It's no secret: the St. Louis Blues need help at center if they want to keep this retool on track. Robert Thomas has evolved into a bona fide star center in the league, but Brayden Schenn is overleveraged as the team's second-line center--ideally, he'd be on the third line. It's a thin free agency market--especially at center--but there is one candidate who's a perfect fit for the Blues: Pius Suter.
Suter put up 25 goals and 46 points with the Vancouver Canucks last season, averaging 17:21 of ice time each night. By the end of the season, he was playing on the Canucks' first line due to the earlier trade of JT Miller and a season-ending injury to Elias Pettersson. Ideally, Suter isn't playing on the top line, but he was able to keep things together in that elevated role; he grades out as a solid middle-six center who would bring a ton of support down the middle for the Blues.
As far as contracts go, Suter should fit under the Blues' cap pretty easily: Evolving Hockey projects a 4-year contract with an Annual Average Value (AAV) of $4.651 million. A quick glance at PuckPedia says the Blues only have $1.625 million in space, but that number doesn't include shifting defenseman Torey Krug to long-term injured reserve (LTIR). Placing Krug on LTIR would free up $6.5 million in cap space, which is more than enough to sign Suter.
There is the small issue that Suter is one of the only centers likely to be available on the open market, and that means his contract could cost more than projected. Even if the Blues overpay with an AAV of $5 million or even $5.5 million to make sure Suter signs, they would still have the cap space to make it happen. With Joel Hofer locked up for another two years, the Blues have handled all of their pressing internal business and are free to spend as they wish in free agency. While Suter may not be the best player available when the bell strikes 12 at the start of free agency tomorrow, he'd be a perfect fit for the Blues.