The St. Louis Blues do not have a lick of cap flexibility for the 2023-24 season. They have a lot of money tied up in defensemen, and new contracts for Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou have kicked in this season.
The good news for the Blues moving forward is the cap is expected to go up significantly next season, and the core of the St. Louis Blues is already locked up for the foreseeable future.
Gary Bettman after Board of Governors meeting says he told owners the very preliminary revenue projections suggests a salary cap bump to between $87 M and $88 M for 2024-25 next year
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) October 4, 2023
The cap increase from the league has been a long time coming, and the COVID pandemic certainly did not help. The Blues will be one of many teams who will benefit from extreme cap flexibility.
There are a select number of players who warrant an early extension. In addition to these players, there are a few who the team should stay away from.
Kasperi Kapanen has had offseason trouble and off-the-ice issues, and on the ice, he has not lived up to his first-round pick potential. A solid season with the Blues could turn the tide, and it is not out of the question.
He posted 14 goals in 23 games for St. Louis after the Blues grabbed him off of waivers from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Meanwhile, general manager Doug Armstrong should benefit from moving on from Marco Scandella and Robert Bortuzzo as well.