
Blues defenseman Tyler Tucker fights with Chaminade product Brady Tkachuk of the Senators in the second period Thursday, Dec. 14, 2023, at Enterprise Center.
Editor’s note: This is the fourth of 10 installments analyzing questions facing the Blues entering the 2024-25 season.
7. Who is the odd man out on defense?
The bubble is always an uncomfortable spot to be in for hockey players, and the Blues will have a handful of defensemen squarely on it when training camp opens in about two weeks.
The Blues have nine healthy defensemen signed to one-way contracts entering camp, and all nine played at least a dozen games in the NHL last season.
On the one hand, there are the familiar veterans like Colton Parayko, Justin Faulk and Nick Leddy, who have been fixtures in St. Louis in recent seasons. No one is expecting their spots to disappear, even with a subpar showing during training camp.
There’s the acquisition of experienced Ryan Suter, who enters his 20th NHL season and will turn 40 years old in January. Currently, Suter is the oldest player in the league under contract, after he was behind Mark Giordano, Joe Pavelski, Zach Parise and Jeff Carter — all of whom are now out of the league — last year. Suter seems like a logical fit alongside Faulk, and his performance bonus structure ($2.225 million possible) suggests the Blues discussed a prominent role for Suter before signing him as a free agent.
Philip Broberg, 23, was the splashy signing by the Blues in August, prying him away from Edmonton via offer sheet and inking him to a two-year contract worth $4.58 million annually. When general manager Doug Armstrong discussed Broberg, he said the team viewed him as a top-four defenseman. Broberg, given his age and future within the organization, should be a priority for the Blues on defense.
There are three defensemen returning for St. Louis who rotated in and out of the lineup at various points of the 2023-24 season.
Matthew Kessel seems to have the inside track on a job this fall due to his ability to play on the right side and the reliable results he submitted across his 39 NHL games last season. Scott Perunovich will have a big opportunity in front of him to grab responsibility on the power play now that Torey Krug has been ruled out for the season due to ankle surgery. Tyler Tucker spent most of last season as a healthy scratch, as the physical defenseman played just 26 games but still led all Blues defensemen with 42 penalty minutes.
Pierre-Olivier Joseph is a 25-year-old newcomer who played 52 games for Pittsburgh last season before the Penguins did not qualify him this offseason, making him an unrestricted free agent.
As a UFA, Joseph chose to sign in St. Louis in part to play with his brother Mathieu, whom the Blues acquired from Ottawa via trade.
Of the entire group on the back end, only Kessel can be sent to the minors without passing through waivers. Perunovich, Tucker and Joseph would all have to be waived in order to be sent to AHL affiliate Springfield (Massachusetts).
If the Blues choose to keep eight defensemen in the NHL, that means one player will have to be trimmed. Of course, if the Blues opt for 14 forwards and seven defensemen, that’s one fewer job on the back end.
Tucker might enter camp with the most work to do, given his relative lack of experience and the specialized role he tends to play as a policeman on the ice. That also could mean he might get a healthy amount of playing time in the seven preseason games.