The St. Louis Blues will have seven restricted free agents this off-season, highlighted by Jonatan Berggren and Matthew Kessel.
Now that the St. Louis Blues and their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds, have finished their seasons, the focus turns to the NHL draft and the off-season.
Heading into the 2026 off-season, new GM Alexander Steen will have seven restricted free agents he must make decisions on. Those RFAs are Jonatan Berggren, Matthew Kessel, Dylan Peterson, Zach Dean, Thomas Bordeleau, Leo Loof, and Will Cranley.
Of those seven players, only two played in NHL games with the Blues: Berggren and Kessel. Berggren was a waiver-wire pickup from the Detroit Red Wings, and he turned out to be a serviceable NHLer.
Originally drafted by the Red Wings in the second round of the 2018 NHL draft, Berggren posted six goals and 16 points in 36 games with the Blues this season. While finding a spot in a healthy lineup might prove to be challenging, having a player of Berggren’s level as the 13th forward would go a long way in keeping the Blues competitive.
Kessel played 29 games with the Blues this season, and zero with the Thunderbirds. Kessel was exclusively used as a seventh defenseman, filling in when the Blues were shorthanded due to injuries. Similar to Beggren, Kessel is a serviceable depth piece.
The remaining five RFAs did not play any games in the NHL this past season.
Peterson, a 24-year-old forward, was drafted in the third round of the 2020 NHL draft, but has yet to make his NHL debut. He’s spent the past two seasons in the AHL, where he most recently scored 12 goals and 24 points in 57 games. Peterson isn’t afraid to mix it up physically, recording 85 penalty minutes this past season.
Dean was a former first-round pick of the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2021 NHL draft, but was traded to the Blues as part of the Ivan Barbashev package. Since arriving, Dean has played just nine NHL games, failing to record a point.
Dean missed a large chunk of the AHL season because he was in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program at the start of the season. When he returned, he notched four goals and 14 points in 36 games.
Bordeleau, 24, was acquired by the New Jersey Devils during the 2025-26 season. Upon arriving, Bordeleau scored seven goals and 13 points in 25 games.
Loof, another 24-year-old, was also drafted by the Blues in the third round of the 2020 draft. In his third season with the Thunderbirds, Loof took a step back production-wise, notching just two goals and six points in 47 games, compared to his sophomore season, which saw him record 17 assists in 63 games.
The final RFA is 24-year-old goaltender Will Cranley. Cranley split his time between the AHL and ECHL. In the AHL, he posted a .892 save percentage, and in the ECHL, he posted a .915 SP.
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