The St. Louis Blues announced Monday that the team signed defenseman Anton Malmstrom to a two-year entry-level contract. The contract will begin in the 2023-24 season, making Malmstrom a restricted free agent in 2025. Per CapFriendly, the deal carries a cap hit of $910K, and the full structure is as follows:
2023-24: $775K base salary, $95K signing bonus, $80K games played bonus
2024-25: $855K base salary, $95K signing bonus
The Blues said Malmstrom, 22, will join the team’s AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, on an amateur tryout for the remainder of 2022-23.
The hulking 6’4″ defenseman from Österhaninge, Sweden, is an undrafted free agent signing out of Bowling Green State University, one of the first college signings of the 2023 season. Andy Strickland of Bally Sports Midwest reported last month that Malmstrom was drawing some NHL interest and named the Blues as the frontrunner to sign him after he attended their development camp in 2022.
This season with Bowling Green, Malmstrom served as an alternate captain and registered three goals and six points in 33 contests, along with a -8 rating. Those both were career-highs for Malmstrom at Bowling Green, and even considering his junior production in Sweden, his point production has never been where you’d expect an NHL-level prospect to be. Even if his defensive game is the appeal behind his signing, Malmstrom must work on his offensive awareness in Springfield for a shot at the NHL.