The St. Louis Blues signed forward Patrik Berglund to a three-year, $11.1 million contract on Thursday. (That salary, which calls for a $3.7 million cap hit, comes from multiple sources but hasn’t been confirmed by the team just yet.)
The 26-year-old forward scored 14 goals and 32 points in 78 games while failing to record a point in four postseason contests. He managed 25 points in 2012-13 despite being limited by the lockout-abbreviated 48-game slate, so some might have been a little bit disappointed by his output this past season.
(His possession stats improved a bit, if nothing else.)
Interestingly, a trade isn’t totally out of the question even after this signing, as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
“Yeah, he would have a lot of interest around the league,” Blues GM Doug Armstrong said. “But he has a lot of interest with me, too.”
If this were to stand, the Blues covered quite a few of their bases already this offseason, although they have two significant restricted free agents to re-sign in forwards Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Sobotka. Cap Geek estimates St. Louis’ current cap space at about $18 million, so it’s conceivable that they can have leftover money to chase a noteworthy free agent even if they lock up those players.
They also could have some room to make a trade, if there’s a market for him.