The Blues have agreed to a two-year extension with forward Nathan Walker, the team announced. The diminutive lefty earns a $1.775MM commitment that will count $887,500 against the cap in 2026-27 and 2027-28, just above a league-minimum deal covering those campaigns.
Walker, 31, has been a fan favorite wherever he’s played. Either a high-end AHLer or press box piece for most of his career, he’s the only Australian skater in league history and has slowly begun to establish himself as an everyday NHLer over the past few seasons, more than a decade after the Capitals made him an overage choice in the third round of the 2014 draft. He’s now appeared in each of the last eight NHL seasons, but hadn’t breached the 40-game mark until three years ago.
Last season was Walker’s sixth in the Blues organization after signing there as a free agent in 2019. It also marked a considerable breakthrough for the 5’9″ winger, who worked his way into a career-high 73 appearances and recorded an 8-8–16 scoring line in fourth-line minutes. He also became something of a fringe penalty killer for them, averaging a few ticks over 12 minutes per game. His small stature doesn’t mean he doesn’t play a high-energy game – in fact, he led St. Louis in hits by a wide margin last season with 281 and blocked 61 shots, most among Blues forwards.
Walker also had a mini-breakout in the postseason. In his first playoff action since appearing four times for the Blues in 2022, Walker skated in all seven games in St. Louis’ first-round loss to the Jets and had three goals and four points – all coming in Games 5, 6, and 7.
He’ll now fight to keep his regular role in the lineup in training camp. He’ll be challenged by returning depth pieces Mathieu Joseph and Alexandre Texier, free-agent pickups Nick Bjugstad and Pius Suter, and young names like 2023 first-rounder Dalibor Dvorsky for ice time. He’ll do so with some added financial security after signing his second two-year extension with the club in as many years.