St. Louis Blues sign defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph to one-year contract

The St. Louis Blues have agreed to terms on a one-year contract with defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported Tuesday afternoon.

Joseph, who turned 25 on July 1, collected two goals and 11 points while averaging 15:05 of ice time in 52 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2023-24 regular season. The Penguins opted not to tender Joseph a qualifying offer to retain his rights as a pending restricted free agent on Sunday.

Mathieu Joseph, Pierre-Olivier’s older brother, also joined the Blues on Tuesday by way of a trade with the Ottawa Senators, who traded him and a 2025 third-round pick St. Louis in exchange for future considerations. The Joseph brothers have never played together during their respective professional careers.

Friedman indicated on Tuesday that Joseph’s new contract with the Blues carries a $950,000 cap hit.

In addition to uniting the Josephs, the Blues traded for centre Radek Faksa from the Dallas Stars and signed winger Pavel Buchnevich to a six-year contract extension carrying an $8 million cap hit.

The Arizona Coyotes originally selected Joseph in the first round (No. 23 overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft. The Laval, Quebec product never played in Arizona’s organization as a professional before being traded to the Penguins alongside Alex Galchenyuk in 2019 in exchange for winger Phil Kissel, defenseman Dane Birks, and a 2021 fourth-round pick.

Joseph made his NHL debut with the Penguins in the 2020-21 season, collecting one goal and five points in 16 games with the team. He went on to appear in 147 games over parts of four seasons in Pittsburgh, racking up eight goals and 37 points.

The Blues’ defensive lineup now includes Colton Parayko, Justin Faulk, Torey Krug, Nick Leddy, Scott Perunovich, and Joseph, the latter two of whom are the only ones of that group under 30.