The Blues have locked up one of their depth defenders, announcing that they have signed Robert Bortuzzo to a three-year extension. The deal will carry a cap hit of $1.375MM, representing a small upgrade on his current $1.15MM contract.
The 29-year-old has only played in a dozen games so far this season after missing time due to multiple lower-body injuries, the last of which kept him out of the lineup for nearly six weeks. He’s logging 15:54 per night of playing time, a career high while picking up a goal and two assists in that span.
Bortuzzo is in his fifth season in St. Louis after being acquired back at the trade deadline in the 2014-15 campaign from Pittsburgh. Between the two teams, he has played in 288 career NHL games, tallying 45 points along with 636 hits and 375 blocked shots.
Even with this signing, the Blues have a lot of work to do on their back end for next season. Jay Bouwmeester, Carl Gunnarsson, and Chris Butler are all slated to become unrestricted free agents in July while Joel Edmundson is a restricted free agent with salary arbitration rights.
Bortuzzo gets a 3 year extension and Zach Sanford gets sent to the minors…
Pretty clear who won that fight.
Hey given recent results of the team, I’m inclined to side with Bortuzzo.