St. Louis Blues sign defenseman Leo Loof to entry-level contract

The St. Louis Blues have signed defense prospect Leo Loof to a three-year, entry-level contract, the club announced Friday morning.

Loof, 21, collected 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in 55 games with Ilves Tampere in the Finnish Liiga during the 2022–23 regular season. He added a goal and two assists in 12 playoff contests.

The Blues originally selected Loof in the third round (No. 88 overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft. The six-foot-one defenseman, who shoots left, hails from Karlstad, Sweden. The Blues’ exclusive draft signing rights to Loof were set to expire on June 1, 2024.

Loof skated for Team Sweden at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton, being held without a point in six games and winning a bronze medal. He also won bronze while representing Sweden at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup in Slovakia and Czechia.

After growing up in the Farjestad BK system in Sweden, Loof shifted to playing professional hockey in Finland before the 2021–22 season. He has eight goals and 26 points in 103 games over his first two Liiga regular seasons with Ilves.

Loof is the fifth member of the Blues’ 2020 draft class to earn an entry-level contract with the team, following Jake Neighbours, Tanner Dickinson, Matthew Kessel, and Will Cranley. The Blues have until 2024 to sign third-round pick Dylan Peterson and seventh-rounder Noah Beck.

The Blues finished the 2022–23 NHL regular season in sixth place in the Central Division with a 37–38–7 record and 81 points in 82 games, missing the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs by 14 points.