St Louis Blues News

Saad and his wife are expecting their third child right around the time of the Blues' first road trip of the season. In Monday's practice, he skated on the "fifth line," an indication that the Blues are preparing to be without the veteran winger when their season starts on October 8th. While Saad is out, Zack Bolduc is expected to skate in the top-6, and his strong preseason could make Saad more of a bottom-6 option this season.

St.Louis solidified their offensive depth on Monday as they came to a one-year, two-way agreement with 24-year-old Nikita Alexandrov. The tall centre was expected to take a step forward in his sophomore campaign in 2023-24, but struggled offensively with only two assists, four PIMs and 15 SOG in 23 games played. He will look to add on to the three goals and nine career points he has amassed through his 51 NHL games played across two seasons.

Krug will undergo surgery to address pre-arthritic changes in his left ankle, which will force him to miss the 2024-25 season. According to the Blues, "the decision to undergo surgery was reached following an effort to rehabilitate the injury through non-surgical interventions." In an effort to replace Krug in 2024-25, the Blues signed Philip Broberg and Ryan Suter in the offseason.

The Edmonton Oilers will not match St. Louis' offer sheet to restricted free agent Philip Broberg which means the 23-year-old has signed a two-year, $9.16 million contract with the Blues. Due to the signing, Edmonton has been compensated a 2025 2nd-round pick. In 12 games with Edmonton in 2023-24, Broberg had two assists, six SOG, and a -3 plus/minus while averaging only 11:37 TOI/GP.

Alongside Philip Broberg, Edmonton has decided to not match the two-year, $4.58 million offer sheet St.Louis presented to Dylan Holloway and will therefore lose the 22-year-old forward for a 2025 3rd-round pick. Holloway was Edmonton's 2020 1st round pick (14th overall) and had six goals, nine points and 29 PIMs in 38 games played in 2023-24.

Krug will be evaluated in 6-8 weeks to determine if surgery on his ankle is needed. If he does require surgery he is expected to miss the entire 2024-25 season. The 33-year-old defensemen just completed his 13th NHL season and had four goals, 39 points and a -31 plus/minus in 77 games played in 2023-24.

St.Louis added a strong veteran presence on Wenesday as it added 39-year-old Ryan Suter on a one-year, $775,000 deal. The grizzled defensemen played in all 82 games with Dallas in 2023-24, picking up two goals, 17 points, and a +14 plus/minus while still avergaing 18:56 TOI/GP. Suter currently ranks first amongst active players in games played (1444) as he enters his 20th NHL season with his fourth team.

The Blues selected Jiricek with the No.16 overall pick in this year's NHL Draft. The 18-year-old blueliner spent the 2024 season in Czechia, posting one assist in 19 games with Plzen HC. He also represented Czechia at the World Juniors but played just one game before suffering a knee injury that forced him to miss the rest of the tournament.

Joseph will join his brother in St. Louis who was acquired in an earlier deal on Tuesday after the defensemen signed a one-year $950,000 contract with the Blues. The 25-year-old defenseman had spent the first four seasons of his career in Pittsburgh and had two goals, 11 points and 14 PIMs in 52 games played in 2023-24.

St. Louis locked up one of their key core pieces on Tuesday as they signed 29-year-old Pavel Buchnevic to a six-year, $48 million ($8,000,000 AAV) contract extension. The Russian left-winger just completed his eighth NHL season and had 27 goals, 63 points, 48 PIMs and 207 SOG in 80 games played in 2023-24.

After nine seasons in Dallas, Radek Faksa has been traded to St. Louis for future considerations on Tuesday. The 30-year-old centre averaged 12:31 TOI/GP across 74 games in 2023-24 and had seven goals, 19 points and 20 PIMs.

In one of two 'Cash Consideration' deals made by St. Louis on Tuesday, the Blues have acquired Mathieu Joseph and a 2025 3rd-round pick from Ottawa for future considerations. The 27-year-old right-winger is entering his eighth NHL season and had a career year in 2023-24, picking up 11 goals, 35 points, 51 PIMs and124 SOG across 72 games played.

Schueneman spent the entire 2024 season with the Colorado Eagles (AHL), scoring four goals with 18 assists (22 points) in 64 games. Expect him to report to Springfield (AHL) to start the 2025 season.

After acquiring the RFA rights from the Blue Jackets in a trade, the Blues signed Texier to a two-year deal worth $2.1M AAV. Texier should continue to operate as a middle-6 winger in St. Louis after scoring 12 goals with 18 assists (30 points) in 78 games a season ago.

St. Louis completed a sign-and-trade on Friday as they acquired Alexandre Texier from Columbus for a 2025 4th-round pick and signed him to a two-year, $4.2 million contract extension ($2,1M AAV). The 24-year-old French winger had career highs in almost all statistical categories in 2023-24, with 12 goals, 30 points, 109 SOG, and 38 PIMs in 78 games played with the Blue Jackets.

Suter was entering the final year of a four-year deal that carried a $3.65M AAV cap-hit. According to Cap Friendly, the buyout will cost the Stars $783.3K in 2025 and $1.4333M in 2026. At age 39, Suter once again appeared in all 82 regular season games, scoring two goals with 15 assists (17 points).

St. Louis has secured their goaltending tandem in Springfield (AHL) for the 2024-25 season after they re-signed Colten Ellis to a one-year, two-way contract extension on Tuesday. The 23-year-old netminder was St. Louis' 2019 third-round pick (93rd overall) and was sensational in 2023-24, posting a .923+ SV% in both the ECHL with Orlando (21 games) and AHL with Springfield (16 games).

Laferriere spent the 2023-24 season with the Springfield Thunderbirds (AHL) and has signed a one-year, two-way contract extension to remain with the Blues next season. The 23-year-old was St.Louis' 2018 sixth-round pick (169th overall) and had seven goals and 25 points in 68 games in his third AHL season with Springfield last year.

Stancl is St.Louis' 2023 fourth-round pick (106th overall) and has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Blues on Thursday. The 19-year-old left-winger appeared in seven games for Vaxjo Lakers HC (SHL) and had a goal and zero assists at Sweden's top level.