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NHL Free Agency: Grading the St. Louis Blues’ signings

By Griffin Youngs

BUFFALO, NY - FEBRUARY 3: Ryan O'Reilly #90 of the Buffalo Sabres skates during an NHL game against the St. Louis Blues on February 3, 2018 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY - FEBRUARY 3: Ryan O'Reilly #90 of the Buffalo Sabres skates during an NHL game against the St. Louis Blues on February 3, 2018 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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After missing out on the playoffs on the final game of the season, the St. Louis Blues are trying to find their way back to the promised land by any means necessary.

The dust has settled on the free agency rush in the NHL, and it’s time to start looking ahead to next season once again already. We’ve got a long time until October 4 rolls around, so let’s see how well our favorite teams teams are preparing for next season.

Hopes were high for the St. Louis Blues after a strong start to the season, but the Blues eventually missed the playoffs on the final game of the season after a heartbreaking loss to Colorado Avalanche. All logic says that missing the playoffs is a one of for a team as good on paper as the Blues, but they definitely needed to address the issues that plagued this team last season.

The Blues had a lacking center depth after trading away Paul Stastny, a struggling starting goalie in Jake Allen, and lacked depth scoring down the stretch. If they want to make the playoffs next season, all of those issues would need to be taken care of first.

Blues general manager Doug Armstrong had a tall task in front of him this offseason. The Blues had a lot of holes to fill, but just how well did he fill those holes? Armstrong certainly made some splashes, so let’s take a look at the moves the Blues made and grade how they help can help the team now and down the road.

David Perron comes back to St.Louis once again
David Perron comes back to St.Louis once again /

David Perron is heading back to the St. Louis Blues for the third time in his NHL career. The 30-year-old winger signed a four year, $16 million deal for a $4 million dollar cap hit with the St.Louis Blues on July 1st,

Perron was a first round selection by the St.Louis Blues back in 2007 and spent the first six years of his career with the organization before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers. When his contract expired in 2016, he re-signed with the Blues before drafted by the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft. Despite having a tremendous season with Vegas, the Golden Knights decided to let him walk after a subpar postseason.

Perron coming back gives the Blues some much needed offensive depth on the wings, something they lacked last season. Their attack was entirely top-heavy and relied on their top guys like Vladamir Tarasenko, Brayden Schenn and Jayden Schwartz. It almost worked at getting them into the playoffs, but it wasn’t enough.

After being taken by the Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft last season, Perron put up the greatest season of his 13-year career. Perron recorded 16 goals and 50 assists for 66 points in just 70 games, and while a repeat of Perron’s performance in Vegas seems highly unlikely, sticking Perron beside somebody like Brayden Schenn should get him close to that number.

This is a great signing for St. Louis, and gives it the depth it needs at an admittedly expensive cost for a fringe second line forward who can put up 40-50 points a season. The only issue is if Perron can stay healthy, which has been an issue in the past, but that can be applied to applied to anybody in the league. This is a low risk, high reward signing that Doug Armstrong should be commended for.

Grade: B+

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