St. Louis Blues sign Tyler Tucker to two-year deal

The St. Louis Blues have signed defenseman Tyler Tucker to a two-year, one-way deal worth $800,000 per season.

The 23-year-old made his NHL debut with the Blues this season, scoring a goal and adding three assists for four points in 26 games. He also skated in 41 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds, scoring three goals and 21 points. Tucker has 46 points and 227 penalty minutes in 142 AHL games over four years, all while a member of the St. Louis organization.

Tucker was taken 200th overall by the Blues in 2018 after his second year with the Barrie Colts. He was one of the biggest prospect risers the following year, scoring 14 goals and 59 points and 105 penalty minutes in 68 games.

Known for his punishing physical play, Tucker stands tall at 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds. His twin brother, Jesse Tucker, is set to join Clarkson University after a two-year run with Michigan State University.

According to CapFriendly, the Blues have $3.935 million in cap space heading into the start of free agency. Alexey Toropchenko and Hugh McGing are the only RFas on the team, while Logan Brown, Josh Leivo, Tyler Pitlick, Thomas Greiss, Matt Highmore, Nathan Todd, Luke Witkowski and Steven Santini are UFAs. Minor league defensemen Brady Lyle and Dmitri Samorukov were not given qualifying offers and will become UFAs.

The Blues have a jam-packed blueline for next year, with Justin Faulk, Torey Krug, Colton Parayko, Nick Leddy, Marco Scandella, Robert Bortuzzo and Calle Rosen signed to deals. The team could look to move one of them to create some extra cap space, but Tucker looks destined to start the year in the AHL and bounce between the two teams in the meantime.