The St.Louis Blues are in a little bit of a limbo period, with their next game not until Wednesday. With that said, there was one newsworthy thing to happen today, and it was a good decision by General Manager Doug Armstrong.
Alexey Toropchenko, who has been a steady presence on the fourth line this season, signed a two-year contract extension. It holds an AAV of $2.5 million.
Toropchenko is a valued penalty-killer and has a rough-and-tough game, making him a perfect fit for the bottom-six. He has two goals and three assists for five points on the season, with 57 hits on the season. He has been a frequent member of getting hits close to and over 200 hits in each of the last two seasons.
He is a younger depth piece, but that high of an AAV is a bit of a stretch. Particularly when you look at the rest of the pending free agents like Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway, who will both be searching for a large bag of cash.
For now, Toropchenko is going to remain a Blue for the rest of this season and the next two. It is a worthy investment in terms of locking down the depth, and it gives the top-six a chance to be interchangable. With Justin Carbonneau on the horizon, it is going to get dicey on the wings at the top of the lineup.
Can Toropchenko keep up this two-game point streak when the Blues are back in action on Wednesday against Chicago?