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When the Blues opened the regular season last month, defenseman Ryan Suter was slotted into the ºüÀêÊÓƵ lineup as a third-pairing defenseman, a role he hasn’t historically played throughout his 20-year NHL career.

Across the past nine games, as Suter stepped in for the injured Nick Leddy? Well, no one in the NHL averaged more five-on-five ice time than Suter.

Leddy has not played since the home opener on Oct. 15 because of a lower-body injury, and Suter has stepped in on the top pair alongside Colton Parayko. He’s skated a league-high 20:14 a night at five on five during that span, faced tough matchups, nearly twice as many defensive zone starts than offensive ones and has been used as one of the team’s primary penalty killers.

“That’s how it’s been the last few years, right?� Suter said. “Wherever you’re needed, you jump in and you do what’s asked. Now, this year, it’s unfortunate that guys have gotten hurt, but you want to be there to help wherever’s needed.�

Suter, 39, is the oldest skater in the league and the second-oldest player behind only Minnesota’s Marc-Andre Fleury. He was bought out of the last season of his contract with Dallas over the summer and signed a bonus-laden contract with the Blues shortly after that. Suter is earning a league-minimum $775,000 salary, with an additional $2.225 million in potential bonuses.

(He’s already earned $225,000 of that by playing 10 games. His next checkpoint is at 30 games, when he’ll earn a $400,000 bonus.)

Leddy has not skated with the Blues in 10 days, meaning Suter is slated for more time playing with Parayko on the top pair.

“You have a guy that’s played close to 1,500 games and he just knows how to play the game,� Blues coach Drew Bannister said. “He stays within himself. The physical aspect that he brings that we need in our D pairings to really stop plays in our zone and allow our goalies to see the puck. Very efficient in moving pucks and then getting up in the play and finding holes to be available in the offense.�

When Suter signed with the Blues on July 10, it was assumed that he would be a natural fit alongside Justin Faulk on the second pairing. It was later announced that the Blues could be missing Torey Krug for the season, and Suter figured to be a natural replacement on his one-year deal.

In August, though, the Blues acquired Philip Broberg via offer sheet from Edmonton, and he was installed alongside Faulk during training camp. As a result, Suter began the season with Matthew Kessel on the third pair and logged fewer than 15 minutes in each of his first two games as a Blue.

Since then, Suter’s role has transformed completely, and Suter said, “You prepare to help the team in any way, and I was ready for it.�

It’s not just the heavy workload at five on five. It’s that it’s coming against top lines — Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are the two forwards Suter has played the most against this season. It’s coming in the defensive zone — 28 shifts have begun in the defensive zone vs. 15 in the offensive zone. For the first time in five years, Suter has absorbed more than half of the available penalty-killing minutes.

Suter has had this type of defensive responsibility before during his top-pair days in Nashville, Minnesota and Dallas, but it almost always came with some offensive situations, whether it was zone deployment or power-play minutes. That hasn’t been the case in ºüÀêÊÓƵ.

“Whatever’s needed,� Suter said. “It’s fun to adapt to different situations and be put in and counted on in different roles.�

Since Suter’s promotion, the Blues have outscored opponents 13-6 during his minutes at five on five, and only three defensemen (Noah Hanifin, Alex Pietrangelo and J.J. Moser) have been on the ice for more goals.

The underlying number suggest that could change soon, though, as Blues goaltenders have saved 94.2% of shots, and Suter’s teammates have a 15.1% shooting percentage when he’s on the ice at five on five, according to Natural Stat Trick. That’s a 1.093 PDO, when the league average is 1.00.

Suter will turn 40 years old on Jan. 21 and would play his 1,500th game on Feb. 8 if he doesn’t miss a game between now and then. So for Bannister, it was easy to trust a bump in minutes for Suter.

“I think he’s gained that trust over the time that he’s been in the NHL, what he’s done over those years,� Bannister said.