St. Louis Blues Make Five Depth Signings To Open Free Agency

The St. Louis Blues signed forwards Nick Lappin, Evan Polei, Michael Vecchione, Nathan Walker, and defenseman Derrick Pouliot to two-way contracts on Monday afternoon.

The St. Louis Blues have not made big waves in free agency, and there have been no reports indicating that it will change anytime soon. However, what they did do was sure up their depth in the minors.

Walker and Polei were the only two players, of the five the Blues announced, that were signed for multi-year deals. Walker and Polei are now under contract for the next two seasons, while the remaining three were signed for the 2019-20 season.

None of the details of the dollar amount of the contracts have been confirmed through the team. All figures were pulled from CapFriendly.

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Pouliot’s contract pays him an NHL salary of $700,000 although he is likely to see the bulk of his playing time in the AHL with the San Antonio Rampage.

Pouliot is coming over from the Vancouver Canucks where he has spent the past two seasons. The former eighth overall pick by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2012 has played in five NHL seasons but has played over 35 games just twice in his career.

The 25-year-old defenseman played in 62 games for the Canucks last season, netting 12 points on three goals and nine assists. Pouliot spent the first three seasons of his career with the Pittsburgh Penguins and recorded just 14 points in 67 games.

This signing will give the Blues another NHL-ready insurance policy in the minors leagues if one of their defensemen go down with an injury mid-season. However, it still appears as though Pouliot will have to wait his turn before getting the call.

Lappin may be the most intriguing signing the Blues made on Monday. After signing as a free agent out of the NCAA, Lappin has spent the past three seasons playing primarily in the AHL with the Albany Devils.

The 26-year-old did, however, appear in 11 games for New Jersey last season, but was kept off the scoresheet. With the Binghampton Devils last season, Lappin netted 31 goals and 22 assists in 65 games played.

If we saw Lappin in St. Louis at any point last season, I would have to suspect that a good amount of the Blues forwards have been injured. I would imagine that we would see Klim Kostin in St. Louis before we see Lappin in a regular season game. This is not to say he cannot find a way to contribute with the development of some younger forwards in the AHL.

Polei was granted a two-year deal from the Blues, worth $925,000 a year, comparable to the contract the Jets gave Erik Foley after drafting him, then later trading him to St. Louis in the Paul Stastny deal.

That contract makes Polei the highest-paid minor league forward in the Blues system, and I’m not sure why. Polei spent the 2018-19 season exclusively in the AHL with the Bakersfield Condors and registered 20 points in 53 games.

The only sign of any offensive potential was during the 2016-17 season when he was playing in the WHL with the Red Deer Rebels. In 69 games, Polei netted 33 goals and 29 points but has failed to replicate those numbers since.

Vecchione has minimal NHL experience. In the 2016-17 season, he appeared in just two games for the Philadelphia Flyers. He has since spent the past two seasons with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the AHL affiliate for the Flyers.

He has put up consistent numbers as a professional in the minor leagues, netting at least 15 goals and 23 assists in both the 2017 and 2018 seasons. The 26-year-old is still unlikely to see NHL ice with St. Louis.

Walker was given a two-year deal worth $700,000, and at 25 years old, he has only a handful of games under his belt at the highest level. Walker has appeared in 12 NHL games and has one goal and one assist.

Walker spent the majority of the 2018-19 season with the Hershey Bears in the AHL. He played in 45 games for Hershey where he put up 13 goals and 15 assists.

While it is unlikely we see any of the five players the Blues signed on Monday to make it to the NHL level, they did add some quality minor league talent that should be able to boost the development of some of their higher quality prospects.