General manager Doug Armstrong and the St. Louis Blues front office are getting some work done ahead of the NHL trade deadline, handing out extensions to several pending free agents. After signing Robert Bortuzzo and Logan Brown yesterday, the Blues have inked Alexei Toropchenko to a one-year extension today. The two-way deal will carry an NHL salary of $750K and an AHL salary of $100K.
Toropchenko, 22, made his NHL debut this season and has suited up for five games with the Blues so far. The big winger was a fourth-round pick in 2017 and spent last season on loan to Kunlun Red Star of the KHL. While he’s never been much of a dynamic offensive player, his size, skating ability, and strength around the net can be difficult to contain.
The Blues obviously believe he can be a player for them and won’t have to deal with any restricted free agent negotiations this summer. Instead, he’ll come back on a league-minimum cap hit that should actually be an advantage for him when it comes to NHL playing time. If Toropchenko can prove he belongs on a full-time basis, having a $750K contract in the lineup allows the team to keep spending elsewhere.
Notably, he’ll also be eligible for waivers next season, another indication that he could get some time with the big club to start the year. For now, Toropchenko is with the Springfield Thunderbirds where he has seven goals and 12 points in 32 games. Some more consistency at that level would go a long way to proving he’s ready for the next step.
NHL.com and hockeyreference.com have him listed at 6 foot 6, 222 lbs. Eliteprospects.com has him at 6 foot 3, 183 lbs. HockeyDB.com has him at 6 foot 3, 200 lbs. That is quite the difference.
It is. I went with his AHL measurements here, but I’ve removed them altogether just because it’s such a big gap.