The roots of Ryan Suter’s one-year contract with the St. Louis Blues go back three years.
In 2021, immediately after the Minnesota Wild bought out the final four years of Suter’s 13-year, $98 million contract, Blues general manager Doug Armstrong got in touch with Neil Sheehy, Suter’s representative from I-C-E Hockey Agency.
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“Doug was the first to call,” Sheehy told The Athletic on Thursday.
The Blues and Suter couldn’t come to a contract agreement at the time, with the defenseman, then 36, seeking a four-year deal and the Blues only willing to go three. He eventually got four years and $14.6 million ($3.65 million annual average value) from the Dallas Stars. But as it turned out, after three years, the Stars were ready to move on. In late June, they bought out Suter for the second time in his 19-year NHL career.
Suter took a couple of days after that to decide with his family — wife Becky and children Brooks, Avery, Easton and Beau — if the now 39-year-old free agent would continue playing.
“Talking to Ryan, it was first and foremost he wanted to keep playing, but he had to talk to his family about whether they were on board with it,” Sheehy said. “He had full support from them.”
So for the second time in three years, Sheehy and Armstrong were on the phone about Suter.
“A few days went by, and I felt like, ‘I owe him a call,’ so I called,” Sheehy said. “He just wanted to make sure that Ryan was the right fit for St. Louis, so we went through a little process to make sure.”
Armstrong needed to make sure he was comfortable that Suter could fit into the team’s locker-room culture. He got the answers he needed, and the two sides agreed on a one-year deal worth $775,000 plus performance bonuses, which are allowable under the collective-bargaining agreement for players 35 and older.
There are $2.225 million in performance bonuses, and they are as follows: 10 games played triggers a $225,000 bonus, 30 games $400,000, 40 games $500,000, 60 games $600,000, and 60 games and the team makes the playoffs $500,000.
If all of the bonuses are reached, the deal is worth $3 million.
Unresticted free agent Ryan Suter is joining the Blues after agreeing to a one-year contract that includes performance bonuses. #stlblues
DETAILS ➡️ https://t.co/2cysVriqPT https://t.co/2cysVriqPT
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) July 10, 2024
Thus, Suter’s tour of the Central Division will continue.
In 2003, he was drafted No. 7 by the Nashville Predators, with whom he would spend seven seasons. He then signed in Minnesota, playing nine seasons there before his first buyout. Then he was in Dallas for three seasons.
So in total, Suter has worn the uniform of four of the eight teams in the division.
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“He’s going to see a lot of familiar faces, isn’t he?” Sheehy said.
And for at least one season, Suter will be paid by three teams at the same time, receiving checks from St. Louis, Minnesota and Dallas. That means in seven games during the 2024-25 season — four against the Wild and three against the Stars — he will be collecting money from both teams on the ice.
“I think that might be a first,” Sheehy said. “That’s the system.”
Teams paying Ryan Suter in 2024-25
| Team | Amount | Through |
|---|---|---|
$833,333 | 2028-29 | |
$1,433,333 | 2025-26 | |
$775,000* | 2024-25 |
* Could be as much as $3 million with performance bonuses.
That leads us to the biggest question Blues fans have had in the past 24 hours: Why is the team adding a veteran defenseman to a roster that’s going through a retool and now has nine blueliners on NHL contracts?
The Blues had Colton Parayko, Nick Leddy, Torey Krug, Justin Faulk, Matthew Kessel and Tyler Tucker in the fold, then re-signed Scott Perunovich ($1.15 million AAV) earlier this summer, and then signed Pierre-Olivier Joseph ($950,000) and Suter ($775,000) in free agency.
Armstrong has said that the right side of the defense is set with Parayko, Faulk and Kessel, which leaves a logjam of six left-shot defensemen for a few as four spots: Leddy, Krug, Suter, Perunovich, Tucker and Joseph.
This creates the appearance that a trade could be coming this offseason, and Armstrong has said several times that it is a possibility. The player most often speculated to be moving is Krug following the Blues’ ill-fated attempt to deal him last summer when he invoked his no-trade clause in a potential move to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Krug has one more season with a fully protected no-trade clause before it changes to a modified clause in 2025, when he’ll provide the Blues with a 15-team no-trade list. Until then, he must approve any deal the club tries to make, and as of now, a source close to him says that he would not be willing to waive his no-trade clause.
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That could make it difficult, but not impossible, to move Krug this summer.
In June, the New York Rangers wanted to trade forward Barclay Goodrow, who has three years left on his contract ($3,641,667 AAV). But Goodrow had a 15-team no-trade list, and the Rangers likely would’ve had to add an asset to facilitate the trade. Instead, they placed the 31-year-old on waivers, and he was claimed by the San Jose Sharks, who are now on the hook for the full salary.
So if Krug won’t approve a trade, that’s an option, although it’s no guarantee that a team would claim him on waivers.
One way or another, though, the Blues will have to address the number of defensemen on their roster, and trading younger, less-expensive players who have a potential future with the club doesn’t make any sense. Even if they were able to get Tucker or Joseph down to AHL Springfield on waivers, it would still only get them down to eight, which means they would only be able to carry 13 forwards.
In the meantime, it seems that the Blues are planning for someone’s departure.
In that case, Suter could be in the lineup, and at the very least, he’s added depth at the position. He has had a reputation in the past for not being so willing to help younger players along, which St. Louis needs with Tucker, Perunovich and Joseph.
Sheehy said that’s something he and Suter have discussed, and Suter is willing to play that role with the Blues.
“That was brought up before when he was in Minnesota,” Sheehy said. “I don’t think Ryan (ever didn’t want) to do that, but somebody had made a comment about that. I think when he got to Dallas, he did a lot of that and got very close to a lot of young guys.
“Just by talking with Ryan, he loves to play. I think he’s more interested in going in and helping the team win. If helping the young guys is going to help you win, then he’s going to do it. His main goal is to go there and win games.”
(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
