St. Louis Blues: Robert Bortuzzo Extension Looks Like a Big Steal

The St. Louis Blues are in a fierce playoff race thanks to the red-hot play of many players. Defenseman Robert Bortuzzo won’t show up on the scoresheets but he has been as important as anyone recently.

When the St. Louis Blues signed Robert Bortuzzo to his two-year extension last December, it wasn’t a major headline around the NHL. It wasn’t even that big of a story in the Blues community.

But it kind of looks like big news now.

Watching last night’s huge win over the Los Angeles Kings, I found myself watching Bortuzzo off the puck a lot. And it’s because I noticed, for yet another game, how great the big defenseman’s positioning has been. When he is on the ice, the Blues are seeing almost very few legitimate scoring chances from opponents.

This isn’t anything new, really. Bortuzzo has been great all year when given the opportunity. But in the thick of this playoff race and a juicy winning streak, he’s now drawing the attention to himself.

Robert Bortuzzo is never going to be a top defenseman for the St. Louis Blues. That’s pretty clear. But this season, the Thunder Bay native is showing he is a concrete third pair option now and going forward. At 27 years old, he is having a career year. I don’t think it’s a fluke at all.

Bortuzzo has been pretty beloved by Blues fans since the team acquired him in the spring of 2015. At first, and especially for me, it was just because he was anything other than Ian Cole. Since the initial excitement, it has been because he is a tough, physical player who issues his share of big hits. And that’s fine. That’s what Blues fans have loved for decades.

But Robert Bortuzzo should be beloved this season for the opposite.

No. 41 is still a physical threat on the ice. He is still an excellent checker. But before, he was also kind of a reckless hunter out there. Now, Bortuzzo is playing really smart, patient hockey. His newfound combination of the two elements is what he can attribute to recent success.

Monday night’s contest in Los Angeles was just his 29th start of the season. And in those 29 games, Robert Bortuzzo has sat in the penalty box for just nine minutes. That’s about one penalty every six games.

If that doesn’t seem like anything special, compare it to his other campaigns as a member of the St. Louis Blues. After the trade from Pittsburgh in 2015, Bortuzzo registered 25 penalty minutes in only 13 games with his new club. Last season, he registered 52 penalty minutes in 40 starts.

I don’t think this season is an outlier for Robert Bortuzzo, though. It’s something he can continue moving forward. And he’ll have to now that he is an everyday player via the Kevin Shattenkirk trade.

Bortuzzo’s success is also not all about newfound discipline.

I’m not typically one to focus much on plus-minus ratings because there are so many factors outside of individual performance than can affect it. But, it’s worth noting that the right-hander leads the St. Louis Blues with a +8. That may not be anything exciting on other playoff teams but +/- hasn’t exactly been a great thing to look at with this Blues team. Half of the roster holds a negative rating.

Given that Robert Bortuzzo doesn’t offer much offensively, it’s impressive that he has managed to lead the Blues with that mark. It hints at how much better he has been defensively and in his own zone.

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And even though he isn’t an offensive threat, he has progressed that element of his game somewhat as well. We shouldn’t expect goals from him nor many helpers, so with him it needs to be about his decision-making. The Blues literally just need him to cycle and not turn the puck over to ruin chances. He seems to be doing just fine in that regard.

If the occasional highlight play comes from the big guy, we’ll take that too. He had one recently, with this heads-up pass to Joel Edmundson for the game-winning goal with 20 seconds left against Anaheim.

So, I really like the play of Robert Bortuzzo this year. I think he has done plenty to make sure he isn’t a healthy scratch the rest of the way. He’ll be even more valuable in a rough playoff if the Blues get there.

But here’s the best part.

Robert Bortuzzo will make just $1.1 million per year until 2019-2020.

That’s low for a veteran player that brings what he does. He is playing the best hockey of his career after signing a team-friendly extension. What more could you ask for?

Given some of the bad contracts the St. Louis Blues have, being able to retain a player like Bortuzzo for that amount is a steal. Even if he regresses to a less disciplined, more mistake-prone player again, the $1.1 million still won’t be a concern. That’s just fine for a depth option. But if he gives the Blues any more than that, like what he has offered lately, the Blues will be getting seriously tremendous value.

Next: Alex Pietrangelo Leading in a Big Way

It might just be one of the best contract decisions General Manager Doug Armstrong has made during his tenure.

14 minutes of great hockey from Robert Bortuzzo every night is a big reason the St. Louis Blues might be heading into another postseason.

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