When the St. Louis Blues signed Philip Broberg to a six-year extension earlier in 2026, there was some backlash. The thought was that the Blues were overpaying the 25-year-old.
But with the events of this week, Broberg’s contract now looks like a bargain.
After Cale Makar shattered the NHL record for the most lucrative contract, Broberg’s $8 million cap hit suddenly didn’t look all that bad. In fact, you might even argue it’s a bargain at this point.
Yes, there’s no comparing Broberg to Makar. The Blues’ top defenseman doesn’t have the hardware or a championship to stake a claim now. But that doesn’t mean Broberg won’t ever reach those goals. If, at some point, in the next six seasons, Philip Broberg wins a Norris Trophy and a Stanley Cup, his cap hit will look like an underpayment.
It’s incredible how the optics of things can change in a heartbeat.
That’s why the Blues locked Broberg up at the right time. If the organization had waited until this summer to do it, the outcome could have been much different.
Price tag would have been higher for Blues if they had waited to extend Broberg
Imagine for a minute that the Blues had waited until this point in the summer to sign Broberg. It would have been a risk given that he would have been an RFA, but beyond that, suppose the two sides had gotten into a stalemate similar to what’s going on in Anaheim between the Ducks and Cutter Gauthier.
How would the negotiations have been impacted by the Makar contract?
Makar raised the bar for every NHL defenseman. All of a sudden, blueliners around the league can look at Makar and gauge how they stack up against him.
That’s where Broberg could have drawn a line in the sand. If Makar is worth $20 million, who’s to say that Broberg isn’t worth $10 million or more?
The point here isn’t that Broberg isn’t worth that much money. You could argue that he is. The point here is that the sudden spike in salary inflation will make it challenging for some teams to make ends meet, so to speak.
The Blues could have found themselves struggling to round out the roster. After all, an extra $2 million or $3 million could mean the difference between a marginal addition and a solid NHL player. We’re talking about the difference between a league-minimum guy and a decent depth piece.
Fortunately, the Blues won’t have to worry about that, at least not with Broberg. Yes, there will be other free agents to handle down the line. But for now, Alex Steen won’t have to lose any sleep over Philip Broberg costing more than he already is.
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