Sundqvist signs two-year extension to remain with Blues

Take Oskar Sundqvist off the board for the St. Louis Blues.

The 29-year-old, a pending unrestricted free agent, is staying in St. Louis after the Blues announced a two-year extension worth $3 million ($1.5 million average annual value) to remain with the Blues.

“Obviously I’m super happy to get a deal done and get to stay in St. Louis," Sundqvist said Thursday. "I’m very excited right now."

Sundqvist is in his second stint with the Blues after signing a one-year, $775,000 contract on June 23, 2023.

“Yeah, it’s crazy how it turned out," Sundqvist said. "I’ve always been happy to be here and playing for the Blues. That was my goal to stay here. Having those conversations with 'Army', knowing that he wanted me to stay too, made it a lot easier. We had really good conversations yesterday and both said what we wanted and how we felt. I’m super excited to stay for two more years hopefully."

Sundqvist has 21 points (six goals, 15 assists) in 62 games and has stayed healthy and been a glue guy from the moment he came to the Blues in 2017.

"It’s been feeling like a good year for me and I’ve been healthy," Sundqvist said. "No injuries and stuff like that. It’s been a good year feeling healthy and fresh.

"I got a full summer with working and no rehab probably for the first time in three or four years. So you’re just getting that full summer to prepare and come into the season as good as I can. I think that really helped."

The Blues traded, along with defenseman Jake Walman and a 2023 second-round pick to the Detroit Red Wings for Nick Leddy and Luke Witkowski on March 21, 2022.

Sundqvist, who was an important part of the Blues winning the Stanley Cup in 2019 playing an important role on the fourth line with Alexander Steen and Ivan Barbashev, was traded to the Minnesota Wild from the Red Wings at the trade deadline last year before coming back to St. Louis in a bit of a prove-yourself type of year before being rewarded to stay in what he's always considered a second home.

"Yeah, it’s crazy to say that I’m one of the older guys," Sundqvist said. "I think for me, more is showing with my game and leading the group that way on the ice. Just showing the young guys what made St. Louis successful in the past and what kind of game you need to play to be successful. Me and 'Army' have talked about that before, and we talked about it again yesterday. I know what he wants from me, he made that very clear and simple. I just want to show with my game what it is to be a Blue."

Blues general manager Doug Armstrong gave Sundqvist the option of moving on to a contending team should he want to go try and win somewhere else, but that obviously wasn't what Sundqvist wanted.

"I talked to Oskar yesterday morning and it was just we had the trade deadline coming up," Armstrong said Friday afternoon. "I was honest that my affection for him as a man and the way he plays and what he means to the team that we would like to talk about an extension, but I also understand he's a great competitor and knowing how much he enjoys the playoffs, how he excels in the playoffs, that if he wanted me to look for a situation that would give him that opportunity, I told him I would, and I would bring back all the different options. 

"Everything being equal, I said to him, 'Honestly, I have to do what's best for the St. Louis Blues, but if three things were relatively equal or four, I'll let you make that choice.' I said, 'Our hope is not to get there. We'd love to sign you.' He talked about his love of the city, his love of the fanbase, of the organization and we talked about him wanting to be a big part of helping us get the train back on the tracks, and then when we get it on the tracks, we can pick up steam, and he wants to be a part of that. That was refreshing to hear because it's a transient league and players come and go. When you have someone that has the love that he has for the crest on the front of the jersey and then the city, it became important for us to see if we can get a deal done and it's very easy to get a deal done when you have two sides pulling on the same rope like that together."

The Blues (32-28-3) are six points out of the Western Conference wild card chase behind the Vegas Golden Knights.

"Yeah, we’re still in it, and getting a good run here and finding our game, if we can do that and get some wins, I’m pretty sure we can make the playoffs," Sundqvist said. "When we play our game that we know we can play, we’re a very good hockey team. We’ve been a little bit too inconsistent with it and gotten away from what we need to do to be successful. I think it’s just trying to find a groove and find our game, and if we do that, we can have a really good chance."

Sundqvist's girlfriend, Blake, is from St. Louis and probably is as excited, if not more, than the center is.

"I think Blake. She’s very excited to be staying in St. Louis and be home with your family," Sundqvist said. "I think she’s more excited, but obviously we both are."

Good thing Sundqvist got a raise, because later in the day, the NHL announced that it fined Sundqvist $2,000 for embellishment stemming from a game Feb. 28 against the Edmonton Oilers.