The St. Louis Blues have signed center Tyler Bozak to a three-year deal worth $15 million. It may not be ideal, but it fills a hole for the franchise.
Bozak is the second veteran signed by the Blues, joining David Perron, who makes his return to St. Louis. In essence, the Bozak signing signals a bit of a white flag from the Blues on bigger names such as Ryan O’Reilly and Paul Stastny (already reportedly going to Vegas).
Bozak comes to St. Louis from Toronto, where he spent the past nine seasons after signing as a free agent out of NCAA Denver. As a Maple Leaf, he had an elevated role on some bad teams, but saw his impact deadened as the team around him improved. Even in the veterans-come-first world of coach Mike Babcock, Bozak has seen his ice time cut down. In fact, his ice time has dropped in each of the past four seasons after playing a career-high 20:56 per game in 2013-14. This season, he averaged just 15:39.
Objectively, it’s a bit surprising that Bozak is getting a raise from his old $4.2 million per year stipend, but that’s really how wild free agency can get. Bozak is a center and that’s an important position, even if he can’t effectively replace Stastny, whom St. Louis traded to Winnipeg at the deadline.
On the positive side of the ledger, Bozak is strong on faceoffs and great in the shootout. He got a lot done on the power play in Toronto, albeit with great opportunity. Will he get the same chances in St. Louis?
If anything, the signings of Bozak and Perron mean that the Blues will marinate for a bit longer before they can truly challenge in the Central Division. Right now, Winnipeg and Nashville are untouchable, while Minnesota bobs up and down depending on the year. Bozak and Perron do not make the Blues better, but they can help some great young prospects along the way. Robert Thomas, for example, looks like he deserves at least a long look in training camp and based on the junior star’s two-way game, perhaps even more than that. Jordan Kyrou is coming off player of the year honors in the OHL and while he’s a winger, it would be great to have an experienced center for him, should he jump straight from junior to the NHL.