Blues forward Jordan Kyrou (25) shoots the puck while being guarded by Kraken forward Matty Beniers during the first period of a game Sunday, April 14, 2024, at Enterprise Center.
For years, cap space has been an issue with the Blues.
In evaluating the contracts on defense, in forecasting ones up front, in letting familiar veterans walk in free agency, cap space has taken center stage in Ƶ. But now as the team continues its transition to a new core, and after the cap rose $4.5 million, space is now less limited for the Blues.
In fact, the Blues could be in a position of strength when it comes to their cap relative to the rest of the league. Let’s break down where they stand entering the draft next weekend and free agency days after that.
Right now, the Blues have about $14 million in cap space under the $88 million cap with 19 projected players on the roster.
Up front, that means Jordan Kyrou ($8.125 million), Robert Thomas ($8.125 million), Brayden Schenn ($6.5 million), Pavel Buchnevich ($5.8 million), Brandon Saad ($4 million), Kevin Hayes ($3.571 million), Oskar Sundqvist ($1.5 million), Alexey Toropchenko ($1.25 million), Jake Neighbours ($835,833) and Nathan Walker ($775,000).
On defense, it’s Justin Faulk ($6.5 million), Colton Parayko ($6.5 million), Torey Krug ($6.5 million), Nick Leddy ($4 million), Scott Perunovich ($1.15 million), Matthew Kessel ($800,000) and Tyler Tucker ($800,000). Plus, there’s Jordan Binnington ($6 million) and Joel Hofer ($775,000) in goal.
They still have to sign pending restricted free agent Nikita Alexandrov to a deal, but that should come in between league minimum and $1 million. The Blues could add the cheap entry-level contracts of Zack Bolduc, Zach Dean or Dalibor Dvorsky.
Ƶ should be in the market for a depth forward to play in their middle six, potentially a short-term option that costs around $4 million. They also could need additional depth in case Sunqvist isn’t ready for the start of the season following knee surgery.
Even after accounting for the addition of a depth forward at that price point, the re-signing of Alexandrov and the injection of a pair of entry-level deals, the Blues could have between $7 million and $7.5 million of cap space available — and that’s with the roster full at 23.
It’s a foreign place that the Blues haven’t been in quite some time, having the luxury of cap space. Both general manager Doug Armstrong and owner Tom Stillman have said that the Blues aren’t going to spend money just to say they were a cap team, but there also hasn’t been a directive to cut costs during the club’s retool. It has to be smart money spent for Armstrong to spend it.
So what does that mean for the Blues? Well, it gives them options.
“I think we have to be open to everything,” Armstrong said. “We are in the mucky middle.”
We know that the Blues aren’t in a position to buy players out. They already have enough cap space to work with, and they might not even spend all of that available space, and Armstrong himself said that’s not something “on the front burner,” unless there’s an acquisition that necessitates it.
We know the Blues are looking for a specific group of players — early to mid-20s players who would make sense to grow with the franchise as it enters a new era in ... two years? That likely rules out long-term deals to the popular unrestricted players on the market, even if the Blues have cap space for it right now.
In the next few years, the Blues have to plan for extensions for Neighbours and Hofer in 2025, and then Dvorsky possibly two years after that. Of course, there’s also the Buchnevich question.
But right now, the cap space gives the Blues an opportunity to gain future assets if they’re willing to take on some temporary contract pain. While the Blues won’t have quite the same cap space as Chicago, San Jose or Arizona once did, they could look to weaponize their excess in similar ways.
Could the Blues act as a third party to retain salary in a trade and pick up a draft pick in the process? Could the Blues rescue a team from a short-term cap headache while acquiring more picks?
Ƶ showed signs of that in the past year and a half with the Jakub Vrana trade, Kasperi Kapanen waivers claim and Kevin Hayes trade. Those were bloated deals teams were trying to get out of, and the Blues paid cheap prices to get those players with heavy salary retention on Vrana and Hayes.
There are pieces out there that could net the Blues an asset in addition to the player. Forwards Jean-Gabriel Pageau (Islanders), Tanner Jeannot (Lightning), Conor Sheary (Lightning) or Ilya Mikheyev (Canucks) could fit the bill. Same with guys like Erik Gudbranson (Blue Jackets), Ben Chiarot (Red Wings), Justin Holl (Red Wings) or Brayden McNabb (Golden Knights) on defense.
None of those players are signed long-term and thus wouldn’t impact the books when Alexander Steen takes over as general manager in 2026, and their current teams could be facing cap crunches.
Might that extra cap space make sense to chase a restricted free agent? Offer sheets have become less and less common in the NHL, but this summer offers the Blues chances to go after a top defenseman.
“I think there’s a perception or a thought that offer sheets are taboo by managers,” Armstrong said. “Offer sheets that don’t work are taboo by managers.”
Detroit has to re-sign 23-year-old Moritz Seider. Dallas has to re-sign 22-year-old Thomas Harley. Both are mobile, big bodies with offensive skill that fit the right timeline. The Stars likely won’t have the cap space to commit to a long-term deal with Harley, but can the Blues make it work?
“I think teams are more than willing to at least explore that now that the cap has gone up,” Armstrong said. “But the cap has gone up, and a lot of that money has already been spent by the teams. If you have an RFA in an uncomfortable spot, it’s at least my job responsibility to assess: Is that an option that we should explore?”
The Blues also have enough draft capital to pay the necessary pick compensation should they successfully woo away an RFA.
