NHL
St. Louis Blues Free Agency Additions Could Prove Profitable
A big-name player moves and the spotlight moves with him. That was the case when John Tavares left the New York Islanders in favor of the Toronto Maple Leafs. So much focus was on him that other team’s signings, while acknowledged, fell to the side for the most part. The St. Louis Blues free agency moves padded their roster, in hopes of gaining a chance at a playoff contention in 2018-19. Those helpful acquisitions include Ryan O’Reilly, Tyler Bozak, David Perron, and Patrick Maroon.
Coming Home
For a couple of players, it was about that connection to home that brought them to St. Louis. David Perron was acquired from the Blues during the Vegas Golden Knights expansion draft, but he’s back for the third time. His new contract is for four years with a $4 million average annual value. His career year in Vegas included 50 assists and 66 points in 70 games, which the team hopes he can replicate.
Perron was drafted 26th overall by the Blues in 2007 where he played for six years before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers in 2013. While he has played for five different teams in his career, all of Perron’s contracts were signed with the Blues.
Left winger Patrick Maroon signed a one-year, $1.75 million deal with the Blues that brings him back to his hometown. He grew up in Oakville and attended Blues games with his dad. Now, he will be able to share that experience with his own son.
“For him, watching his dad play for the St. Louis Blues, seeing him in warmups before every game, it’s going to be a really cool year, a really fun year,” said Maroon.
In the past two seasons, Maroon has over 40 points each, but the Blues are hoping to see higher goal scoring. Maroon had 17 goals last season, but that was split between the Oilers and the New Jersey Devils. However, during his full season with the Oilers in 2016-17, he was able to score 27 goals.
Center Depth
It was clear some quality centers needed to be added to the team. In response, the Blues signed unrestricted free agent Tyler Bozak to a three-year, $15 million deal. Bozak scored only 11 goals in 81 games but tallied 43 points. The Blues came in 24th in goals for during 2017-18, so they should be hoping to see a slight increase to 15+ goals. It’s likely that he will see a similar role on the third line like he had with the Leafs.
Acquiring Ryan O’Reilly from the Buffalo Sabres cost the Blues. They gave up Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Sobotka, Tage Thompson, their 2019 first-round pick, and 2012 second-round pick. Moving those three players made it easier for the Blues to take on O’Reilly’s $7.5 million cap hit, however. He had 55-65 points during the last five seasons and there’s no reason to believe that consistency won’t continue.
“He’s a really good playmaker and I think that’s something the Blues maybe lacked in previous years,” said new teammate Perron when asked about facing O’Reilly during previous seasons.
Even with the chemistry, the Blues top line had during 2017-18, Brayden Schenn will likely move to the second to make room for O’Reilly. A new first line featuring O’Reilly, Vladimir Tarasenko, and Jaden Schwartz could be formidable.
