Blues sign young defenseman prospect to entry-level deal

The Blues have signed defenseman Quinton Burns to a three-year entry-level contract, per a team release. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Burns, 19, has done well in tough minutes on a mediocre Kingston Frontenacs team in the Ontario Hockey League the past couple of years. A St. Louis third-round pick in 2023, Burns recorded six goals, 29 assists, 35 points and 120 PIMs in 58 games for Kingston in 2023-24, all career highs.

The lefty-shooting Burns is entering what he hopes will be his first full training camp with the team. He attended as an unsigned prospect in 2023, but his viewings were limited after he sustained a lower-body injury early in the preseason against the Coyotes.

He still needs a few years of development before he’s ready to bring his stay-at-home game to the NHL. Burns isn’t yet old enough for a full-time AHL assignment, so the Blues will return him to the Frontenacs for his final season of junior hockey when cutting him from their camp roster in the next few weeks. Doing so will defer the first season of his deal to 2025-26, making him a restricted free agent upon expiry in 2028.

Burns didn’t quite crack The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler’s list of the Blues’ top 15 prospects back in February, but he was mentioned as falling just short of the cut. St. Louis can be patient with the Ontario native, who it hopes will be the next in a string of defensively-minded blue liners who the organization has been able to turn into NHL-caliber players, joining the likes of Matthew Kessel and Tyler Tucker.