopardize topping his career high in points (69), but his 47 this season has already trumped last year's total with Boston and St. Louis. There was also the sense that a rival team might Lowe-ball Boyes away with an offer sheet, so signing him before the summer was a priority.

While his raise is significant -- $1.6 million to $4 per season -- this can't be considered an overpayment. Not when his teammate Andy McDonald is pulling down $3.3 million for 12 goals and 40 points; not when Mike Ribeiro of Dallas turned a similar career year in goals into $5 million a season over five years. But just like with Ribeiro's deal, I'm not crazy with the duration of this Boyes contract. Streaky scorers generally give me a headache, and they can quickly become one with a fickle fan base like the Blues have. One year may not seem like a significant difference, but a three-year deal for a still unproven player like Boyes would have been my preference -- especially with the two players that have elevated his game this season, Paul Kariya and Keith Tkachuk, getting older and/or new zip codes by the end of Boyes's deal.