The Blues have agreed to a two-year, one-way extension with depth winger Nathan Walker, per a team release. Walker’s new deal carries the league minimum salary of $775K each season and keeps him from hitting unrestricted free agency this summer.
Walker, 29, will remain in St. Louis through the 2025-26 season. The first Australian national in league history is now in his eighth season, having played NHL games every year since debuting with the Capitals in 2017-18. A third-round pick of the Capitals in 2014 after suiting up for their AHL affiliate in Hershey, Walker immediately signed his entry-level contract and spent most of the next five seasons in the Capitals organization aside from a two-game stint with the Oilers, including one appearance in the team’s run to the 2018 Stanley Cup.
After reaching Group VI UFA status, Walker inked a two-year deal with the Blues in July 2019. He’s stayed in the organization ever since, racking up 13 goals and 13 assists for 26 points in 101 games, averaging 10:55 per game. Added to his career regular-season totals with Washington and Edmonton, Walker has 14 goals and 28 points in 113 NHL appearances.
He’s primarily been a tweener player for most of his career, always seeing significant AHL time but consistently finding himself in the mix for NHL call-ups. That changed last season, however, as Walker spent the entire campaign on the NHL roster for the first time, recording two goals, eight assists and ten points in 56 games in a fourth-line/depth role.
It hasn’t been the same story this season, however. Walker cleared waivers on the day before the regular season began and returned to AHL Springfield, where he took the demotion in stride. His 16 assists and 29 points in 30 games are second on the team behind Matthew Peca and Adam Gaudette, respectively, leading the Blues to bring Walker back to the NHL when the calendar turned to 2024 last week. In the two games since his January 1 recall, Walker has one goal and a +1 rating, averaging 8:06 per game.
Walker will likely continue to intermittently factor in on the Blues’ fourth line throughout the deal. Extending him now makes it much less likely that a team will claim him on waivers if he ends up on the wire later this season, as a three-year term (including this season) would make a claim challenging for most teams looking for short-term help. He will be a UFA when his deal expires in the summer of 2026.
Never thought of that; extending someone to make it easier to pass through unclaimed. Regardless, he’s a good dude. Good for him.