A pending free agent, defenseman Cam Fowler has signed a three-year extension with the St. Louis Blues, per team announcement.
Per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the deal is set at a $6.1MM AAV, with Jeremy Rutherford of the Athletic adding that it is a flat contract with no variation year-to-year. It will take Fowler through his age 36 season, and comes in above the projected value of $5.4MM, according to AFP Analytics.
Fowler, 33, was acquired last December in exchange for fringe prospect Jérémie Biakabutuka and a 2027 second-round pick, in a deal that was not totally expected given the Blues’ stock of veteran left handed defensemen. However, it proved to be fruitful, as Fowler was a great fit wearing the Note, with 36 points in 51 games, and a +19, filling the void left from Torey Krug and his likely career-ending injury.
After a season in which the Blues exceeded expectations, pushing the President’s Trophy winning Winnipeg Jets to the brink in the first round of the playoffs, change on the blue line has been a point of emphasis. Out went Nick Leddy and Ryan Suter, allowing for a larger role for Philip Broberg, along with the acquisition of promising young defender Logan Mailloux.
Now with Fowler locked up as well, the Blues have built up a formidable core on both ends, which are all signed for the foreseeable future. The veteran offensive defenseman will continue to lead the Blues powerplay attack, and will be leaned on to mentor Broberg, Mailloux, as well as emerging youngster Matthew Kessel and eventually, top prospect Adam Jiricek.
Having fallen into their laps at 12th overall during the 2010 NHL Draft, Fowler quickly became a vital member of the Ducks throughout the 2010s. Making the team right out of camp as a rookie, the smooth-skating defenseman notched 40 points, and never looked back, having never played a game in the AHL. Fowler earned an eight-year extension worth $6.5MM per season in 2017. The Windsor, Ontario native continued to produce through thick and thin for Anaheim for fifteen seasons. Finally after 17 games in the black and orange last season, and with the contract nearing an end, Anaheim made the difficult decision to deal their second-longest tenured player, retaining $2.5MM per year in the process.
Although a slight decrease in annual value, Fowler’s resurgence undoubtedly heightened his value at 33-years-old, and the Blues are surely relieved to reach an agreement on their key defenseman before the season has begun.
Seems like a bit of a premature move considering he’ll be 35-37 in that contact and last year he had a bit of a change of scenery boost.
The post hasn’t been updated with the AFPAnalytics projections, but it is a little higher than what they pegged him at: 3 years, $5,418,400 AAV.
I think thats the point. Team is made up of all young prospects. Then needs not only a veteran in there but someone to set a good example and they are more than likely paying a bit more for that. I could see Cam being a 5.5 mill per year but he has one more season like he did last year and the entire contract will be well worth it.
To much, To late! And, Again with Friedman, The Blues can easily make an announcement when they feel It’s appropriate, Friedman is a fly at a picnic, He eats crap, And bothers everybody.
You are just an a-hole, aren’t you?
Can we get this guy banned for the third time?
What are you afraid of cupcake? You don’t like opinions, Don’t read them! You want me banned because you disagree with me? That’s fascism 101, I’m not sure whether to laugh, Or feel sorry for you.
Might be a case where a lack of grey matter that prevents any other outcome.
Hey Wilf, long ago it became obvious that reading is not really not one of your strengths. If you had even mediocre comprehension skills you would have seen in the article above that this was an announcement per the Blues franchise that was simply shared by the writer on whom you have a wild crush.
Seems like a total overpay by St. Louis.
What should they have paid him?
As long as they can pay Broberg and Holloway
I would assume their offered come next