The pros and cons of Ryan Suter for the 2024 season

Ryan Suter was in an exclusive group headed into this offseason. He and Tony Deangelo were the only two players in NHL history to have been bought out of their contracts twice. Now that Suter is with the Blues, he's being paid by three separate NHL clubs, which is certainly a unique situation.

Suter is in the late stages of his career, but he can still be a useful defenseman if utilized correctly. With the uncertainty the Blues face with Torey Krug's injury, Suter is pretty much a lock to start the season with the Blues. Here's some pros and cons of Suter's game.

Pros

Durability: Suter averaged nearly 19 minutes a game last year with the Stars, and played all 82 games. The durability and avalibility is still there. It's going to come down to how the Blues use him. He was an excellent defenseman in his prime, but anyone expecting him to be Ryan Suter from 2016-2018 is expecting too much. He's still a very capable defenseman that can play near 20 minutes a night, but the Blues are going to have to be careful who he matches up with.

His physical game: Standing at 6'1 and 205 pounds, Suter is a tower out on the ice. He had the second highest hit total in his career last season with 86. Blues fans have been wanting more physical defenseman on the blueline for years now, and they're certainly going to get this year.

Cons

Skate speed: Ryan Suter is a very slow skater. Last season, Suter was below the 50th percentile in skate speed. League average skate speed for defenseman is 21.67 mph, and Suter only reached that speed or above 24 times last season. He skated 20 mph and below 189 times, according to NHL EDGE.

This is the main downfall with Suter. Otherwise, he profiles to be a sold top four defenseman. There wasn't much risk to bringing him in. With Krug being out, it was almost a necessity.