from Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,

On July 6, one day after Sobotka chose not to file for arbitration, the Blues did, “hoping to expedite the process,” Armstrong said.

Meanwhile, Sobotka had switched agents again, leaving a frustrated Bartlett. He hired Petr Svoboda, the former NHL player, of Sports Associates International.

With the KHL being a legitimate option, Svoboda and Armstrong began negotiations.

“He started at $2.4 million (for one season) and he came up to $2.7 million, so he gave me his best number,” Svoboda said. “We were at one year, $3 million. So basically it was over $300,000. There was no room for negotiation. It was one year at $2.7 (million) — take it.”

Armstrong acknowledged that $2.7 million was the Blues’ last offer for one year, because the team would be unwilling to pay more knowing that Sobotka would then be an unrestricted free agent next summer, but added that a two-year proposal paying $3 million per season was also on the table.

Sobotka, who averaged $1.3 million the last three years, was not interested. Being UFA eligible in 2015, his camp believed that he was worth more than $3 million in Year 2.

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