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The Blues continued to build their forward depth on Tuesday by executing a pair of trades with teams in salary-cap crunches.

In two separate transactions, the Blues acquired center Radek Faksa from Dallas as well as winger Mathieu Joseph and a 2025 third-round pick from Ottawa in exchange for future considerations.

Faksa, 30, has one year left on his contract with a $3.25 million cap hit. Joseph, 27, has two years left on his deal with a $2.95 million cap hit. There was no salary retained in either transaction.

In the past week, the Blues have now added Faksa, Joseph and Alexandre Texier to their forward group, in addition to bringing back Kasperi Kapanen. The Blues now have 13 forwards contracted and projected to be on the NHL roster, with restricted free agent Nikita Alexandrov still to sign.

“Joseph, he can skate. Kapanen, we know he can skate. Texier, we know he can skate,� Blues coach Drew Bannister said. “It only speeds up our bottom half and our overall depth. It makes us a better skating team, a more aggressive team. I think I said parts of our game, we have to be more aggressive, and we have to be able to get to pucks quicker. Them being able to skate and get to pucks quicker makes us a lot better team throughout our lineup.�

The Blues have about $8.26 million in available cap space prior to signing Alexandrov to what will surely by an inexpensive contract.

If the Blues needed to create space on the NHL roster for prospects like Zack Bolduc, Zach Dean or Dalibor Dvorsky, they could waive guys like Alexandrov, Nathan Walker or even Kapanen.

Last season, Faksa averaged just 12:31 of ice time per game in a fourth-line checking role, contributing seven goals and 12 assists in 74 games. He was Dallas’ most-used forward on the penalty kill and has been above average in the faceoff dot. He was originally a first-round pick by the Stars in 2012.

Joseph, meanwhile, is coming off of a career-high 35 points in 72 games for the Senators last season while averaging 16:28 of ice time per game. The 27-year-old averaged 1:45 of shorthanded time on ice for Ottawa.

Faksa, Joseph, Texier and Kapanen all kill penalties regularly and could be the key to possibly unlocking more offense from the Blues’ top-end players. With those players in the fold, Bannister can entrust more shorthanded minutes to them and less to players like Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich.

Instead, Thomas and Buchnevich can absorb more ice time at five on five or on the power play. Last season, they were the team’s two most-used forwards on the kill and are still expected to contribute shorthanded in the coming season.

“Their strengths are things away from the puck and certainly being able to kill penalties,� Bannister said. “In the role that they’re going to play for us, it certainly frees up some of our top players to play more minutes five on five, more specialty team minutes on the power play. Not rely so heavily on them on the PK because we have these players that can play in these positions.�

At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, Faksa brings size that the Blues lack among forwards not named Alexey Toropchenko or Oskar Sundqvist.

“We have to be harder to play against and play stronger on the walls, stronger in front of the nets,� Bannister said. “That’s something that certainly was addressed.�

While the Blues no longer have a 2025 second-round pick due to the Kevin Hayes trade to Pittsburgh, ºüÀêÊÓƵ now has two third-round picks in 2025.

Signing Jiricek

First-round pick Adam Jiricek signed a three-year, entry-level contract on Tuesday, becoming the first member of the 2024 draft class around the league to sign a deal. The Blues took Jiricek with the No. 16 pick of the first round on Friday.

Jiricek is in ºüÀêÊÓƵ for the team’s development camp but has not been on the ice as he recovers from a knee injury suffered in the World Juniors in December.