The St. Louis Blues have agreed to a two-year, $8.25MM contract with center Pius Suter per insider Frank Seravalli. The move was confirmed by Cam Robinson of EliteProspects, after reports that Suter had signed from Chris Johnston of The Athletic and Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK News.
The contract was originally reported as carrying a $4MM cap hit through both seasons, though David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period shares that the second year will actually carry a $4.25MM cap hit. St. Louis confirmed the extra $250,000 in a team press release.
Suter is coming off a career year with the Vancouver Canucks. He reached new heights in nearly every stat category, including scoring 25 goals, 46 points, 43 blocked shots, 59 hits, and averaging north of 17 minutes a night. He made good work out of a promotion to Vancouver’s second-line following the departure of top forward J.T. Miller via a midseason trade. Suter even earned a vote for the Selke Trophy, awarded annually to the league’s best defensive-forward.
Suter has stood as a reliable middle-six center in every season since his NHL career began in 2020-21. He moved to the Chicago Blackhawks after six seasons, and one championship, with Zurich SC of Switzerland’s top league. Suter recorded 14 goals and 27 points in 55 games of his NHL rookie season – on pace for 40 points across 82 games. A Blackhawks organization in flux pushed Suter out of the door after his one-year deal ran up, prompting a two-year, $6.5MM contract with the Detroit Red Wings. Suter continued to stand up to a third-line role in Detroit, even scoring 15 goals and 36 points while appearing in all 82 games of the 2021-22 season.
His scoring fell to 24 points in 79 games in his final year with the Red Wings, sparking yet another summer move – this time on a discounted two-year, $3.2MM deal with the Canucks. A change of scenery brought a spark to Suter’s scoring, which grew to 29 points in 67 games last year and a breakout season this year.
Now, after completing another pair of seasons with his club, Suter will head for a move once more. He could find a lucrative lineup role with the Blues, who are yet to make a clear decision between who will handle center duties on their second and third lines. Suter will compete with captain Brayden Schenn and rookie Dalibor Dvorsky for minutes.
A dismal 42.7 faceoff percentage, compared to Schenn’s 52.3 percentage, could be enough to push Suter to the wings. Even then, his volume shooting and hefty presence will help the Blues make up for recently trading youngster Zachary Bolduc. Suter recorded an 18.1 shooting percentage last season – far above his career average of 13.1 percent. That could point towards his 46-point mark being a tough one to recreate, though he’ll still be a strong bet for modest production from a depth role.
Gotta like this move. They’re going to have to move Texier or Joseph off the roster somehow. Too many forwards.
Package them in the trade for Byrum ;-)
I mean if you present Adam’s a NHL24 style trade of 3 4th liners and a couple late round picks for a top 4D I bet it would work
Great signing
Good signing. Suter plays a complete type of game.
I like it.
It’s a good signing by St. Louis, Pius Suter has really developed into an admirable two-way player. I’m surprised he didn’t get signed on day one of free agency but that’s irrelevant.
Terrific move by the Blues! Makes it even more stunning that Granlund got 7 mil a year for more term!
Now is everyone ok with the Bolduc trade?? Geez the sky was falling for a second. lol trust in Army.
I mean you got a great prospect in return…
I was ok with it anyway, as we are loaded with wingers, and needed to get younger on D. I think Army has been spectacular!
A prospect? Do some research.
Young player. Fair enough.
Worth mentioning he was named to the AHLs top prospects game…
Yes and a good one. I’m ok either way the trade. It needs to be done. Majority of Blues fans are sobbing over it.
Majority of blues fans wanted Kyrou traded also, yet at the same time, if that had happened, they’d be clamoring for a “goal scorer” the very next season. Trust Army. And yup, good signing on Suter. Still have some cap to play with also, looking forward to next season.
Great signing, and $3M/yr less than Grandlund! Now get the Byrum trade finalized, and this team is loaded for next year! Yeah, we lost Bolduc, but we are loaded with wingers. Plus, I think it shows the team sees a bigger upside to Dvorsky by keeping him over Bolduc
I think he needs to get a new agent. Or teams looked at his shooting percentage spike this year and said nah.