Even with Ken Hitchcock sticking around for another season (and a possible heir in line with Mike Yeo), the St. Louis Blues figure to be busy during the summer.
“Sign Dmitrij Jaskin” likely wasn’t all that high on the to-do list, but now it’s marked off as the team announced a two-year deal for the 23-year-old forward.
A variety of outlets report that the contract is worth $2 million overall (so a $1 million cap hit), including Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Jaskin played in a career-high 65 regular season games in 2015-16 while also playing in six postseason contests. His production and ice time went down from 2014-15, yet the 41st pick of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft comes pretty cheap.
People generally seem pleased with the move, at least if they’re not outright indifferent:
Again, there’s no denying that the Blues have bigger fish to fry during the off-season.
They must decide whether they want to re-sign UFAs like David Backes and Troy Brouwer while also needing a new deal for a high-value RFA in Jaden Schwartz. There’s also the notion of trading Kevin Shattenkirk, who could be awfully expensive once his bargain deal expires.
Jaskin could conceivably stem some of the tide if thrust into a higher-profile role in the event that the Blues part ways with a key forward or two.
“It’s great to be part of a group like this,” Jaskin said, via the Blues website. “It’s great to have the opportunity to be part of this team. To get the conference final, it’s a big motivation. You want to get there again and in (these) two years, I hope we’ll get even further.”
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