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Blues Not Expected To Retain Ryan Suter

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The Blues informed defenseman Ryan Suter they’re not planning to offer him a contract extension before he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, general manager Doug Armstrong told reporters Monday (including NHL.com’s Lou Korac).

Suter signed a league-minimum contract with St. Louis with an additional $2.25MM in potential performance bonuses nine days into free agency last year. He was coming off a buyout of the final year of his previous contract with the Stars, who themselves had picked Suter up after they bought out the last four years of his megadeal in 2021. He appeared in all 82 regular-season games for the Blues, earning all of his potential bonuses, scoring two goals and 15 points with a plus-seven rating. That extended his ironman streak, which began in the 2018-19 season, to 535 games, 21st all-time.

The 40-year-old did not play in all of the Blues’ postseason games, perhaps foreshadowing today’s news. He was a healthy scratch twice in their seven-game loss to the Jets in the first round, sitting out Games 3 and 4 in favor of Tyler Tucker. He averaged 19:28 per game in the regular season but saw just 16:54 of ice time per game in his brief playoff appearance, the 16th trip to the postseason of Suter’s 20-year NHL career.

While he proved he can still be a serviceable bottom-pairing piece and was a regular penalty-killer for the Blues, they don’t have the roster space to bring him back with names like Tucker and Matthew Kessel looking for more regular NHL minutes in 2025-26. It wouldn’t be surprising to see Suter, who’s still getting a paycheck of $833K from the Wild and $1.43MM from the Stars next season, to take another league-minimum deal elsewhere instead of retiring. He previously said he didn’t anticipate retiring this summer.

Free Agent Focus: St. Louis Blues

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Free agency is less than a month away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens.  There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Blues.

Key Restricted Free Agents

G Joel Hofer – If the Blues play out Hofer’s trip through restricted free agency the right way, Hofer will have a two-year deal by the end of the summer. The expiry of a new two-year agreement would line up exactly with the end of Jordan Binnington’s contract, giving Hofer and St. Louis an avenue for him to assume the role of starting netminder should he continue to improve. Hofer is coming off an impressive two-year stint as the Blues’ backup, managing a 31-20-4 record in 61 games with a .909 SV%, 2.65 GAA, 11.0 goals saved above average.

Other RFAs: F Nikita Alexandrov, F Mikhail Abramov, F Tanner Dickinson, D Hunter Skinner, D Anton Malmström, G Vadim Zherenko

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

D Ryan Suter – There’s a decent chance the Blues won’t have a decision to make for Suter this offseason. The 40-year-old veteran recently completed his 20th season at the NHL level, and despite indicating in March that he’d like to continue his playing career through the 2025-26 season, there may not be a robust market for him this offseason. After finishing the 2024-25 campaign with a 43.5% CorsiFor% at even strength, Suter’s best bet will be to wait out the market through the offseason and sign a league minimum deal as a seventh defenseman on a competitive roster should he continue his playing career.

F Radek Faksa – There’s a decent chance the Blues will look to retain Faksa this offseason. He’s a quality fourth-line center, winning 57.0% of faceoffs while starting 73.4% of his shifts in the defensive zone. St. Louis has a few young players looking to crack the roster for the 2025-26 campaign, but none of them are likely to affect Faksa’s role with the team. In early May, a report from Lou Korac of NHL.com suggested that Faksa and the Blues had already begun negotiations on a new deal, but nothing has come of them so far.

Other UFAs: F Mackenzie MacEachern, F Corey Andonovski

Projected Cap Space

Because they are projected to lose a small handful of players this offseason, the Blues won’t have much cap space entering the summer months. The Blues have just over $5 million in cap space, ranking fourth-lowest in the league, according to PuckPedia. Aside from re-signing Hofer, St. Louis already has a full roster for the 2025-26 season, and they could bank on their prospects filling in the remaining gaps. However, the Blues could use the upcoming buyout window to release Nick Leddy from the roster, saving them an additional $2MM, since they won’t be able to buy out the injured Torey Krug.

Offseason Checklist: St. Louis Blues

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The offseason has arrived for all but two teams now with the playoffs nearing an end.  Accordingly, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming weeks with free agency fast approaching.  Next up is a look at St. Louis.

It was an eventful year for the Blues who made an early-season coaching change and wound up going on a significant late-season run to propel themselves into a playoff spot before being ousted by Winnipeg in the opening round.  GM Doug Armstrong doesn’t have a lot of salary cap flexibility to work with but he will be tasked with making at least some tweaks to his group this summer.

Continue To Reshape The Defense

A good chunk of the back end for the Blues has been around for quite a while now with three veterans being around for at least the last four years.  While they made a key addition early in the season with the acquisition of Cam Fowler following the summer signing of Philip Broberg, there’s still some work to be done.

Colton Parayko isn’t going anywhere.  Neither is Broberg.  Fowler is heading into the final year of his deal but at this point, he’s more of an extension candidate than a trade candidate.  After that, there are some question marks.

Justin Faulk is no stranger to trade speculation and was even in some recent speculation heading into the trade deadline when it looked like St. Louis would be selling, not standing pat.  He has two years left on his contract with a $6.5MM cap charge.  Originally, it looked as if those last couple of seasons could be tough from a cap perspective but he’s still logging 22 minutes a night and is above-average offensively.  With the UFA class not exactly being deep, he’s a viable trade chip not just to clear money but to get real value in return.  With Broberg, Fowler, and Parayko being capable of playing the offensive roles, Faulk could become expendable.

Nick Leddy is entering the final year of a four-year, $16MM deal.  The first two years weren’t bad but he battled injuries this season and struggled when he was in the lineup.  It would be surprising if they could offload the final year of the deal but if they wanted to retain salary or take a player back in a change-of-scenery type of swap, there might be a chance to move him as well.

Torey Krug seems unlikely to play next season which could give them some extra flexibility.  They have around $5MM in cap space per PuckPedia although Krug landing on LTIR could give them up to $6.5MM in additional spending room.  Meanwhile, Matthew Kessel and Tyler Tucker have shown they can be useful players in a depth role but aren’t ready for top-four duty just yet.

In a perfect world, Armstrong would add a top-four defender, one who is a bit more geared toward filling a shutdown role.  If Faulk is still around, they’d be in a good spot of having five top-four blueliners.  Or if that acquisition makes Faulk expendable, they’d have a chance to cash in on a solid trade chip.  Broberg and Fowler have helped reshape the back end but there’s still some work to be done there.

Extension Talks For Bridge Deals

The Blues went with bridge deals for the two players they signed on offer sheets from Edmonton (Broberg and Dylan Holloway).  Both will be entering the final year of their respective contracts on July 1st, making them extension-eligible.  While getting both of them signed would be a tall task, getting a sense of what those next deals might cost would be worthwhile for long-term planning as Alex Steen gets set to take Armstrong’s spot as GM next year.

Broberg was a wild card coming over from Edmonton.  After not locking down a regular spot in the lineup in 2023-24 during the regular season, he played a little more often in the playoffs but even with that, his $4.581MM offer sheet was still a wild overpayment based on what he had to that point of his career.

But Broberg managed to not only live up to that deal this season but even make it look at least a little bit like a team-friendly pact.  He quickly became a top-four threat, logging over 20 minutes a night and did pretty well offensively considering the low power play time he had.  Basically, he lived up to his eighth-overall billing.  Now, it’s fair to say that an extension is going to be a step or two above this rate.  Broberg has two RFA years left after next season so this will be the contract they’ll want to go long-term on.  With the anticipated jump coming to the Upper Limit and the projection that Broberg can build off the year he had, that type of agreement could conceivably push past the $7MM threshold, if not a little higher.

As for Holloway, he was the bigger bargain of the two, taking a $2.29MM contract and finishing third in the team in scoring with 26 goals and 37 assists, numbers that seemed unfathomable given his usage with the Oilers previously.  We saw Calgary’s Matthew Coronato get seven years at $6.5MM without hitting the 50-point mark, a plateau that Holloway already has gone through.  Like Broberg, he’ll have two RFA years left after this contract and it wouldn’t be surprising to see his camp asking for something starting with an eight on a long-term deal.

It would be surprising to see either player sign this early after just one year.  But even knowing how much extra money they’re going to need to set aside for 2026-27 could affect how they approach this summer.

Find A ‘200-Foot Offensive Player’

If this seems like an oddly specific category, there’s a reason for that.  At the end of the season, when Armstrong was asked what he’d like to add to his roster, this was his answer.  With that being a stated goal, it’s fair to say they’re going to go out and try to add one of those pieces.

The Blues finished 13th in offense this season so this type of player doesn’t necessarily have to be a high-producing one, just one that can play a two-way game and move around the lineup when needed.  Speculatively, a 40-to-50-point player fits the bill, preferably a center to give them some extra depth while also giving them options if Brayden Schenn were to find his way back into trade talks.

Of course, this is not necessarily the easiest profile of player to find.  There are only six UFA forwards in that particular point range and realistically, only two of those profile as two-way players, winger Reilly Smith and center Pius Suter.  Each of them would likely take up the bulk of their remaining base cap space, forcing them back into using LTIR for Krug.

With that in mind, it wouldn’t be shocking to see Armstrong try to land this type of player on the trade market.  While his second-round picks are off the table for the next three years, they still have all of their first-round selections and boast a prospect pool that has been improved as of late.  That should be enough trade capital for him to work with if he wants to swing a deal to add to his group up front.

Re-Sign Hofer

Joel Hofer has been one of the better bargain goalies in the NHL over the last couple of seasons.  Signed to a league-minimum contract, he has been an above-average backup to Jordan Binnington over that span, posting a 2.65 GAA and a .909 SV% in 65 games over that span.  It’s safe to say that the bridge contract worked for both sides; St. Louis got a team-friendly deal while Hofer got a chance to prove himself and did exactly that.

Now is the time for him to cash in.  That is, at least in theory.  Knowing their desire to add a 200-foot offensive forward and the speculated desire to continue to build up their back end, it’s fair to wonder how much they’re going to have left for the backup goalie position.

Armstrong probably wouldn’t mind working out a long-term deal with Hofer, giving the Blues at least some stability with Binnington only having two years left on his contract.  But the longer the contract, the higher the price tag will be, cutting into what they can spend elsewhere.

With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Blues pursue a second bridge deal with Hofer.  He has three RFA-eligible seasons remaining and though they’re all arbitration-eligible, they can use the extra club control to kick this one down the road.  A two-year deal would see him expire at the same time as Binnington and should cost around $3MM per season while a one-year pact would see the price tag go a bit lower, potentially around the $2.5MM mark.  Hofer is the lone NHL RFA St. Louis has so Armstrong can push this past the start of free agency and potentially let what happens there dictate what they do with Hofer.

Photo courtesy of John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images.

Capitals’ T.J. Oshie Announces Retirement From NHL

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Washington Capitals forward T.J. Oshie announced his retirement from the NHL during a fan-event on Monday. Oshie will close his career after 16 seasons and 1,010 games in the league. He spent seven of those seasons with the St. Louis Blues and nine with the Washington Capitals. That includes serving a prominent role with the Capitals on their run to the 2018 Stanley Cup championship.

News of Oshie’s retirement will be bittersweet for the Capitals fandom. The veteran forward has been a pivotal piece of the Capitals’ top-six through much of the last decade, but looked notably worn through the final few years of his career. His battle scars culminated in missing the entirety of the 2024-25 season due to a chronic back injury. The story of the injury was covered extensively – revealed to be the result of playing through a broken foot for 44 games of the 2021-22 campaign. He broke his foot in October of that season, and spent much of the remaining year in a walking boot or on crutches as he tried to push through the pain.

Straining through a broken foot took a toll on Oshie’s core and back. He underwent surgery to address those concerns in the summer of 2023. Originally intended to prolong his career a few more years, Oshie was only able to tack on one more season before he had to exit the lineup again last summer. The battle with injuries forced Oshie out of 92 games between 2021 and 2024.

Oshie still found ways to benefit the Capitals’ lineup through reoccurring injuries. He scored 12 goals and 25 points in 52 games of the 2023-24 season – or an 82-game pace of 39 points. Before that, he managed an impressive 19 goals and 35 points in 58 games of 2022-23, on pace for 27 goals and 49 points across a full year. He continued to fill a sturdy role on the team’s second line and powerplay units through those campaigns. Washington struggled immensely to fill his right-wing role through his routine absences. It was Oshie’s absence that forced the Capitals to lean on  Anthony Mantha from 2022 to 2024, then swap to Anthony Beauvillier at this year’s Trade Deadline. The pair provided mixed results that looked hot and cold compared to Oshie’s steadfast impact in his healthy games.

It’s in that spirit that Oshie’s career will be remembered. He was a set-and-forget lineup piece for throughout his entire career, providing consistent goal-scoring and big-game ability from the second-line for both clubs he played for. Oshie was seen as a special player from the onset of his career. The Blues drafted him directly out of high school, taking him in the first-round of the 2005 NHL Draft. Oshie followed that selection up with three years at the University of North Dakota, where he formed a truly legendary tandem with eventual-rival Jonathan Toews. The two were automatic in their freshman season, helping Oshie reach an impressive 24 goals and 45 points in 44 games of his first year.

The good times kept rolling through Oshie’s sophomore and junior seasons in college. He chased 52 points in 43 games, then 45 points in 42 games, in his final two seasons – while supporting North Dakota to the Frozen Four in all three seasons. The Fightning Sioux never got over the hump, but Oshie’s performances were enough to ramp him directly into the NHL in the 2008-09 season.

He entered the league on bumpy ground – and struggled to find his footing early on after dominating high school and college. That was exacerbated by a pair of ankle injuries early into his career, holding him to just 12 games in the first half of his rookie season. But Oshie shot back to form once he returned to full health, and proceeded to stamp his place in the Blues’ lineup with 35 points in 45 games through the year’s second half. That’s a 64-point scoring pace – a staggering number for a rookie coming off injury.

The statement first year was enough to earn Oshie a top-six role in the 2009-10 season – and a bid of health gave him a chance to show what he could do. He finished the year with 18 goals and 48 points in 76 games, and ranked second on the team in total hits (149) behind prominent bruiser David Backes (266). In year three, his role shifted back to that of a play-driving scorer – and he posted 34 points in 49 games while battling through injuries once again.

With three years under his belt, Oshie’s impact became clear. He was a feisty, hard-working winger at the NHL level who sought out flashy dekes, gritty goals, and big open-ice hits… even when the latter resulted in repeat injuries. It was an, again, unwavering style that beautifully complimented the heft of Backes and the skill of David Perron or Jaden Schwartz. Oshie ranked in the top-three of St. Louis’ scoring in three of his six years with the club, even despite missing 131 combined games due to injury.

But eyeing a lineup more geared towards hits along the boards than flashy plays in the middle, St. Louis opted to trade Oshie to the Capitals for Troy Brouwer, Pheonix Copley, and the draft pick used to select Garrett Pilon in 2015. Brouwer would manage some electric moments in St. Louis, but his performances all fell short of the routine 50-point seasons Oshie provided the Capitals. He managed one of his many career-defining performances in the 2016-17 season – his second with the Capitals. Oshie scored a career-high 33 goals that year en route to 56 points in 68 games. He kept it up in the summer, netting 12 points in 13 games of Washington’s postseason.

The Capitals fell short that year, but Oshie’s energy on the wing seemed to give the club an extra oomph. He returned with 18 goals and 47 points in the 2017-18 regular season, then became one of the team’s top players during the 2018 postseason run. His 21 points in 24 games ranked fourth on the Capitals in playoff scoring behind Evgeny Kuznetsov, Alex Ovechkin, and Nicklas Backstrom. It was the consistent gut-punch offense of that quartet, and the stout goaltending of Braden Holtby, that launched the Capitals to the first Stanley Cup win in franchise history.

Oshie continued to provide his routine impact – scoring on pace for north of 20 goals and 40-to-50 points – through the rest of his NHL career.

He was also a focal piece of Team USA at the 2009 and 2010 World Championships and 2017 World Championship. But his most notable international performance came at the 2014 Olympic Games. Oshie potted four points in six games across the full tournament, but cemented a legacy performance in USA’s final group stage game against the host-country Team Russia. The two clubs went through regulation and overtime unable to break a 2-2 tie game. International rules pushed the game into a standard shootout, with one exception – there was no limit on how many times a single player could shoot.

With that knowledge, USA head coach Dan Bylsma opted to give Oshie’s lightning hands as many opportunities as he could. The winger took five of the USA’s eight shootout attempts, and beat goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky on four of them. His goals were each tremendous. He scored five-hole on the first, managed a fast deke and glove-side goal on the next two, then scored the game-winner with a simple, head-on shot. The performance gave USA a bye in the knockout stages, though they ultimately finished the tourney fourth-overall after tough losses to Canada (Gold-medal winner) and Finland (Bronze-medal winner).

But even without a Gold medal, Oshie’s 2014 Winter Olympics went down in history. The IIHF amended the shootout rule soon after, forcing teams to select different skaters through the first five shots. Oshie’s would lift the Cup four years later, and  play his 1,000th NHL game four years after that. His journey through the hockey world now ends with one Cup win, one Bronze medal at the World Championship, and two Minnesota High School state championships. He, and his father Tim Oshie, are thought of highly by many around the hockey world – and it seems unlikely that Oshie will be away from the NHL for all too long. He’s already broken into the broadcasting business, joining ESPN’s coverage of Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals this year. Whether it’s in broadcasting or coaching, this surely isn’t the last fans will hear of T.J. Oshie.

Photo courtesy of Brian Fluharty-USA TODAY Sports.

Young Prospects Will Give Blues A New Look In 2025-26

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St. Louis Blues fans went through a true roller-coaster this season. The team was coming off a disappointing 2023-24 campaign – marked by disappointing scoring from much of the roster, a second consecutive playoff absence, and the handoff of coaching duties from Stanley Cup winner Craig Berube to rookie NHL coach Drew Bannister. That turnover made it clear that the Blues were in quick need of a retool and a productive offseason.

But general manager Doug Armstrong didn’t lead a flashy charge over the summer. The Blues were relatively quiet through June and July, save for the risqué first-round draft pick of injured defenseman Adam Jiříček and low-cost acquisitions of Radek Faksa and Mathieu Joseph. It was an uninspiring offseason, until Armstrong shocked the hockey world by signing top Edmonton Oilers youngsters Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg to offer-sheets in August. The deals, shockingly, went through – making the Blues the first club to pull off a successful offer sheet since the Carolina Hurricanes landed Jesperi Kotkaniemi in 2021. The last successful offer sheet before Carolina was in 2007.

Broberg and Holloway made an instant impact on the Blues lineup. Alongside a shock hire of Jim Montgomery, the Blues were able to use their new additions to will out a run to the postseason, against early-season odds. But a first round exit draws attention back to the roster make up. With little offseason cap space to work with – just over $7MM after Torey Krug goes on long-term injured reserve – and only two pending free agents, it seems the Blues are already set to roll out the same group that lost hold this year.

But that’s where their prospect pool begins to sneak in. The Blues have a rare lineup of top young players ready to carve out an everyday role. Winger Jimmy Snuggerud has seemed to already do such, after netting eight points in his first 14 career games this Spring. While he occupies a strong role in the middle-six, centerman Dalibor Dvorsky will enter a winnable competition against Brayden Schenn and Oskar Sundqvist for a role in the team’s center depth. Dvorsky ranked third on the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds with 45 points in 61 games this season, and showed the heft and grit needed to play at an NHL level in his first two career games, even despite recording no scoring.

It seems wise to bet that Dvorsky will find his way into routine NHL minutes next season. He could be supported by upcoming forwards like Aleksanteri Kaskimaki and Otto Stenberg, who both flashed strong play in their first AHL season. Theo Lindstein could be a much-needed injection of youth on defense, after spending all season in a daily lineup role in Sweden’s SHL. He recorded just 14 points in 61 games on the year, but reminded the hockey world of his prowess with four points in seven games at the World Junior Championship. St. Louis even has a strong next-man-up in net, after goaltender Colten Ellis managed a dazzling 22-14-3 record and .922 save percentage in 42 AHL games. It was a continuation of Ellis’ strong play in the minors, after he posted a .924 in 16 games of the 2023-24 season.

All of those options will ensure that St. Louis’ deck stays full, even amid a summer with minimal roster flexibility. Getting a full year out of the productive Snuggerud – who already looks at home as a career-Blue – or adding the gut punch of Dvorsky down the lineup chart could go a long way towards making St. Louis a foe to fear in the Western Conference. The Blues finished fifth in the Central Division in each of the last two seasons, but managed a postseason berth by the skin of their teeth this year. With additions of more young and budding talent, their chances of more confidently locking up a summer bid should only continue to rise through the next few years.

Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

Blues Notes: Fowler, Holloway, Faksa

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If he has his way, defenseman Cam Fowler won’t let the expiration of his current contract be the end of his time as a St. Louis Blue. Earlier today, Fowler told Lou Korac of NHL.com that he’d be interested in signing a contract extension with the Blues this offseason.

To be exact, Korac quoted Fowler saying, “Yeah, absolutely. Those decisions and those conversations will have to be something that we go through over the summer with Doug and the whole group here. I would love to be around as long as they’d like me here.” If he doesn’t sign an extension with St. Louis, Fowler’s eight-year, $52MM contract originally signed with the Anaheim Ducks will expire after the 2025-26 season.

If his production this year is any evidence of what’s to come, there should be mutual interest from the Blues. After being acquired from the Ducks on December 14th for a 2027 second-round pick and a low-level prospect, Fowler scored nine goals and 36 points in 51 games with St. Louis, averaging 21:42 of ice time per game. Furthermore, even though they lost in a hotly-contested opening round matchup to the Winnipeg Jets, Fowler led the way in scoring with two goals and 10 points in seven postseason contests.

Other notes from the Blues organization:

  • In their Round One matchup against the Jets, two of St. Louis’ losses were by one goal, and there’s no denying forward Dylan Holloway could have played a part in rectifying those outcomes. Unfortunately, even though he was given a week-to-week recovery timeline, General Manager Doug Armstrong (via Lou Korac) had little belief Holloway would return for the playoffs. Still, Holloway is expected to fully recover in time for next year’s training camp and look to build upon his 26-goal, 63-point effort this past season.
  • Fowler isn’t the only player interested in an extension with the Blues. According to Korac, there’s mutual interest in extending bottom-six forward Radek Faksa, and St. Louis has already begun those conversations. Although he doesn’t add much on the offensive side of the puck, Faksa has plenty of value defensively. He won 57.0% of 758 faceoffs for the Blues this season and finished the year with a 91.2% on-ice save percentage at even strength.

Blues’ Torey Krug Not Expected To Resume Playing Career

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Blues defenseman Torey Krug isn’t expected to play again due to his ankle surgery last summer, general manager Doug Armstrong told reporters today (including Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic).

Krug, 34, was diagnosed with pre-arthritis in his left ankle last summer. After several weeks of evaluation, the Blues and Krug agreed on season-ending surgery. His issues stem from a fractured ankle he sustained seven years ago in the second round of the 2018 playoffs while a member of the Bruins, ending his season and causing him to miss the beginning of the following campaign.

As with any form of arthritis, without surgical correction, Krug could have lost mobility in his ankle entirely. Even with the procedure, Armstrong said Krug had just recently resumed his normal day-to-day activities (via Puck Report on X).

Krug’s career will draw to a close after playing the first four seasons of the seven-year, $45.5MM deal he signed with the Blues in free agency in 2020. Brought in as a replacement for captain Alex Pietrangelo, who signed a much richer long-term contract with the Golden Knights that summer, he was coming off a lengthy run of play as a top-four fixture in Boston and had twice finished top 20 in Norris Trophy voting. At the time of signing, he’d averaged over 20 minutes per game for five straight seasons and recorded at least 40 points every year in that period.

While Krug kept up his consistent offensive production after the move westward, the defensive warts in the 5’9″ lefty’s game began to outweigh his benefits over the past couple of years. Krug’s combined -57 rating across the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons was sixth-worst in the league and third-worst among defensemen, trailing only Cam Fowler and Mario Ferraro – minute-munchers on the worst defensive teams in the league (Ducks, Sharks) during that period.

Still, Krug averaged 40 assists and 47 points per 82 games as a Blue, with most of his production coming at even strength. That wasn’t quite the level he clicked at in Boston, but still legitimately helpful output from the back end.

An undrafted free agent signing out of Michigan State by the Bruins back in 2012, Krug burst onto the scene with four goals in 15 games in the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs to help Boston to its second Finals appearance in three years, although they ultimately lost to the Blackhawks. In a couple of years, he was the team’s No. 2 left-shot rearguard behind Zdeno Chára and led their defense corps in scoring on multiple occasions, including a career-high 14-goal, 59-point season in 2017-18. Krug totaled 337 points in 523 regular-season games for Boston before leaving in free agency, ranking fifth in Bruins franchise history in points among defensemen.

Krug will likely remain on long-term injured reserve for the final two years of his contract at a $6.5MM cap hit before presumably officially retiring upon expiry in 2027. If St. Louis doesn’t want to deal with his contract, they could trade it to a team needing an LTIR cushion to stay cap-compliant.

The Michigan native steps away from his playing days after posting an 89-394–483 scoring line in 778 games, 14th in the league among defensemen since he debuted in the 2011-12 season. He was routinely an electric playoff performer for Boston, including posting 12 points in just 11 games in the 2018 postseason and leading them with 16 assists a year later in their loss to St. Louis in the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. His career 0.70 points per game in the postseason matches Hall-of-Famers Nicklas Lidström and Chris Pronger.

All of us at PHR wish Krug a smooth, continued recovery as he looks to get back to normalcy.

Image courtesy of Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports.

Blues’ Tyler Tucker To Miss Game 7

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The St. Louis Blues will be without defenseman Tyler Tucker for tonight’s decisive Game 7 clash against the Winnipeg Jets—a significant blow to a team counting on its blue line depth in a win-or-go-home matchup. The 25-year-old Tucker has emerged as a reliable presence on the back end this season, providing physicality, poise, and key minutes that have helped stabilize the Blues’ defense.

In a career-high 38 games this season, Tucker recorded just seven points but showcased his strong defensive prowess by recording 81 hits and 39 blocked shots in that limited time. He added a goal and 12 hits in the first three games of the series before going down with a lower-body injury. If the Blues are able to advance, there is no public timeline on Tucker’s potential return outside of his “day-to-day” status.

Ryan Suter is expected to remain in Tucker’s place in the lineup tonight, skating alongside fellow veteran Nick Leddy. A veteran of over 1,500 career-games, Suter produced two goals and 15 points in 82 games this season—maintaining his streak of four consecutive seasons without missing a game—but was a healthy scratch in games two and three of the series. In the four games he has dressed for, Suter has one assist and a minus-one rating while averaging 16:45 of ice time per game.

Addressing the decision to initially scratch Ryan Suter and then reinsert him following Tucker’s injury, Blues head coach Jim Montgomery praised the veteran’s professionalism, noting that the team will benefit from Suter’s penalty-killing ability and wealth of experience. The 40-year-old has logged 137 career playoff games, averaging an impressive 24:52 of ice time. While his days as a top-pairing workhorse are behind him, Suter’s veteran presence could prove invaluable in a high-stakes Game 7.

Jets’ Mark Scheifele Questionable For Game 7

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May 3: With the series heading back to Winnipeg after a dominant Blues win in Game 6, Scheifele has been upgraded to a game-time decision for Sunday’s Game 7 (via TSN’s John Lu). He skated on his own today, with Arniel saying Scheifele’s feeling much better today after his presumed upper-body injury.

May 1: Jets star center Mark Scheifele has already been ruled out for Winnipeg’s potential series-clinching Game 6 contest against the Blues on Friday, head coach Scott Arniel announced (via Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press).

The 32-year-old pivot is dealing with an undisclosed injury he sustained in the first period of last night’s Game 5 win. There’s been some contention about which hit caused him to eventually leave the game. Blues head coach Jim Montgomery said postgame that Scheifele obviously sustained the injury on a clean but hard hit from St. Louis center Radek Faksa late in the first (video via Sportsnet), but Scheifele also took a high hit from Blues captain Brayden Schenn earlier in the game that resulted in an interference penalty. Scheifele didn’t miss a shift in the first period but didn’t come out for the second and was unavailable for the rest of the night. Schenn isn’t facing a suspension for the hit, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Scheifele managed an assist before exiting the contest, bringing up to a 2-4–6 scoring line on the series to rank second on the team in points. He’s struggled to get the puck on net with just six shots on goal, though, a full shot per game less than his regular-season average.

The two-time All-Star Game participant scored a career-high 87 points in 2024-25 and tied for the league lead with 11 game-winning goals, a strong bounceback campaign after a disappointing 2023-24 campaign for him in the goal-scoring department. The first draft pick the Jets made after relocating to Winnipeg from Atlanta also averaged over 20 minutes per game for the ninth year in a row and is in the first season of a seven-year, $59.5MM extension.

Winnipeg has yet to ice a healthy top six in the postseason. Winger Nikolaj Ehlers hasn’t played in over two weeks with a foot injury and has only recently started skating in a non-contact jersey. It’s unclear if he’ll travel to St. Louis for Game 6, but even if he does, he’s highly unlikely to play. Scheifele isn’t traveling, Arniel said. The Jets are up 3-2, so they’ll either return home to their star center triumphant without him or hope he can return for a Game 7 on Sunday.

Prospect Matthew Mayich Transfers To NCAA

at CDT | by 4 Comments

  • Blues prospect Matthew Mayich will play at Clarkson University next season, the school announced (Twitter link). The 20-year-old was a sixth-round pick back in 2023, going 170th overall.  Mayich spent his four-year OHL career with Ottawa and saved his best performance for last, tallying 42 points in 66 games this season.  Louis originally was supposed to have his rights only through June 1st but with the change to allow CHL players to have NCAA eligibility, it remains unclear if that will affect signing timelines for players in that situation.

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