St. Louis Blues Predictably Quiet To Start Rare Offseason
By Jason Martin
The St. Louis Blues came into the new year as defending champions for the first time, and they seem content with heading into next season with the same roster.
This is uncharted territory for the St. Louis Blues. Fresh off their first ever Stanley Cup, St. Louis has seemingly every intention to sit back and watch the rest of the NHL overpay for free agents.
Heading into the offseason, the Blues had seven restricted free agents to sign, including rookie goalie Jordan Binnington. On top of that, St. Louis was already near their cap limit. Barring a trade, the team would not be able to get much done.
Almost a week has gone by, and the Blues have done virtually nothing to bring in anyone from outside the organization. The team did make a series of depth signings to sure up their AHL affiliate San Antonio Rampage.
More from Editorials
- St. Louis Blues Need Kasperi Kapanen To Be On Best Behavior
- Hayes’ Debut And Other Bold Predictions for the St. Louis Blues
- St. Louis Blues Captaincy Is Suddenly A Huge Problem For 2023-24
- St. Louis Blues National Games Cause More Problems Than They’re Worth
- St. Louis Blues Brayden Schenn Has To Be An Impact Player In 2023-24
In addition to those moves, the Blues were also able to resign Sammy Blais, Jordan Nolan and Nolan Stevens to one-year deals.
St. Louis did not figure to be in the bidding for some of the marquee free agents like Artemi Panarin or Sergei Bobrovsky because of the aforementioned lack of cap space.
However depending on how much money the remaining RFAs command, there could be some room in the budget for a depth signing like a Brian Boyle.
The Blues do not need to make any moves. The way the team is currently constructed, even if the team is unable to resign Pat Maroon, the Blues should still be ready for another deep run into the postseason in 2020.
They have a good mix of NHL veterans like Alex Steen, Alex Pietrangelo, and Jay Bouwmeester, and now everyone has considerable playoff experience. Even the young players like Robert Thomas, Blais, and Ivan Barbashev are battle tested.
St. Louis seems content to keep their high-salaried veterans. Jake Allen and Steen are making a combined $10.1 million that take up almost 15% of the team’s total salary.
Steen proved to be a valuable addition to the Blues’ fourth line. He registered two goals and three assists and was a plus-minus two in the playoffs for St. Louis.
Allen, meanwhile, figures to serve as an excellent backup to Binnington next season. Even if Binnington can repeat his success from a year ago, he will not be able to start all 82 regular season games.
Allen was spectacular on the road last season. His record when playing away from Enterprise was 11-8-6, he had a .924 SV% and allowed just 2.26 goals per game. His record in St. Louis was what left the fanbase with a sour taste in their mouths until January.
An 8-9-2 record at the Enterprise Center, Allen compiled a .878 SV% and a 3.65 GAA. Despite no longer being the number one goalie, and making $4.35 million, he will be a valuable goalie for the Blues.
Top 5 Blues To Drop The Gloves. dark. Next
The Blues have been quiet this offseason, and the only reason why there would be any noise regarding the team would likely be a result of the signing of Binnington to his first deal, and that is okay.