The Blues are
working to improve their depth outlook going into the offseason with signings not
only with forward positions, but also on the blue line.
The forward
signings were all RFA’s.
Samuel Honzek
(20 YO, 74 OV) is seeing his salary jump to just under a cool million for 3
years. He was buried on the 4th line when we took over the team. We’ve
since moved him to the 2nd line to help his counting stats, hoping
we get some movement in the late part of the season so that he rerates better.
He could be a really nice and cost controlled piece for us at the back end of
the roster next year.
Luke Tuch (24
YO, 75 OV) is coming back on a 2 year deal at 2 million. He could be a
productive piece on the back end of the roster for us for the next two seasons.
On defense,
we are particularly challenged this season. Our best defender is Evan Bouchard
(77 OV, 26 YO). He was on an expiring contract in RFA, and we were able to
agree on a 3-year deal worth 3 and a half million. We plan to camp him as his
defensive attribute will decline after a difficult year in St Louis with his
+/-. If we invest in his workouts he could be a real asset for us for the next
3 years.
Dylan DeMelo (29
YO, 75 OV) is also coming back to the team on a two year, 1.6 million dollar
deal. He will slot nicely behind Bouchard and we hope to be 3-4 Blue Line acquisitions
this offseason.
It was nice
for the Blues to identify players they wanted back and lock them up, while
learning about the league’s process for player negotiations. We have more
resign work to do in the offseason, but this was a strong start to what I hope
to be a quick turnaround of the franchise direction.
9/23/2026 - 306 words
