Ryan Suter signed a 1-year, minimum AAV contract with the St. Louis Blues last summer after the final year of his contract was bought out by the Dallas Stars. It was a curious move, given the number of Blues defensemen who were all on the wrong side of 30 and the offer sheet of Philip Broberg. With Torey Krug out of the lineup indefinitely, however, shoring up the blue line wasn't the worst idea in the world--but Suter shouldn't be averaging nearly 20 minutes a night at this stage of his career.
2024-25 Season Grade for Suter
Suter played all 82 games this season, posting two goals and 13 assists for a total of 15 points. He was fifth among Blues defensemen in average ice time, though early in the season, he played closer to top-four minutes; acquiring Cam Fowler pushed Suter into a more appropriate third-pair role. In the playoffs, Suter suited up for five games and registered one point--an assist.
If you look under the hood at his underlying statistics, Suter wasn't all that much better than his box scores. He had the worst 5-on-5 Corsi-for percentage of all Blues defensemen with 45.95, and the second worst expected Goals-for percentage with 45.92; the only defenseman who put up a lower number was P.O. Joseph, who only played 23 games. The stats aren't great, but it's difficult to fault the respected veteran too much--at this age, he is what he is, and he gets a Gentleman's C as a result.
What to Expect from Suter in 2025-26
It's entirely possible that Suter hangs them up this summer, and, at 40, it seems the most likely outcome. However, he will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1, and teams seem to love bringing in veteran defensemen to round out the bottom of their lineup and bring the good vibes. We'll see what Suter ultimately decides, but given how this season played out, hopefully it's not the Blues he continues his career with.