- The St. Louis Blues will be without a couple of players to start training camp with Matthew DeFranks of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporting Oskar Sundqvist and Adam Jiříček are out with knee injuries. Neither player is expected to play any preseason contests but Sundqivst should already have a guaranteed spot on the roster despite his early absence. Jiricek, the younger brother of Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman, David Jiříček, was recently selected by the Blues as the 16th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. Jiricek was limited to 19 games last year with Czechia’s HC Plzeň due to a season-ending knee injury and his availability for the 2024-25 season is still in the air.
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Blues Rumors
Snapshots: NHL Expansion, Stajan, Nylander, Buchnevich
The NHL’s owners will be meeting on October 1st to vote on opening another NHL Expansion window, shares Andy Strickland of Bally Sports Midwest. Strickland adds that the leading candidates for expansion are Houston, led by Tilman J. Fertitta, and Atlanta, led by Vernon Krause. NHL.com’s Kevin Weekes seconded the story, sharing that he wouldn’t be surprised to see the NHL grow to between 34 and 36 teams.
Adding the pair of southern cities to the NHL would maintain the balance between conferences, but it could throw off Divisional alignment. Every division currently holds eight teams, but additions in Houston and Atlanta could push the Central and Atlantic Divisions, respectively, up to nine. That could be an incentive for further expansion in the future, assuming the NHL keeps their structure the same.
Other notes from around the league:
- The Calgary Flames have hired longtime Flame Matt Stajan as a skills consultant. Stajan spent nine years with the Flames from 2009 to 2018 – the final years of his 15-year, 1,003-game career in the NHL. That career kicked off with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who drafted Stajan in the second round of 2002 and elevated him to the NHL two seasons later. He quickly became known for his reliable two-way play down the lineup, even briefly flirting with strong scoring with 55 and 57 points in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons. Those stood as career-highs, but Stajan’s responsible play carried into Calgary, earning him a consistent third-line role during an era of flux for the Flames. He’ll now bring that hockey IQ to the coaching stage, looking to support Calgary as they once again enter a new era.
- New Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube has shared that William Nylander will start training camp at center, with Max Domi on his wing, shares David Alter of The Hockey News. Nylander has flirted with a center role throughout his nine-year career, but hasn’t fully absorbed the role over John Tavares. Nylander was impressive at the faceoff dot when he did take draws, recording a 51.4 faceoff percentage in 2017-18, his only year taking more than 400 faceoffs in a season. On his career, Nylander has won 963 of a possible 1,909 faceoffs, good for a 50.4 percentage. Domi will offer helpful support in the event that Nylander struggles in the new role, boasting a 52.5 faceoff percentage over the last two seasons.
- Pavel Buchnevich will also move from the wing to center, shares Matthew DeFranks of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Buchnevich has been much less successful at the faceoff dot, winning just 37.4 of his 206 faceoffs last season. He’s one of St. Louis’ most prolific scorers, forming a strong trio with Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou. But center depth is a sudden concern for the Blues, with players like Brayden Schenn taking a recent step back and prospects like Nikita Alexandrov failing to emerge. The Blues will look to mitigate that lacking depth by spreading out their star talent to start the year.
Blues Sign Six Players To Tryouts
The Blues signed forwards Nikita Alexandrov, Sam Bitten, Matthew Peca, defenseman Scott Harrington, and goaltender David Tendeck to professional tryouts, general manager Doug Armstrong announced Wednesday. Undrafted forward Jake Gudelj will also be in Blues camp on an amateur tryout.
Extending a PTO to Alexandrov allows him to participate in training camp despite still being a restricted free agent. The 24-year-old remains unsigned after appearing in 23 games for St. Louis last season, recording two assists and a -4 rating while averaging 8:32 per game.
A second-round pick of the Blues back in 2019, Alexandrov completed his entry-level contract in 2023-24. He’s grown into an elite offensive presence in the minors, recording 45 points in 48 games with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds over the past two seasons, but hasn’t climbed past a fourth-line role at the NHL level.
Bitten, Harrington, and Peca already have contracts in hand with the Thunderbirds for this season, so their PTOs simply allow the Blues to give them a look in an NHL environment and further posit whether to extend two-way offers to them as the season progresses. Bitten has no NHL experience, but the latter two vets have combined for 338 appearances at the game’s highest level.
Meanwhile, the 24-year-old Tendeck will look to land likely an AHL contract with Springfield or an ECHL contract with the Blues’ second-tier affiliate, the Florida Everblades. The former Coyotes draft pick ended a tumultuous 2023-24 campaign with the Everblades, logging a .972 SV% and 0.99 GAA in three appearances after being a sub-.900 netminder in the ECHL since the beginning of 2022-23.
Gudelj, 18, was draft-eligible for the first time last summer but already has three seasons of junior hockey under his belt. Injuries limited the forward to 16 games last season with the WHL’s Tri-City Americans, posting three goals and four assists. He’ll look to capture an entry-level contract with the Blues to turn pro within their system in 2025.
Blues Plan To Use Broberg On PK, Not PP To Start
- While the Blues handed a pricey contract to get Philip Broberg from Edmonton via an offer sheet this summer, Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch relays that the blueliner probably won’t see power play action right away, even without Torey Krug who is out for the season. Broberg had 39 points in 47 games with AHL Bakersfield last season but head coach Drew Bannister has indicated that their plan for the 23-year-old at this point is to have him killing penalties and that they don’t want to load up on his workload too fast after having a limited role with the Oilers.
Morning Notes: Blues Offer Sheets, Rossi, Gartner
The Blues tendered the first successful offer sheet(s) in three years last month when they landed both Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway from the Oilers. Some thought the rich contracts may have been a ploy to snag one while Edmonton matched the other. That wasn’t the case, as Blues general manager Doug Armstrong told Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic that the team “structured it that way in an attempt to get both players.”
“We scouted them,” Armstrong continued. “We’ve watched their development. We thought there was a chance that we could get both when you looked at the Oilers’ contracts coming up, and it ended up working out that way.”
It all indicates Armstrong’s hope to end his tenure as GM by returning the 2019 Stanley Cup winners to championship contention without a total teardown. “We now have double-digit players drafted in the first round over a five-, six-year span,” he said. “Now, they’re not all going to make it, but consistently, you have 70 to 80 percent of those guys make it; they can actually play together for the better part of five, six, seven years. Building something that’s sustainable is what we’re trying to do here. Those two players fit perfectly into that.”
More from around the NHL as training camp nears:
- Center Marco Rossi’s commitment to a solid sophomore season in the State of Hockey was evidenced last month when he declined to participate for his native Austria in this summer’s qualifying tournament for the 2026 Winter Olympics, instead focusing on starting his pre-season training in Minnesota. The 22-year-old spoke recently to Joe Smith of The Athletic, saying he thinks a 30-goal season is “of course possible” after lighting the lamp 21 times in his rookie year. He’s got his confidence back after demonstrating his floor as a perfectly acceptable top-nine pivot last season – which wasn’t a guarantee for the 2020 ninth-overall pick after complications from COVID-19 cost him virtually all of his post-draft season. That adversity “always makes you stronger mentally,” he said.
- After a 10-year run as chairman of the Hockey Hall of Fame selection committee, Lanny McDonald’s tenure in the role will end in June 2025, thanks to term limits. He’ll be succeeded by nine-time 40-goal scorer and 2001 inductee Mike Gartner, as Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun relays. Gartner will enter a chairman-elect role next month to “support transitional matters and be on the search committee for a new president and CEO.” He’ll also preside over the induction of the 2025 class, which will be announced weeks after he takes over as chairman full-time.
Could Tucker Be The Odd-Man Out On The Back End?
- Matthew DeFranks of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch assesses the defensive situation for the Blues. Even with Torey Krug’s season over before it even started, St. Louis has ample depth with nine players who could plausibly make a case for a roster spot. Matthew Kessel is the lone waiver-exempt player which could hurt his chances while DeFranks suggests that Tyler Tucker might be the one with the most work to do to maintain his roster spot. Unless St. Louis wants to carry eight blueliners to start the season, they’ll have to put one of their current rearguards on waivers barring an injury in training camp.
Salary Cap Deep Dive: St. Louis Blues
Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. 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 often 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 2024-25 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 PuckPedia. We begin with a look at the Central Division; next up is St. Louis.
St. Louis Blues
Current Cap Hit: $86,732,208 (under the $88MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Jake Neighbours (one year, $835.8K)
Neighbours wasn’t expected to be one of the Blues’ top goal-getters in his first full NHL season but he did just that, notching 27 tallies, good for a tie for second on the team. That said, it makes sense for both sides to see if it that’s repeatable before approaching extension talks. A bridge deal at this point should check in around $3MM but another strong showing could push those discussions toward a longer-term agreement.
Signed Through 2024-25, Non-Entry-Level
F Radek Faksa ($3.25MM, UFA)
G Joel Hofer ($775K, RFA)
D Pierre-Olivier Joseph ($950K, UFA)
F Kasperi Kapanen ($1MM, UFA)
D Scott Perunovich ($1.15MM, RFA)
D Ryan Suter ($775K, UFA)
F Alexey Toropchenko ($1.25MM, RFA)
D Tyler Tucker ($800K, UFA)
Potential Bonuses
Suter: $2.25MM
Faksa was acquired from Dallas in a cap-clearing move but he still is a capable player in a checking role while consistently being above-average at the faceoff dot. That said, his limitations offensively will hurt him on the open market. His track record is good enough to secure another multi-year deal but the cap hit is more likely to start with a two than a three this time around.
Toropchenko has been a good depth scorer who has added plenty of physicality in his first two NHL campaigns. That said, with a limited role, he shouldn’t be able to land too much more than this, even with arbitration eligibility. On the high end, the 25-year-old might be able to get to the $2MM mark. Kapanen’s first full season with St. Louis saw him struggle, resulting in him taking a sizable pay cut to stick around. Now, the deal has a chance to be a team-friendly one if he can get back to the 30-point level. He’ll need to do so in order to have an opportunity to get any sort of notable raise next summer.
Perunovich has shown flashes of the offensive ability that made him a touted prospect but staying healthy has been a consistent problem for him. This contract buys both sides a bit more time for evaluation but he’ll need to stay healthy and be a consistent contributor to have a chance at a multi-year agreement. Joseph comes over from Pittsburgh after being non-tendered (a fate that could await Perunovich if he has another injury-plagued campaign) where he had a limited role. He’s likely to have a similar role with his new team so unless he’s willing to stay around this price point, he could be non-tendered again to avoid arbitration.
Suter signed with the Blues in free agency after being bought out by Dallas. There are four levels of bonuses based on games played; if he maxes those out, he’ll receive $1.725MM if he gets to 60 games ($1.125MM at 40) plus another $500K if his team makes the playoffs and he plays in 60 games. If the Blues are out of the playoffs and look to move Suter, that $500K potential bonus would transfer to the acquiring team which will be something worth noting. It’s a creative contract structure to say the least and if Suter wants to keep playing after 2024-25, he could very well sign another one like this. Tucker has had a depth role the last couple of years but hasn’t locked down a full-time spot yet. He’s likely to be in a similar situation this season which won’t help his marketability. If he plays in 28 games with St. Louis, however, the Blues can regain his RFA rights instead of him becoming a Group Six free agent.
Hofer did quite well in his first season as a full-time backup, putting up a GAA (2.65) and SV% (.913) that were better than league average. Another showing like that could push the asking price towards the $3MM mark, especially if the Blues wanted to buy out a UFA year or two. If he falters a bit this season, then the cost should check in closer to $2MM.
Signed Through 2025-26
D Philip Broberg ($4.581MM, RFA)
F Dylan Holloway ($2.29MM, RFA)
D Matthew Kessel ($800K, RFA)
F Mathieu Joseph ($2.95MM, UFA)
D Nick Leddy ($4MM, UFA)
F Brandon Saad ($4.5MM, UFA)
F Oskar Sundqvist ($1.5MM, UFA)
F Alexandre Texier ($2.1MM, RFA)
F Nathan Walker ($775K, UFA)
Saad hasn’t been able to get back to the scoring levels he had earlier in his career with Columbus but he has averaged 23 goals per season since joining the Blues. This price tag for that type of production is pretty well close to market value. That said, he’ll be 33 when his next deal starts so he’s probably not putting himself in position for a sizable increase next time out either. Joseph was acquired from the Senators in a cap-clearing move and will look to build off a career year in 2023-24. A capable checker, if Joseph could stay around that 30-point mark, he could earn a small raise two years from now.
Holloway came over from Edmonton in one of the offer sheets tendered earlier this month. His production thus far doesn’t justify that price tag but if he can secure a regular spot in the top nine, the scoring output to warrant that cost should come fairly quickly. Texier was acquired from Columbus and was quickly signed to this deal. Offensive consistency has been a problem so far in his career and he’ll need to improve on that if he wants to get to the next level contract-wise. He’ll be arbitration-eligible next time out and if his production dips a bit, he could get into non-tender territory as well but on the flip side, if the change of scenery helps, he could command at least $3MM in 2026.
Sundqvist had to settle for a minimum contract in 2023-24 and did rather well with it, earning this extension just before the trade deadline in March. With the extra depth they’ve brought in, it’s hard to see him boosting his production enough to warrant a considerable raise down the road; he seems likely to stay around this price point moving forward as a result. Walker has seen more NHL time than AHL time the last two seasons, giving him this two-year, one-way deal. But with the additions they’ve made, he could be on the outside looking in before too long. Any sort of extended AHL stretch on this contract could hurt his chances of a one-way agreement two years from now.
Broberg was the big addition via the offer sheet route as the Blues feel he can become a core defender down the road. But right now, this is a fairly steep overpayment based on what he has accomplished so far. He’ll have a chance to change that over the next two years and if he becomes the blueliner they think he can, he could be the next Blues defender to get a long-term deal. Leddy has logged big minutes since joining St. Louis but it stands to reason that Broberg will start to cut into that with him being part of the long-term plans with Leddy, currently 33, not likely to be in those. Even so, if he can play a steady role at 18-20 minutes a night, another short-term deal around this price tag could be doable. Kessel held his own in 39 games with St. Louis last season but his waiver exemption is likely to work against him. Until he can secure a full-time role, he won’t be able to make a case for much more than this.
Signed Through 2026-27
G Jordan Binnington ($6MM, UFA)
D Justin Faulk ($6.5MM, UFA)
D Torey Krug ($6.5MM, UFA)
Faulk took a bit of a step back offensively last season while injuries didn’t help either. But for the most part, he has been an above-average contributor while spending a lot of time on the top pairing. He might not necessarily be a true top-pairing piece on every team but Faulk has made it work in that role, giving St. Louis a solid return so far. Krug hasn’t had as much success and now there are concerns about if he’ll be able to play again. At a minimum, he’s out for the season so if the Blues have some injuries, he’ll be LTIR-eligible, giving them some flexibility on that front and in doing so, it takes him off the table for their potential worst-valued contract.
Binnington has been hit or miss in recent years when it comes to playing at the level of a starting goaltender, let alone one of the higher-paid ones. Last season was one of the better ones as he finished sixth in the league in games played while being tied for eighth in save percentage (with Hofer, among others). Unfortunately, that’s the highest save percentage he’s had in the last five years. Binnington is the seventh-highest-paid goalie in the league in terms of AAV for 2024-25, sixth if you take Carey Price (who will once again be on LTIR) out of the equation. While the Blues received a level of performance at least close to that range last season, they haven’t had that with enough consistency to get a good return on this contract.
Evening Notes: Rantanen, Binnington, Sundqvist
Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now writes about the impact that Leon Draisaitl’s new contract will have on Colorado Avalanche forward Mikko Rantanen’s next deal. The 27-year-old Rantanen shares an agent with Draisaitl but appears unlikely to match the $14MM AAV that Draisaitl recently agreed to. David Pastrnak’s contract is probably a good comparable for Rantanen, but as Rawal points out, that deal was signed a year and a half ago and the cap has gone up since then and will likely go up again next season.
Rantanen is coming off back-to-back 100+ point seasons and has scored 97 goals in the past two seasons. Given that he plays in Colorado, the Avalanche will likely want to keep his AAV under the $12.6MM that Nathan MacKinnon signed for in September 2022.
In other evening notes:
- Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic writes about St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington and whether he will play out the final three years of his contract in St. Louis. Rutherford believes that if Binnington plays well for the next couple of seasons and keeps the team in the playoff hunt then the team will likely keep him through the end of his deal (or close to the end of it). However, if Binnington’s play drops off, or if backup Joel Hofer is ready to play, Rutherford could foresee St. Louis turning to their young backup to anoint him the team’s starter, regardless of whether they keep or trade Binnington.
- Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic writes that Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist began skating again after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL on March 25th. Sundqvist was supposed to be evaluated at the end of September and it is encouraging to see him skating this early. St. Louis is expected to have several young forward prospects challenge for roles this fall at training camp but given that Sundqvist was just re-signed to a two-year deal, it’s likely he will start the season in the NHL if he is healthy enough to do so. The 30-year-old signed a two-year, $3MM deal in March and posted six goals and 15 assists in 71 games before the injury.
Torey Krug’s Injury Could Be Career-Threatening
St. Louis Blues defenseman Torey Krug spoke with reporters today for the first time about his injury situation and acknowledged that the issue with his ankle could be career-ending (as per Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic). Krug told reporters today that he first sustained the injury in 2018 while he was a member of the Boston Bruins. Krug broke his left ankle in the second round of the playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning when he awkwardly slammed into the boards and was done for the playoffs.
Krug started the 2018-19 season late (missing 11 games) but managed to dress in 64 games for the Bruins before finishing his time in Boston in 2019-20. He then signed a seven-year contract with St. Louis and played several seasons after the initial injury, but started to have an issue with arthritis from the ankle surgery. He played through the pain, receiving support in the form of treatment, exercise and injections.
It wasn’t until this offseason that Krug started to have major issues during his training. He called Blues general manager Doug Armstrong to report the issue and to formulate a plan with medical personnel. The initial timeline was to rehab his ankle for six to eight weeks and then re-evaluate. Now, with the rehab period over, Krug will go in for a procedure called a subtalar fusion, which could be career-threatening for the 33-year-old as it restricts lateral movement within the foot and ankle, something that is required for an NHL defenseman to move around the ice with ease.
Dr. Rick Lehman, a medical director for the U.S. Center of Sports Medicine put Krug’s odds of playing in the NHL again at about 30%, calling the procedure a Hail Mary. He also added that while a return to the ice is possible, the surgery is very difficult to come back from and the recovery period is unpredictable.
Torey Krug To Undergo Ankle Surgery, Out For Season
Blues defenseman Torey Krug will undergo surgery to address pre-arthritic changes in his left ankle and will miss the entire 2024-25 season, general manager Doug Armstrong announced today. The team’s press release didn’t say when Krug will have the surgery performed.
It’s not an unexpected development. The team said season-ending surgery was a possibility in July when they announced that team doctors had detected pre-arthritic conditions in his ankle.
At the time, the team said Krug would “work to rehabilitate the injury through non-surgical interventions over the course of the next six to eight weeks” before determining whether surgery would be necessary. With those interventions failing, the 33-year-old will sit out the campaign.
Krug’s left ankle injury is a “cumulative result of a bone fracture suffered earlier in his playing career,” the Blues said earlier this summer. They didn’t state specifics, but it’s most likely the left ankle fracture he sustained in the second round of the 2018 playoffs while with the Bruins. It cost him the final game of their series loss against the Lightning, and he also missed the first 11 games of the 2018-19 season while recovering from the fracture.
The defender is now over halfway through the seven-year, $45.5MM contract he signed in St. Louis as an unrestricted free agent in 2020. He has three seasons remaining on the deal, which carries a $6.5MM cap hit.
While not a stark overpayment, especially as the salary cap begins to rise, Krug hasn’t met expectations with the Blues. Injuries are nothing new for the defender, who’s never played a full 82 games in a season, and he’s missed at least five games in all of his four seasons in St. Louis thus far. Last year’s 77 appearances were his most in seven years.
Krug was signed mainly to fill the void left on the St. Louis blue line by former captain Alex Pietrangelo, who left for the Golden Knights in free agency in 2020 just one year after leading the Blues to their first Stanley Cup in franchise history. At no point in his career has Krug been the all-around defender that Pietrangelo was, though, and that’s been reflected in his subpar possession numbers since heading west to Missouri.
In 255 games as a Blue, Krug has 22 goals, 124 assists and 146 points with a -23 rating while averaging 20:54 per game, slightly more usage than he saw during his nine years in Boston. With him on the ice at even strength, the Blues have controlled 49.0% of shot attempts and 47.7% of expected goals, per Hockey Reference.
Krug was only the Blues’ third most-used defenseman last season. His 21:58 average time on ice checked in behind Colton Parayko (23:52) and Nick Leddy (22:22).
Fresh offer-sheet acquisition Philip Broberg will likely get the first chance to replace the majority of Krug’s minutes. The 2019 eighth-overall pick by the Oilers, who the Blues signed to a two-year, $9.16MM contract last month that Edmonton declined to match, had 38 points in 49 games with the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors last season.
The skilled puck-mover has only seen limited NHL minutes in Edmonton, and thrusting him into top-four minutes out of the gate is a significant gamble for a Blues team with playoff aspirations. But doing so would make his pricey $4.58MM cap hit much more palatable.
They also have a solid backup option for Broberg in 26-year-old Scott Perunovich, whose development has been delayed by a series of significant injuries. Nonetheless, he’s still got a fair bit of offensive upside and had 17 assists in 54 contests for the Blues last year while averaging just 15:16 per game.
Cap-wise, the Blues will have ample flexibility this season with the option to place Krug on long-term injured reserve at any time. They have over $2MM in projected cap space with an open roster spot though, per PuckPedia, so that won’t be necessary to begin the season. They’ll keep him on standard injured reserve for as long as possible to accumulate cap space throughout the season.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.