Blues will need to move a defenseman, or two

The Blues qualified the 23-year-old earlier in the week, keeping the restricted free agent's rights in fold.

General manager Doug Armstrong wasted little time in signing Tucker to a two-year, one-way contract with an $800,000 cap hit.

Here's where it gets quirky now for the Blues:

Bringing Tucker, who played in 26 games last season (one goal, three assists), into the fold, it now puts the Blues in a quandary.

The Blues now have eight defensemen under contract on one-way deals for the 2023-24 season (Colton Parayko, Justin Faulk, Torey Krug, Nick Leddy, Marco Scandella, Robert Bortuzzo, Tucker and Scott Perunovich), and Calle Rosen's two-way contract pays him $450,000 if he plays in the American Hockey League.

Something's got to give, but how? We already saw Krug wouldn't waive his no-trade clause to go to the Philadelphia Flyers, and Parayko, Faulk and Leddy each have full no-trade clauses also, and Scandella has a seven-team modified no-trade clause.

Scandella's contract could perhaps be moved, since he has one year left at a $3.275 million cap hit, and the Blues may have to sweeten the deal for someone to take the 33-year-old off their hands should they want to move a veteran d-man.

Do the Blues attempt to move Bortuzzo, the elder statesman at 34 out of this bunch? Bortuzzo carries a $950,000 cap hit to his contract, which has one year remaining on it. He is the longest-tenured Blue, having been in St. Louis since 2015, and the team loves him and what he brings to the table, so this more or less is nickel-and-diming things. But in the Blues' situation, nickels and dimes help immensely.

Nickel-and-diming again, do you try and move Rosen, 29, who arguably at times was the Blues' best defenseman last season. His $762,500 cap hit is attractive and the contract has only one year left.

As evidenced by Krug, it's going to be hard not only to ask one of the veterans (in Krug's case again) if they'd like to waive their no-trade clauses, especially with Parayko, Krug and Faulk each carrying a $6.5 million cap hit and at least four years remaining on their contracts (Parayko has seven).

The Blues signed Perunovich last week to a one-year, one-way $775.000 deal, and it could be risky moving an experienced defenseman because Perunovich has been so injury-prone in his early career, but it's evident they want to get him to St. Louis working here.

Young draft pick Matt Kessel got a taste in St. Louis last season, so he's on the horizon, and the Blues in April signed Swede Leo Loof to a three-year entry-level contract, so he's on the horizon.

All that's known is that eight one-ways is too crowded, and nine makes it impossible. Teams normally carry seven d-men, and others play a bit more carefully and carry eight on the roster, which the Blues have done, but in this situation, something has to give.

Armstrong might have to get creative on this one, somehow, someway, because you already saw this past weekend what happened with the Krug situation, and it's really hard to envision Parayko, Faulk and Leddy waiving theirs. And why would they?

So how does Armstrong make this work? Probably going bargain shopping.

Scandella is the key here, shedding his $3.275 million hit. If Armstrong can find someone to take that contract off their hands, it would be huge. Add Bortuzzo to the mix and it's $4.225 million off the books and things become clearer. It's just hard to envision that happening.

So starting on Saturday, which marks the opening of free agency, Armstrong will need to operate some wizardry before players filter in for training camp in September.

The Blues were on the verge of acquiring Travis Sanheim from the Flyers, but it was going to take one of their veterans to say yes. Calgary Flames defenseman Noah Hanifin is apparently on the block and would be an attractive option for the Blues and change the complexion on the defense.

Could the Blues try and convince Parayko to go to Calgary in a trade and be closer to his St. Albert, Alberta home? Would he waive his NTC? Do they risk poking the bear again, knowing they'd have two upset veterans? Would they dare ask Faulk or Leddy to waive after seeing what just happened? Would the Flames even consider such a deal knowing Parayko, 30, has seven years and a $6.5 million cap hit for seven more years? These are all questions Armstrong will have to ask moving forward.

Any way you look at it, something has to get done, somehow, someway.