Projecting which St. Louis Blues players will receive contract extensions in the 2024 offseason
On July 1st, several St. Louis Blues players will be eligible to receive contract extensions, so who will most likely sign on in the 2024 offseason.
The St. Louis Blues have a busy offseason ahead, and general manager Doug Armstrong has quite a few decisions to make as the summer months draw nearer. One of his tasks entails him to make decisions on players who are due to be re-signed, both restricted and unrestricted free agents.
Such players, if they don’t re-sign, will walk in free agency, and considering who the Blues have slated to be unrestricted free agents, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to cut ties with all of them. But there are also players whose contracts expire next season, and they will be eligible for contract extensions when July 1st arrives.
Considering the Blues current cap space, it would be tough to see him signing every player about to become eligible for an extension this summer to contracts that will kick in next year until he has a better idea of what the projection will look like in 2025-26. To be more accurate, there is a good chance Armstrong signs none of those who will be mentioned below and in the upcoming slides.
Will any St. Louis Blues players eligible for extensions receive one?
This doesn’t mean Armstrong won’t at least throw around the idea and sign at least one of the five players mentioned. That particular player enjoyed an unprecedented breakout year, and it could be just the beginning of a successful career in Gateway City.
But before we talk about them, let’s first discuss one seasoned veteran who has been a staple on this team over the past three seasons and one who will look to prove he should remain part of the organization even as a new wave of players comes to town.
We’ll also talk about a couple of niche players and where they currently stand, plus another who also saw extended time in the NHL for the first time in his career. So, how close is each player to earning an extension, and are any of them worthy of signing a long-term deal before the regular season begins in October?
Pavel Buchnevich
Pavel Buchnevich will be heading into his age-29 season, and thus far, he’s been one of the Blues top scorers. He played that role once again in 2023-24, finishing with 63 points and 27 goals, though he struggled through some dry spells without finding the back of the net.
As an older player for a lineup that should get younger, it would be tough to see Doug Armstrong extending Buchnevich’s contract this summer with a couple of younger names who will also be eligible to receive a new deal.
Look for Buchnevich to play out the rest of his contract and perhaps get an extension during the season if he enjoys a big year.
Alexey Toropchenko
Alexey Toropchenko showed he can be one of the Blues most physical players, finishing third on the team in hits with 165. He also had a decent 21 points and 14 goals, solid numbers for a lower-liner, and he converted 12.3 percent of those shots into goals.
Toropchenko has all the makings of being more than just a serviceable lower-liner, but he doesn’t make many game-changing plays. This is a role player who will be in St. Louis for a while, but the contract extension won’t come this summer.
Tyler Tucker
Tyler Tucker stuck around for 26 games this season, and the blueliner looks like he’s nothing more than the type you put in and play a physical game between 12 and 14 minutes per contest. He plays a role, but it’s not enough to warrant an extension in the summer of 2024.
Tucker will most likely find himself in a ‘prove-it’ year for 2024-25, and if he brings more value, the 24-year-old may sign a bridge deal next offseason.
Joel Hofer
Joel Hofer is the first player on this list who you can honestly say will be in the running for a contract extension this offseason. But the young netminder won’t sign a long-term deal just yet, as it’s more likely he will get something for between two and three seasons before he gets the lucrative contract when he’s eligible for a future extension.
If the extension doesn’t come at some point before the 2024-25 season begins, Hofer will likely see it come his way during the season if he keeps playing a solid game as the 1B/backup netminder. He only needs to repeat what he did last season, and Hofer will see himself earning a seven-figure AAV in Gateway City when the 2025-26 season opens up.
Jake Neighbours
Jake Neighbours will enter the 2024-25 season in the final year of his entry-level contract, but the 22-year-old may sign an extension before the puck drops about five months from today. Neighbours deserves it more than anyone else on this list, as despite putting up just 38 points in 77 games, his 27 goals and 18.6 shooting percentage made him the Blues breakout player this season.
Neighbours also brings more than just an offensive game that will continue to improve as he enters his prime. He was physical with opponents this year, finishing the season with 1.79 hits per game, and his presence on the power play showed us the Blues have at least one viable player in the unit.
If he signs an extension, either a bridge or a long-term deal, depending on what Doug Armstrong’s approach is, don’t let it surprise you. Neighbours has earned it, and his productivity should take a massive leap as he heads into his age-22 season.
My projection is if an extension indeed occurs this offseason, it will likely be a bridge, just to see if Neighbours can repeat what he had going for him this season. He wasn’t known as a big-time scorer before 2023-24, so it wouldn’t hurt if Armstrong took a more prudent approach here.
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(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)