Blues Sign One-Year Contract With Nikita Soshnikov

Sunday: Milstein has announced that his client signed a one-year, one-way contract with the Blues, keeping him in St. Louis for the upcoming season.

Friday: While some had speculated that Blues winger Nikita Soshnikov was likely going to sign in the KHL this summer, that doesn’t appear to be the case.  His agent, Dan Milstein, told Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic (Twitter link) that the sides are in the process of finalizing a one-year contract to keep him in St. Louis.  He is owed a qualifying offer of just over $742K by Monday.

The 24-year-old started last season with Toronto in the minor leagues before getting recalled.  After playing in three games with the Maple Leafs, he became waiver-eligible which left him in limbo for a little while.  After sitting on injured reserve for a couple of months, he was then flipped to the Blues in exchange for their 2019 fourth-round draft pick.

Soshnikov played a sparing role for St. Louis down the stretch as he got into a dozen games, posting a goal and an assist while logging 11:10 per night in ice time.  Assuming the contract does get finalized, he will likely contend for a fourth line role once again in 2018-19.