Though it had been expected for some time, the St. Louis Blues officially signed Mike Hoffman to a one-year contract today. The deal will pay the free agent sniper $4MM and effectively ends his professional tryout. The Blues had to wait to complete some cap gymnastics in order to fit Hoffman in, but the contract is now filed.
Hoffman, 31, was our fourth-ranked player on the annual Top 50 UFA list at the start of the offseason, but after the market quickly turned was left without a long-term deal. Though perhaps other teams offered multi-year pacts, he ended up agreeing to a one-year deal with a strong club in the hopes that his market will be strong again next offseason when things are, hopefully, a little closer to normal. There’s absolutely no on-ice reason for Hoffman’s long wait as he was arguably the best goal-scoring weapon available on the market and now goes to a team that will be in need of a new sniper.
The Blues are without Vladimir Tarasenko for the time being and watched Alex Steen retire due to injury, meaning there’s plenty of opportunity for Hoffman in St. Louis. He’s been playing in camp so far with Jaden Schwartz and Robert Thomas on a dynamic second line, while also being a go-to option on the powerplay.
Taylor Hall also settled for a one-year deal but went to a rebuilding team in Buffalo for the chance to play beside an all-world talent like Jack Eichel. Hoffman took a different approach, joining a strong team that is a lot more likely to bring some playoff time. In his near-500 game NHL career, Hoffman has only played in the postseason three times and that includes Florida’s qualification-round loss to the New York Rangers last summer. In St. Louis, there’s not only a chance he could rebuild some value, but he also might get a chance to raise the Stanley Cup as they did in 2019.
How can they afford him exactly? It’s a complicated dance that will include placing Tarasenko and Steen on long-term injured reserve, while likely maintaining an NHL roster below the 23-man limit. Worth it for a player who has scored at least 22 goals in each of his six full seasons, but still difficult to navigate throughout the season.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Does this mean it’s Hoffman versus Schwartz this season to see who gets an extension beyond this year?
Hopefully it lights a fire under Schwartz to be more consistent. Guys got talent but sees long droughts of no scoring, then goes on fire then drought again. Depending on tarasenko and his future, they might fit both guys in after this year.
Saw de la rose and maceachern on waivers. Who made the team over them? De la rose is no big deal. Like maceachern though.
May the Schwartz be with you!
Blues fan, here. I’m excited to see this team. Losing Petro hurts short-term, of course, but getting Krug to replace him was huge and I’m not writing off Faulk yet. I think they have a solid blue line top to bottom and a killer PP. If Tarasenko is healthy for the playoffs, they’ll be even scarier offensively. The only real question-mark is goaltending, which of course is a HUGELY significant question mark. I think on balance the defensive unit could be an overall improvement but defensively the unit probably takes a step back without Petro, putting more pressure on Binnington, and there’s no proven back-up. If Binnington doesn’t play closer to his 2019 version, they could be in trouble. If Binnington reverts to 2019 form (in a contract year), they could absolutely win another cup.