St. Louis Blues: Joel Edmundson Extension Smart for All Parties
By Todd Panula
The St. Louis Blues and Joel Edmundson came to an agreement on an extension on April 8th. The contract was nothing special, but it was a smart deal for all involved.
The Blues put forth the deal and Joel Edmundson put pen to paper yesterday. When the ink dried and the paperwork was filed with the NHL, the rookie defenseman was sewed up for an additional two years at $2.1 million over the course of the deal.
The reason I say the deal is nothing special, is if Edmundson stays as good as he has been in his rookie year or even progresses and gets better, then the deal is a steal for the Blues.
Edmundson could very well have tested the free agent market and seen if there were any teams willing to throw money at him. He would not have been the first to do so and would not have been the last.
Instead, the rookie defenseman decided to stick with the team that gave him his shot and continue his development. From the Blues’ perspective, it was a great decision as well.
The next two offseasons could be some of the most franchise defining that St. Louis will have seen in some time. The amount of important players that could be free-agents is staggering. The ability to lock up Edmundson for a relatively cost-effective deal that gives them one less thing to worry about for a couple seasons is great.
Edmundson was not even expected to make the team when the year began. Then when he made the team, there were constant rumblings that he would be one of the first to be sent to the minor leagues.
Instead, the young defenseman will have played in 67 regular season games when the year comes to a close. He has also set a Blues’ rookie record with 162 hits with one game left in the regular season.
While the Blues would have had a steady defenseman in Petteri Lindbohm likely fill his role or perhaps a larger role for Robert Bortuzzo, Edmundson has been somewhat of a revalation along with Colton Parayko.
Edmundson has proven to be quite versatile. While normally paired on the third line of defensemen, he stepped up and filled in as a top D-man with Alex Pietrangelo while Jay Bouwmeester was injured.
He is strong but not slow footed. He is listed at 207 lbs but plays even bigger than that and is young enough to keep getting bigger and more powerful. He still has plenty of room to improve his offensive game, but he can let loose from the point if needed.
The deal is incredibly smart for both sides. Edmundson, 22, will be 24 when the deal expires. He’ll still be entering the prime of his career with plenty of opportunities to prove he deserves a bigger deal over the next two seasons.
From the Blues’ side of things, they get a top six defenseman locked up for two years at a fairly low price. While the deals will expire at different times, Edmundson is now getting paid as much as Bortuzzo. The Blues now have a cost-effective deal in place and can focus more on the forwards that will come up either this summer or next.
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There will be plenty of opportunities for Edmundson to make more money in the future. There will be plenty of opportunities for the Blues to reward him with a larger contract if he earns it.
For now, this is the best of both worlds. The Blues wrap up a player that could be a linchpin in their blueline for years to come on a low-budget deal and Edmundson gets a raise while not locking himself into one team for too long.