ST. LOUIS – Doug Armstrong sounded very interested in bringing back center Radek Faksa.
The St. Louis Blues general manager made the comments at the Blues’ post mortem end-of-season availability after being eliminated by the Winnipeg Jets in seven games in the Western Conference First Round.
The 31-year-old, in his first season with the Blues after being acquired from the Dallas Stars for future considerations on July 2, 2024, was part of the identity line, dubbed the ‘WTF’ line with Alexey Toropchenko and Nathan Walker.
Faksa finished the regular-season with 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in 70 games, but that line was as dominant as any for the Blues in the playoffs against the Jets.
Faksa had seven points (one goal, six assists) in the series and was a plus-7.
He finished off a five-year, $16.25 million contract ($3.25 million average annual value) signed with the Stars on Oct. 11, 2020.
“He and I had a good conversation,” Armstrong said. “It's something I want to reflect back on. We want to grow, we have young players that we want to grow, but we don't want to disregard what he meant to us. ... If we expect to be good again, we have to keep good players here.
“He has to want to stay here. There's a lot that goes on, but that line was out identity. I've seen what an identity line can do. I want to let the dust settle, I want to sit with Alex [Steen], I want to sit with our coaches to find out what we have coming who can fill some of these roles, but he and [Ryan] Suter specifically came in, veteran players, one year deals and they gave us everything that we can want and more. I told Faksa how privileged I was to work with him, and we're going to talk to him.”