St. Louis Game Time

Photo by John Russell/NHLI via Questions? Send them over! It’s time for every hockey fan’s least favorite part of the year: the summer doldrums. The draft is done, free agency has slowed to a crawl (and is probably done for the Blues), David Perron is settling into his new home in Detroit. We’ve evaluated the Blues’ off-season. We’ve looked at who we think the Blues’ breakout star is going to be this year. We’re bored. You’re bored. Let’s get un-bored together. If you have any questions that you’d like for us at Game Time to answer, please send them...

Photo by Scott Rovak/NHLI via There are notable names to choose from. The loss of David Perron during free agency was a blow to the Blues on several levels. They lost a locker room favorite, the guy that always came back - who now knows if he doesn’t see himself ever returning to St. Louis. The team also lost a key forward who put up 27 goals and 30 assists at the age of 34 years old. Perron has only gotten better with age, and now he gets to be a mentor to a young Detroit Red Wings team who Steve Yzerman is turning into a playoff contender piece by piece. Clearly,...

Photo by Scott Kane/ Have the Blues kept pace with the rest of the Central? It’s tough to evaluate the Blues’ off-season moves without leading off by talking about Matthew Tkachuk. Fans were banking on Armstrong trading for him to shore up the Blues’ offense, but no one was expecting the Florida Panthers to offer up Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar in return for Tkachuk. There was no way for the Blues to match that offer without making both their offense and defense measurably worse, so Tkachuk is going to South Florida. That out of the way, the Blues...

Photo by Bruce Bennett/ Kostin is the latest notable RFA the Blues have locked up. For whatever reason, Gagarin Cup champion Klim Kostin has not been able to consistently stick with the Blues’ NHL lineup. Despite his failures to mesh with the team, the Blues tendered the RFA a qualifying offer, and today he signed a one-year, one-way $750,000 contract with the team. That one-way part of the deal might signal that the Blues see that the odds of him sticking, even on the fourth line, are higher this season than last. Kostin was not a scoring powerhouse last year in...

Photo by Jonathan Daniel/ Todd’s return is a good depth move for Springfield. There was head-scratching among Blues fans on social media today when the team announced that they had signed RFA forward Nathan Todd to a one year, two way contract. Sure, it’s not a Matthew Tkachuk signing, but signing Todd will keep the depth status quo on the Springfield Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds were successful last year during the playoffs, making it to the Calder Cup Final. Todd through the regular season contributed modestly (49 GP, 10 G, 13A), but shone during the...

Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Florida put together a hell of a package for Tkachuk. When it’s free agency season, every team’s fans think that they have exactly what it takes to land the big names. When one of those big names is the son of a former beloved player and current front office member, the frenzy kicks up a notch. Why wouldn’t that player want to come to St. Louis? It’s their home! Blues fans got a big reminder that the NHL isn’t about where you’re from, it’s about where you can sign - and in the case of trades, what the clubs want. The...

Photo by Gerry Thomas/NHLI via The Calgary forward’s time with the Flames looks like it’s at an end. There’s nothing that a St. Louis sports fan loves more than one of the city’s teams signing a native son to a contract. If that native son’s dad also played for the team, even better - see the Paul Stastny red carpet rollout of 2014 that ended in Stastny being the sacrificial lamb at 2018’s trade deadline. Right now, the two players Blues fans are fixated on are Brady and Matthew Tkachuk. Brady doesn’t look like he’ll be leaving the Ottawa Senators any...

Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via The last NHL roster RFA is locked down. The Blues have announced that defenseman Niko Mikkola has been signed to a one year contract extension. Mikkola’s contract is at $1.9 million, which brings the Blues to $625,000 under the NHL’s salary cap according to CapFriendly.com. It’s a nice raise over his last contract, which saw Mikkola getting paid $787,500 per season for two years. Mikkola, who was drafted 127th overall in the 5th round of the NHL Draft by the Blues, appeared in 54 games last year putting up three goals and ten...

Photo by Scott Rovak/NHLI via The Blues locked up some of their RFAs and brought in new depth. After a busy first day of free agency which saw the Blues deal out a lengthy contract to Robert Thomas, re-sign Nick Leddy, and sign Noel Accicari, Doug Armstrong has locked up six free agents to new deals. Scott Perunovich, Nathan Walker and Joshua Leivo were all signed to one year, one-way contracts. Anthony Angello, Matthew Highmore, and Dylan McLaughlin all signed one year, two way deals to help shore up the depth in Springfield after Dakota Joshua’s signing with the...

Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports On the first day of the NHL free agency period, the St. Louis Blues lost three players, including two fan favorites. On a very eventful, and stressful first day of the NHL’s annual free agency period, the St. Louis Blues said goodbye to three players: Dakota Joshua, who signed with the Vancouver Canucks, Charlie Lindgren (Washington Capitals), and the most significant loss, fan-favorite forward David Perron who up until yesterday when he signed a two-year deal with the Detroit Red Wings, had never signed a contract with an NHL team...

Jeff Le-USA TODAY Sports The Blues didn’t hold on to the veteran forward. The 2022 NHL free agency started on Wednesday at 11 am Central, and going in the St. Louis Blues were the subject of multiple trade rumors.Blues forward David Perron wanted to test the open market — and he stuck by his word. Perron signed a two-year, $9.5 million contract with the Detroit Red Wings. He’ll become a UFA in 2024-25. Of course, he can return to St. Louis for a fourth stint. But, for now, let’s thank him for his efforts on and off the ice.The Blues drafted Perron with the 26th...

Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via This one is a genuine head scratcher. When it was announced that David Perron would be testing the UFA market, the way that the Blues and journalists covering the team were talking, it sounded like he would be leaving either for a long-term deal or a high cost deal that Doug Armstrong wouldn’t be able to match. Today, David Perron tested that market and decided to continue the direct route that the Blues have established with the Detroit Red Wings, signing a two-year deal worth $4.75 million. That’s a reasonable term for a player who...

Photo by Scott Rovak/NHLI via The former Panther played a key role in the Blues 2019 Stanley Cup Former Blue David Perron capitalized off of an unfortunate (for the Bruins’) missed call in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final to score the game winner in game five. The Bruin that was tripped by Tyler Bozak? None other than the Blues’ latest free agent signing, Noel Acciari. Doug Armstrong tripped all over himself signing Acciari to a one year, $1.25 million deal to replace Dakota Joshua and Tyler Bozak. Joshua signed a two-year, one way contract with the Vancouver Canucks...

Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via The veteran defenseman was acquired at the trade deadline from Detroit. The Blues, as it turns out, did not trade Oskar Sundqvist and Jake Walman to the Detroit Red Wings for a rental. The team announced today that they had come to terms with defenseman Nick Leddy on a new four year contract. The free agent market for defenseman was comparable to who the Blues already had familiarity with, so Doug Armstrong decided to stick with what was familiar. Leddy’s contract has an AAV of $4 million per season (as per CapFriendly.com), which is...

Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via The door closes on Charlie Lindgren. This post will be updated with the contract terms when the deal becomes official and I can get to a laptop. - Hildy The Blues are expected to sign backup goaltender Thomas Greiss, essentially swapping him for Ville Husso. Husso will be a starter in Detroit next season while Greiss will be taking over the backup reins from Charlie Lindgren. Lindgren will be testing the open market. Hearing it’s a one-year deal between the Blues and Greiss. #stlblues https://t.co/AvllLVof3f— Jeremy Rutherford...