Previewing the St. Louis Blues’ 2024 Free Agency Class

Offseason plans almost always start by looking at the current roster, deciding which pieces belong on the roster for the long term, and deciding which pieces the team should move on from. Taking a look at a team’s pending free agency class is always a good indicator of where the team stands and the direction they will take once the regular season ends. Players who do not have much time left under contract are not pieces the team wants to retain for seasons to come, thus causing no contract extension to be put in place before free agency begins. 

While the trade deadline came and went without the Blues making any moves to shake up the roster, Armstrong will have to have a significant and active offseason to put the team back in place to make a push for the playoffs next season. The trade rumors surrounding players like Pavel Buchnevich, Torey Krug, and Justin Faulk are well documented, but the team could also be looking to part ways with several pieces who will not be on the books past this season. With the regular season coming to a close, here are some players who could be playing their last game as a Blue over the next two weeks. 

Kasperi Kapanen

After showing some promise last season after being claimed off waivers, Kasperi Kapanen did not perform to expectations this season. After totaling 14 points in 23 games in 2022-23 with the Blues, including eight goals, Kapanen was slated as a potential spark plug middle-six forward who rejuvenated his career since coming to the Blues from the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, Kapanen went through a tumultuous season with the Blues, including several outings of being healthy-scratched due to a lack of consistent performance. In 69 games this season, he has only 21 points and five goals. 

While Kapanen does provide value, being a great skater and a player who can play on the penalty kill, the offensive production and lack of focus this season truly derailed any chance of Kapanen returning to the team next season. When Armstrong brought Kapanen over from the Penguins last season, many viewed him as a low-risk, high-reward signing for the club, similar to Jakub Vrana when the Blues acquired the winger from the Detroit Red Wings for a 2025 seventh-round pick, a player that needed a change of scenery that could provide a spark to a team in playoff contention but also included zero risk if the move failed to work out. With recent production and play, Kapanen is simply a bottom-six forward with offensive upside at this stage in his career, and with the Blues going through a transition period, there is no place for him on the roster. A contending team needing some depth could take a flier on the 27-year-old in the off-season, but it won’t be the Blues. 

Marco Scandella

The Blues’ struggles on the blue line have been discussed at length over several seasons. Fans and analysts have heavily scrutinized the Blues’ defense core since the Stanley Cup run in 2019-20 due to poor play on such high-paying contracts. Players like Krug, Faulk, and even alternate captain Colton Parayko have all been in trade circulation for the last few seasons, and Blues fans want to see a change on their back end. 

One player who has been a part of the scrutiny of the defense core is veteran player Marco Scandella, with a cap hit of $3.275 million per season. Scandella was playing top-pairing minutes alongside Parayko before this season, and fans were furious. With his play on the ice indicating that he is, at best, a bottom-pairing defensive defenseman, Blues fans are not pleased with a player of such little upside being paid like a top-four defenseman.

The issue for fans was never the play of Scandella. When playing in a shutdown bottom-pair role, he is a very serviceable defenseman for the Blues; however, when the lack of a true top-pairing partner for Parayko is evident, playing a veteran like Scandella those minutes is not the situation the team should be in. Furthermore, a player with the play of Scandella should not be making much higher than the league minimum, much less over three million dollars a season. Fortunately for the fans, the Scandella contract is ending after this season, and he is slated to become an unrestricted free agent. 

While Scandella’s return is unlikely, the team could bring the veteran back on a team-friendly short-term contract worth around the league minimum to be a sixth or depth defenseman if the team needs it. With Scott Perunovich hitting the open market at the season’s end and the uncertain future of Faulk and Krug, bringing back a veteran player like Scandella for cheap could be in the Blues’ best interest, while young players like Tyler Tucker, Matthew Kessel, and even prospect Michael Buchinger still develop into everyday NHL-level defenseman. 

Scott Perunovich

Things never worked out for offensive defenseman Scott Perunovich with the Blues. Significant health issues and slower development of a full 200-foot game halted any progress the 25-year-old Hibbing, Minnesota native had made during his tenure with the team. A truly gifted and dynamic playmaker and passer, Perunovich could have been a spark plug player for the Blues on the power play and inside their top four if he had developed. However, after serious injuries two seasons in a row that caused him to play only 19 games in 2021-22 and miss all of 2022-23, Perunovich had a significant uphill battle to make it as an everyday defenseman in the NHL. 

Like Scandella, Perunovich could find his way back on the roster next season if Armstrong makes some changes to the top four and needs to add depth pieces, but a return is unlikely. Perunovich could use a new start and a change of scenery to unlock the next level of his development in the NHL to turn into a top-four caliber player moving forward. The offensive upside and playmaking ability are already there for him to be an asset on the power play; if a team can unlock and hone in on his defensive awareness in his zone, Perunovich could find success like Jake Walman did with the Detroit Red Wings when he was traded in 2022. 

Big Offseason Coming

The Blues have some other pending free agents, like Vrana and forward Sammy Blais. Still, the impact those two players have made on the team over the last two seasons has been minimal, and they are not expected to be back with the team once their contract is over. Armstrong is expected to make significant changes to the roster this off-season, and it would not be surprising if several players with contract time left, like one of the top four defensemen or forwards Kevin Hayes and Brandon Saad, are potentially moved out to give the team flexibility in the future.

Although unlikely, Armstrong could also swing for the fences and move a cornerstone player like Buchnevich or Jordan Kyrou if he genuinely believes neither player is a significant part of the future. With no true prominent names needed to be retained before they hit the open market, Armstrong and the Blues can shake this roster up top to bottom this summer.