Blues Sign Second-Last NHL RFA

The St. Louis Blues enter the 2024-2025 NHL season with one of the younger rosters in the league. Over the past few seasons, the team has parted ways with some valuable veterans like Alex Pietrangelo, Vladimir Tarasenko, Vince Dunn, and Ryan O'Reilly. In their place now are a new wave of playmakers like Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, and Pavel Buchnevich.

With the Blues lineup just about cemented with preseason wrapping up, they took care of some last-minute contract negotiations. The team announced they signed restricted free agent forward Nikita Alexandrov to a one-year deal.

The deal will give the 24 year-old forward another shot to earn a full-time role with the Blues. The contract will pay Alexandrov $775,000 at the NHL level and $150,000 at the AHL level. With this part done, the Blues now have another option to contend for a bottom-six role. Alexandrov game has some offensive upside, but he needs to earn a permanent spot in St. Louis' lineup first. Armed wth a new deal, the Blues are giving him that opportunity this season.

The German-born winger played in 23 NHL contests with the Blues last year. While he failed to record a goal he did add two assists. He was also limited to just seven AHL games due to injury, making the upcoming season a pivotal one for Alexandrov's NHL career.

The season prior, he played in 28 games, posting three goals and four assists for seven points with the Blues. He was also much more productice during his stint in the AHL, putting up 19 goals and 19 assists in 41 games.

The Blues originally drafted Alexandrov in the 2019 NHL Draft. He was the 31st pick of the second round after putting up nearly a point-per-game in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).