The St. Louis Blues have solidified their blueline.
Roughly an hour after the market opened on Wednesday, the Blues made a significant move to bring one of their top-four defenders back, agreeing to terms with Nick Leddy on a four-year deal worth an average annual value of $4 million.
The deal, which now ties Leddy to St. Louis through the 2025-26 season, takes one of the top remaining defensemen off the board and more or less sets the Blues’ D-corps in stone for the foreseeable future.
Leddy is an interesting player to evaluate. The 31-year-old racked up 24 points in 75 games between the Blues and Detroit Red Wings last season, putting up decent defensive numbers while also continuing to struggle moving the puck out of his own end. The veteran is a valued member of the Blues’ locker room and fills a specific role on their back-end that the team clearly covets. But for $4 million per year until his age-35 season, that’s a risky bet to make on a player whose value seems to be decreasing on a yearly basis.
The Blues have always valued veteran defenders under Doug Armstrong, and Leddy certainly fits the bill. With the team now poised to make another run at a Cup after locking in Robert Thomas earlier in the day, Leddy at least gives the Blues depth in the immediate future.
How this deal ages remains to be seen. It could be ugly. But the Blues are taking a swing on a known commodity. And, at the very least, that makes sense on paper.
