The St. Louis Blues have placed this veteran defenseman on waivers

It may be the end of the line for one of the Blues' core defensemen.
St. Louis Blues v Edmonton Oilers
St. Louis Blues v Edmonton Oilers | Leila Devlin/GettyImages

It's being reported that the Blues have placed defenseman Nick Leddy on waivers today. Leddy, who has one year left on his contract with an Average Annual Value (AAV) of $4 million, will be sent to the Blues' AHL affiliate team the Springfield Thunderbirds if he goes unclaimed.

The writing was more or less on the wall for Leddy going into this off-season. A $4-million AAV contract on a Blues team that's trying to retool is just too much money for a 34-year-old blueliner who only scored five points in 31 games last season. Add in the midseason acquisition of Cam Fowler, then trading for Logan Mailloux this week, and rumors still swirling about a potential Bowen Byram trade, and there just isn't room for Leddy on next year's roster.

Leddy signed a four-year contract extension with the Blues in July of 2022. In the three seasons since, he's played 191 regular season games with the team, scoring seven goals and 56 points. There's a chance a team claims Leddy off waivers, as a few rebuilding teams could use the contract to help stay above the cap floor (think San Jose Sharks or Chicago Blackhawks), but if he goes unclaimed he will report to the AHL. If he does get claimed, Leddy will bring a steady, veteran presence to a developing team, and we will have seen his last game in a Blues jersey.