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St. Louis Blues Sign Steve Santini

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The St. Louis Blues continue to re-work their defense corps ahead of next season. With Alex Pietrangelo presumably gone and Torey Krug now in the fold, the team has now also added Steve Santini. The Blues have announced a one-year, two-way contract with Santini. Financial terms have not yet been disclosed.

Santini, 25, recently had the final year of his contract – initially signed with the New Jersey Devils – bought out by the Nashville Predators, making him a free agent. In one season with Nashville, Santini only appeared in two NHL games and played a very limited role. Most of the time he was buried in the minors, where he was a solid defensive presence but failed to produce much offense.

In St. Louis, Santini currently looks like the No. 8 or 9 option on a deep unit. The two-way nature of his contract suggests that the Blues intend to send Santini back to the AHL, but he could be one of the first recalls in the event of an injury. With some older defenseman ahead of him who play physical games and could be at an injury risk, such as Carl Gunnarsson and Robert Bortuzzo, Santini could have the opportunity to step in as a substitute.

St. Louis Blues Sign Torey Krug

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The St. Louis Blues have signed free agent defenseman Torey Krug. Krug will sign a seven-year deal worth a total of $45.5MM ($6.5MM AAV), leaving the Boston Bruins after nearly a decade in the black and gold. Andy Strickland of Fox Sports Midwest reports that Krug has a full no-movement clause in the first five years of the deal.

Krug will join a defense corps that already has Justin Faulk, Colton Parayko, and Marco Scandella making considerable money, which likely means this is the end of any Alex Pietrangelo negotiations. The Blues were trying to find a way to re-sign their captain, but after he made it to the open market today it obviously was going to be difficult. Instead of waiting around, the Blues went out and got themselves the second-best defenseman on the market in Krug, who is an elite powerplay quarterback and has been one of the most consistent offensive defensemen in the league for some time.

While Pietrangelo was offered a contract closer to $8MM per season by the Blues, Krug comes in at a considerably lower price. That doesn’t mean they are out of the woods financially though, as Krug’s deal still pushes the Blues over the salary cap. It also means they have six NHL defensemen under contract with Vince Dunn still to sign as a restricted free agent, meaning there is likely a trade coming somewhere on their roster. Vladimir Tarasenko’s $7.5MM could be on its way to long-term injured reserve, but this deal still makes the financial situation in St. Louis awfully tricky.

Still, St. Louis is getting a heck of a player. In the seven seasons since Krug entered the league, he trails only Brent Burns, Erik Karlsson, Victor Hedman, John Carlson, Roman Josi, and Keith Yandle in points from a defenseman. That group has won the Norris Trophy five times, been named an NHL All-Star on 14 occasions and hoisted the Stanley Cup twice—not a bad bunch to be associated with.

Not only is Krug a dynamic puck-mover, he has also shown a willingness to engage physically in the postseason, even though he stands just 5’9″. With more bite than you might expect out of someone that skilled, he’ll fit in perfectly under St. Louis head coach Craig Berube.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

St. Louis Blues Sign Jon Gillies

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While most NHL teams are adding experienced backups ahead of what is expected to be a condensed 2020-21 schedule, the St. Louis Blues did the opposite, trading away Jake Allen. As they head toward the new season with untested Ville Husso looking like the presumptive new backup, the Blues have added to their depth in net as a precaution. The team announced that Jon Gillies has signed a one-year, two-way contract. No financial terms have been disclosed.

Gillies, 26, brings a dozen NHL appearances with him to the No. 3 role with St. Louis. Gillies was once a top prospect for the Calgary Flames and was even ahead of David Rittich on the organizational depth chart. A star at Providence College, Gillies’ performance in the pros has been a bit more schizophrenic, but he has shown flashes of great ability.

If Husso falters as backup or if an injury occurs to he or starter Jordan Binnington, the Blues could do worse than Gillies as a fallback option. However, St. Louis could very well be in the market for an established veteran backup on the trade market later in the season.

Blues, Alex Pietrangelo Discussing New Deal

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While word emerged last month that the Blues had advised their captain Alex Pietrangelo to test the open market, the two sides have re-engaged in conversations in the hours leading up to the opening of the market, reports Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic (subscription link).  They have already lost the ability to offer him an eight-year deal, however, and are now capped at offering seven like any other team.

Rutherford cautions that no real progress has been made in talks at this point but it appears that St. Louis is willing to be more flexible in the structuring of their offer.  The team does not offer signing bonuses or no-move clauses but perhaps there is some wiggle room in that area now as they look to make a last-ditch effort to keep Pietrangelo.

With roughly $5MM in cap space to work with, St. Louis would need to clear out some salary to be able to afford to keep the 30-year-old around.  Rutherford reports that it’s believed teams are willing to take on the final year of Tyler Bozak’s $5MM deal but that the Blues would need to provide an incentive to clear out the center.  Justin Faulk’s $6.5MM pact for seven seasons could also be in play but again would require a sweetener to move.  Those options will only likely be considered if St. Louis can keep their top defender in the fold by getting Pietrangelo to sign on the dotted line.

St. Louis Blues Issue Qualifying Offers

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The St. Louis Blues have announced that Vince Dunn, Austin Poganski, Mitch Reinke and Jake Walman have all received qualifying offers, keeping them in the organization. That means Derrick Pouliot and Jake Dotchin, who did not receive offers, will become unrestricted free agents on Friday.

The decision to let Pouliot and Dotchin walk doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as both players would have been arbitration-eligible and obviously do not figure into the Blues plans at this point. Each was once an up-and-coming young defenseman with plenty of potential, but both have flamed out over the last few seasons.

Pouliot, 26, was the eighth overall pick in 2012 and quickly became one of the top defensive prospects in the entire league. An incredible final year of junior hockey that saw him score 102 points in 79 games made Pittsburgh Penguins fans salivate at his potential, but after arriving in the NHL the next season obvious warts began to show in his defensive game. Pouliot ended up spending time bouncing between the minor leagues and NHL for years and now six years into his professional career has just 202 games played at the highest level. In 2019-20 he spent almost the entire season in the minor leagues with the San Antonio Rampage, suiting up just twice with the Blues.

Dotchin meanwhile wasn’t a high draft pick like Pouliot, but still quickly found himself playing next to Victor Hedman0 after arriving in the NHL. The sixth-round pick in 2012 debuted with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2016-17 and played 83 games with the team over two seasons, but saw his contract terminated in 2018 after showing up to training camp out of shape. Since then, Dotchin has played in 20 games with the Anaheim Ducks but spent the entire 2019-20 season at the minor league level with the Rampage.

Both players could land new deals elsewhere, but a qualifying offer and arbitration award was never going to make sense for the Blues.

St. Louis Blues Sign Nolan Stevens To One-Year, Two-Way Deal

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The St. Louis Blues have taken care of one of their restricted free agents, as the team announced they have signed forward Nolan Stevens to a one-year, two-way deal. The deal is worth the league minimum ($700K) at the NHL level and $80K at the AHL level.

While Stevens has yet to make an NHL appearance, he’s not far off. The Northeastern University star who scored 57 goals in four years there, showed quite a bit of improvement in his second AHL season. He tallied nine goals and 18 points in his first pro season, but while his goal-scoring remained the same at nine, he finished the season with 31 points in 50 games. At 6-foot-3, the forward is a solid depth option down the road for a Blues team that has dealt with quite a few injuries over the years and could use someone of Stevens’ skills.

With Stevens signed, the Blues now have six restricted free agents remaining, including defenseman Vince Dunn, but also still are trying to work out a last minute deal to bring back defenseman Alex Pietrangelo with just $5.15MM in available cap space.

New York Rangers Buy Out Henrik Lundqvist

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Sep 30: The Rangers have officially announced the buyout. Because of his no-movement clause, there was no need for unconditional waivers. In the press release, Rangers president John Davidson outlined some of the reasons Lundqvist meant so much to the city of New York:

We would like to thank Henrik for his immeasurable contributions to the New York Rangers. From the time I met Henrik when he first came to New York in 2005, he has been the consummate professional. His tireless work ethic, passion for the game, and love of the Rangers and New York City enabled him to become one of the greatest goaltenders in hockey and one of the best players in the history of our franchise. We all wish Henrik and his family the best going forward.

Sep 29: The end of an era is upon us. After 15 years of brilliant play in the New York net, the Rangers and decorated goaltender Henrik Lundqvist are set to part ways. TSN’s Darren Dreger reports that the Rangers will buy out the final year of Lundqvist’s contract, with an announcement expected on Wednesday. At 38, Lundqvist will be an unrestricted free agent for the very first time.

As Dreger explains, this was not an easy decision for New York. Few players have meant as much to a team in NHL history as Lundqvist has to the Rangers since 2005. The potential future Hall of Famer was a Vezina Trophy winner, a First-Team All-Star, and a wins leader, among many other honors in his long career. Lundqvist leads all active goaltenders in career games played, saves, shutouts, and goals saved above average, acting as a workhorse starter for the Blueshirts for much of his career. While he still has a chance to build on this reputation, it won’t be in New York. The team explored all options, but must move forward with young upstart keepers Igor Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev, leaving no room on the roster for Lundqvist, especially at his high cap hit.

With just one year remaining on the seven-year, $59.5MM contract that Lundqvist signed back in 2013, the buyout will only impose penalties against the salary cap for two seasons. CapFriendly projects that Lundqvist’s $4.5MM base salary and $1MM signing bonus in this final year will count toward the salary cap in full for a total hit of $5.5MM in 2020-21. In 2021-22, the penalty will be just $1.5MM. The $3MMM in savings this season for the Rangers will give the team even more flexibility to re-sign their pending restricted free agents while also exploring the free agent market for additional help.

Lundqvist meanwhile will hit a free agent market that is already chock full of goalies, most of whom are not coming off the worst season of their careers. Quickly approaching 40 and in steep decline over the past four or five years, it is hard to imagine Lundqvist getting any more than a small, one-year contract to serve as a backup. However, the decorated netminder already has plenty of money and accolades. All he wants at this point in his career is to sign with a team that give him the one thing he doesn’t have: a Stanley Cup.

Alexei Toropchenko Assigned To HC Kunlun Red Star

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The St. Louis Blues have sent another one of their prospects overseas, loaning Alexei Toropchenko to HC Kunlun Red Star in the KHL. The young forward will be available to return when training camps open for the 2020-21 season.

Toropchenko, 21, is coming off his first season of professional hockey, playing 59 games for the San Antonio Rampage. The 6’3″ winger scored just nine points during those games but is still an interesting prospect to keep an eye on given his mix of size and skill. Toropchenko did record 30 goals in 86 games during his final season of junior hockey but hasn’t yet been able to bring that level of offense to the next level.

If you wanted to learn from someone with offensive skill, it’s hard to find a better place than Kunlun. The team is coached by former NHL star Alexei Kovalev, one of the most skilled forwards to ever play the game.

West Notes: Golden Knights, Stars’ Injuries, Coyotes’ Changes, Samberg

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The Vegas Golden Knights seem to be a team that is being mentioned in multiple rumors for many pending unrestricted free agents despite having little to no cap room to speak of. The most recent one has the Golden Knights ready to pounce on St. Louis Blues star defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who currently isn’t expected to re-sign with St. Louis.

David Schoen of the Las Vegas Review-Journal confirms that the Golden Knights are ready to go after the right-shot defenseman, who finished fourth in the Norris Trophy voting this year, assuming he reaches free agency on Oct. 9 and the team will deal with the salary cap juggling after that. Much of the reasoning comes from owner Bill Foley’s will to win and spend to the cap ceiling, while other teams are trying to refrain from that.

Of course, if Pietrangelo does opt to return to St. Louis or chooses another destination, the scribe notes there are other options for the team to upgrade on defense in free agency, including a pair of blueliners who spent time playing for head coach Peter DeBoer in San Jose, Brenden Dillon and Dylan DeMelo.

  • ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski reports that the five Dallas Stars’ players who were “unfit to play” for Game 5 are still unfit as of Sunday. Ben Bishop, Roope Hintz, Radek Faksa, Stephen Johns and Blake Comeau are all expected to miss Game 6 on Monday. A new player to monitor, however, will be defenseman Andrej Sekera, who is considered to be a game-time decision, according to NHL.com’s Mike Heika. Sekera missed half of the first period and all of the second period after blocking a shot during Game 5 Saturday. He did return for the third period, but forced himself to play through the pain.
  • Coyotes beat reporter Craig Morgan reports that the scouting cleanout in Arizona is continuing. The team, who recently fired scouting director Lindsay Hofford and assistant to the GM Jake Goldberg, has removed two more names in the front office. Phil McRae, director of North American Amateur Scouting and Mat Milbury, an amateur scout, are both no longer with the team.
  • Murat Ates of The Athletic (subscription required) writes that Winnipeg Jets defensive prospect Dylan Samberg’s ability to make the NHL squad out of training camp next season could be critical to the team’s playoff chances. Samberg, the 6-foot-4 defenseman out of the University of Minnesota-Duluth, is believed to be close to NHL ready, but might need more seasoning in the AHL. However, with just four defenseman under contract and little cap room to maneuver with, the scribe believes that the quicker that Samberg can get acclimated to the NHL pace could be critical for the team. While there is little worry about this defensive game, there are questions on how well his offense will translate over.

Blues Will Likely Seek A Veteran Goalie As Husso Insurance

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  • Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch posits that the Blues will likely add a veteran goaltender in free agency. While the team has high hopes for Ville Husso, he has yet to play at the NHL level and they’re counting on him to be a capable backup for Jordan Binnington.  Adding a veteran third-string option that could start out at the AHL level but be brought up if Husso struggles or injuries arise would be a wise move although getting someone that may be willing to leave some NHL money on the table in favor of a higher two-way deal (or a fully guaranteed one-way contract) will be important with their salary cap situation.

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