St. Louis Blues Solidify Depth With Two Contract Extensions

The St. Louis Blues just announced the extension of two contracts for up and coming players. Both solidify the team’s depth for the upcoming years.

Like any good team in sports, especially one in the middle of a championship window, the St. Louis Blues are keeping an eye on their future. Those that live only in the present are doomed to fall off the cliff eventually and the Blues are attempting to avoid that.

St. Louis does not have the cold-hearted mentality of the New England Patriots or the superstar to build around like the Chicago Bulls of the 1990’s or the current Pittsburgh Penguins. Nevertheless, they aspire to be like those teams by planning for the next year and sometimes the year after that.

It is the job of the team on the ice to worry about today. It is the job of Doug Armstrong to worry about tomorrow, which he has done a good job of in an occupation where today can make sure there are no more tomorrows.

With the St. Louis Blues winning a Stanley Cup in no small part due to their depth, Armstrong just re-signed two players the organization thinks might feature heavily in the team’s future. Niko Mikkola and Ville Husso will not be going anywhere anytime soon, at least not without trade compensation coming the other way.

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Both of them signed two-year, one-way contracts to continue being members of the Blues organization through 2022. When one or both of them become regulars with the team is still up in the air.

For those conspiracy theorists in the crowd, this will signal the imminent departure of Jake Allen. They will continue to fall back on the idea that you simply cannot pay a backup goaltender the salary that Allen is getting. Nevermind the fact that the Blues have one of the best duos in the league, but yes, let’s break that up and depend on an unproven rookie down the playoff stretch.

That is not a knock on Husso. Jordan Binnington was once an unproven rookie and now has a starting job. Things can change in the NHL quickly, for good and bad. I would rather have the known commodity of Allen for the rest of this season and then let things play out in the offseason.

Plus, this is nothing more than a reward for Husso. He has definitely been improved in San Antonio this year, but after an injury plagued 2018-19, there was nowhere to go but up for someone with his talent.

We also forget that Husso is 24. Binnington is 26. While things do change quickly, St. Louis might eventually have to choose between Husso or Binnington if Husso truly is the “goalie of the future” since two years difference is not enough to wait for Binnington to retire or run his course.

What Husso’s signing does do is keep that hope alive for him. He now knows that if the Blues keep him in the NHL, he is staying since he would almost certainly get claimed on waivers.

What the team knows is they have cost certainty, should they decide to move on from Allen at one point or another. They also have an attractive trade piece, with low salary and two years of cost guaranteed for any team looking to add a young goaltender.

I am not advocating to trade Husso. However, if the right deal came along, you do it just as the St. Louis Cardinals traded away their catcher of the future when they felt the time was right.

Mikkola’s re-signing also gives the team options. While Jay Bouwmeester no longer looks like someone that needs to retire, Mikkola played well when given the opportunity. So, being a left handed shot with long reach, it would not be a stretch if the Blues let Big Bouw walk and promote the young blood.

Mikkola might not be ready to pair up with Colton Parayko right off the bat as a shutdown defender, but you can move pieces around should that decision be made. If nothing else, Mikkola’s $787,500 salary is much better for your cap than Bouwmeester’s $3.25 million or even Carl Gunnarsson‘s $1.75 million.

The low salary for both Husso and Mikkola also gives the Blues flexibility. Should a player get hurt next year, there is no way their cost would overtake whoever they might replace. It also gives them the option to start one or both in the AHL for 2020-21 given that all you lose is a bit of money since they both get their NHL salary no matter what.

These were both smart, well-orchestrated contracts. How the Blues use either one remains to be seen, but they will feature prominently in whatever the team does over the next two years.