Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM. Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2023-24 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.
St. Louis Blues
Current Cap Hit: $83,206,429 (under the $83.5MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Nikita Alexandrov (one year, $817K)
F Jake Neighbours (two years, $835K)
In his first full professional season, Neighbours split the year between St. Louis and Springfield. While he was a scorer in the minors, he didn’t have much success in 43 NHL contests. He should push for a full-time spot this season but barring a big breakthrough in his offensive play, he’s a strong candidate for a short-term second contract. Alexandrov got his first taste of NHL action last season but, like Neighbours, didn’t produce much with the Blues despite being a quality scorer with the Thunderbirds. Playing almost exclusively on the fourth line tends to do that. Now waiver-eligible, Alexandrov should be able to lock down a full-time roster spot but if he’s back in a similar role this season, his second contract is going to check in pretty close to this one.
Signed Through 2023-24, Non-Entry-Level
F Sammy Blais ($1MM, UFA)
D Robert Bortuzzo ($950K, UFA)
F Kasperi Kapanen ($3.2MM, UFA)
D Scott Perunovich ($775K, RFA)
D Calle Rosen ($762.5K, UFA)
D Marco Scandella ($3.275MM, UFA)
F Oskar Sundqvist ($775K, UFA)
F Jakub Vrana ($2.625MM, UFA)*
*-Detroit is retaining an additional $2.625MM on Vrana’s contract
Kapanen was a somewhat surprising waiver claim from Pittsburgh late in the season as GM Doug Armstrong opted to take an extended look at him. After struggling with the Penguins, he finished up strong with the Blues but will need to carry that type of performance over for a full season if he wants a shot at beating this price tag on his next deal. Vrana was limited to just 25 NHL games last year between Detroit and St. Louis but was quite productive with the Blues, notching 10 goals in 20 games. He will need to stay healthy and keep up that scoring pace if he is going to have any chances of approaching the $5MM mark on his next deal.
Blais struggled last season with the Rangers and was basically a throw-in on the Vladimir Tarasenko trade to help make the money work. But his return to St. Louis rekindled his production. Blais opted to sign an early extension not long after the swap, a move that might have cost him a bit of money had he tested the market. If he remains a double-digit scorer while chipping in with his usual physicality, he’ll be in line for a raise next summer. Sundqvist didn’t get much traction on the open market this summer despite having the second-highest point total of his career. If he’s in a depth role this season, he’ll have a hard time significantly bolstering his market but a spot on the third line could at least get him a small boost.
Scandella did well when he first joined St. Louis, quickly earning this contract which was a four-year deal. Things haven’t gone well at all since then as he has battled injuries and struggled when healthy. Unless something changes, his market value will be closer to the $1MM range next summer than the $3MM range. Bortuzzo is a prototypical depth defender best used as a sixth or seventh option. Those players usually sign for close to the minimum which is what he’ll need to take again if he wants to stick around.
Rosen saw limited action last season but was pretty productive with eight goals and ten assists in 49 games. That should turn some heads around the league and if he’s able to stick on the roster full-time this year as well, he could at least get closer to the $1MM mark next summer. Perunovich will be looking to unseat Rosen (or someone else). A productive scorer in both college and the AHL, injuries have derailed his development so far. He’s on a one-year minimum contract and if he can stay healthy, he should be able to play his way into the mix.
Signed Through 2024-25
F Pavel Buchnevich ($5.8MM, UFA)
G Joel Hofer ($775K, RFA)
F Alexey Toropchenko ($1.25MM, RFA)
D Tyler Tucker ($800K, RFA)
Buchnevich has found another level since joining St. Louis two years ago. While he did battle some injury trouble, last season was still by far his second-best season offensively and his second straight showing of over a point per game. After being more of a second liner with the Rangers in terms of production, he has become a legitimate top-line winger with the Blues while receiving second-line money, giving them a nice bang for their buck. Assuming he’s able to continue that over the next two seasons, Buchnevich could very well add a couple million per season to his next cap hit while pushing for close to a max-term deal; he’ll be 30 when his next contract kicks in.
The other three players in this group are the bridge brigade. Toropchenko held down a regular spot for most of last season, albeit in a limited role which made a short-term second contract an obvious outcome. Moving onto the third line with some regularity will help boost his next deal. Tucker spent the bulk of last season in the minors but did well in limited action when he was up. Now waiver-eligible, this deal should secure him at least the seventh spot on the depth chart; he’ll need to play his way into a regular role to get any sort of sizable raise. As for Hofer, he has primarily played in the minors so far which limited his earnings upside. If he fares well in the second-string role for two years, he should more than double this price tag.
Signed Through 2025-26
F Kevin Hayes ($3.571MM, UFA)*
D Nick Leddy ($4MM, UFA)
F Brandon Saad ($4.5MM, UFA)
*-Philadelphia is retaining an additional $3.571MM per season on Hayes’ deal
Saad hasn’t reached the 50-point mark since 2016-17 with Columbus but has settled in as a capable and somewhat consistent secondary scorer. This contract isn’t a bargain but they’ve received a decent return on it so far. Three more years around the 20-goal mark might give him a shot at a short-term deal close to this amount in 2026. Hayes comes over from Philadelphia who practically gave him away with retention. St. Louis should benefit nicely; while he’s not the $7MM-plus player his full contract is, he should easily be able to live up to half of that.
Leddy’s first full season with the Blues was a bit of a mixed bag. He logged some big minutes but didn’t provide a whole lot offensively while his possession numbers weren’t the strongest either. There were plenty of underachievers a year ago in St. Louis but they’ll be counting on more from him this season to get better bang for their buck.
Signed Through 2026-27 Or Longer
G Jordan Binnington ($6MM through 2026-27)
D Justin Faulk ($6.5MM through 2026-27)
D Torey Krug ($6.5MM through 2026-27)
F Jordan Kyrou ($8.125MM through 2030-31)
D Colton Parayko ($6.5MM through 2029-30)
F Brayden Schenn ($6.5MM through 2027-28)
F Robert Thomas ($8.125MM through 2030-31)
Thomas and Kyrou are going to be linked together for a while. Both players took the traditional route of a bridge contract and outperformed it significantly. Now, they find themselves on identical long-term contracts as the cornerstones of their attack. Last season (the final year of their previous deals), neither of them produced at a level worthy of this type of contract and it’s fair to say that expectations will be higher for them moving forward. Schenn’s per-game production dipped a bit last season but he still finished second in scoring. This contract might be a bit pricey at the end but as long as he’s hovering around the 60-point mark and playing in all situations, they’ll do fine with this deal.
On the back end, Faulk and Krug are also somewhat tied together. Both are offensive-minded blueliners but while Faulk has turned it around the last couple of years after a slow start in St. Louis, Krug hasn’t fared as well. That led to the Blues looking to trade him this summer, a move he ultimately vetoed. Long-term, there isn’t really room for both on the roster but neither of them will carry much value with four years left on their respective deals. Krug’s recent injury isn’t allowing him to start this season on a high note to help build back some of that value.
Parayko, on the other hand, has shown plenty of offensive promise in the past but hasn’t been able to put it together consistently. He’s quite effective in every other facet, however, and is one of the big minute-eaters following Alex Pietrangelo’s departure. However, the lingering concern with him will be his back trouble. As long as there are concerns about it – even though he missed just five games over the last two years combined – the Blues will be hard-pressed to move him for top value.
Binnington has certainly had an eventful last few seasons, to put it nicely. He hasn’t come close to maintaining the level of performance he had in his breakout 2018-19 campaign, nor the two follow-up seasons that helped land him this deal, one that pays him in the upper third among starters league-wide. Since signing that contract, Binnington’s numbers have been closer to that of a backup goalie, not a core starter. With Hofer being so inexperienced and no true goalie of the near future further in the system, the Blues will be counting on Binnington to turn things around quickly. If that doesn’t happen, this will be an anchor on their books for a few years, especially as more teams gravitate toward less expensive platoons.
Buyouts
None
Retained Salary Transactions
None
Still To Sign
None
Best Value: Sundqvist
Worst Value: Binnington
Looking Ahead
With the Blues saying that Krug’s injury will be re-evaluated in early October, there’s a good chance he’ll be out for a little while longer based on past injuries where they’ve used the re-evaluated terminology. That makes him a possible LTIR candidate which gives them a bit more short-term flexibility but limits their ability to accrue in-season space if they have to use it. As a result, they’re going to be hard-pressed to create much in the way of wiggle room leading up to the deadline.
They’ll have a bit of flexibility next summer with a little over $12.5MM in expiring contracts coming off the books although they will have as many as eight spots to fill with that money. However, in terms of bigger-scale pickups, they’ll likely have to wait a little longer to make another splash with so many long-term deals on the books. The Blues are a franchise that certainly will be eagerly awaiting a bigger jump in the salary cap as a result.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
The Blues are an interesting team. I can see them competing for as high as 3rd in the Central or just as easily (more likely?) cratering for a lottery pick.
The defensive core cannot be as bad as it was last year, but it’s risky trying to “run it back” after such terrible possession numbers by 4 Defensmen making a combined $23.5 Million over at least the next 3 seasons. For the Blues’ sake, let’s hope this was a schematic issue and changing to from Van Ryn to Weber behind the bench will help.
Thomas and especially Kyrou need to (an have the ability to) make massive gains in maturity, accountability, scoring, and possession rate to earn those deals. Because of those and signing others to longer-term/cap saving deals, there isn’t a lot of wiggle room for a team that picked 10th last season. Time to put up.
The silver lining might be depth. Grabbing Vrana, Kapanen, and hopefully Hayes as a middle six re-treads that can either help elevate or be solid enough to gain assets at the deadline was shrewd. Blais and Sundqvist also have played their best hockey as Blues on bargain deals.