Krug will undergo surgery to address pre-arthritic changes in his left ankle, which will force him to miss the 2024-25 season. According to the Blues, "the decision to undergo surgery was reached following an effort to rehabilitate the injury through non-surgical interventions." In an effort to replace Krug in 2024-25, the Blues signed Philip Broberg and Ryan Suter in the offseason.
The Edmonton Oilers will not match St. Louis' offer sheet to restricted free agent Philip Broberg which means the 23-year-old has signed a two-year, $9.16 million contract with the Blues. Due to the signing, Edmonton has been compensated a 2025 2nd-round pick. In 12 games with Edmonton in 2023-24, Broberg had two assists, six SOG, and a -3 plus/minus while averaging only 11:37 TOI/GP.
Alongside Philip Broberg, Edmonton has decided to not match the two-year, $4.58 million offer sheet St.Louis presented to Dylan Holloway and will therefore lose the 22-year-old forward for a 2025 3rd-round pick. Holloway was Edmonton's 2020 1st round pick (14th overall) and had six goals, nine points and 29 PIMs in 38 games played in 2023-24.
Montreal made its secodn defensive signing of the afternoon on Tuesday as they gave Justin Barron a two-year, $2.3 million contract ($1,150,000 AAV). The 22-year-old was acquired from Colorado in a trade which sent Artturi Lehkonen the other way two seasons ago. Barron appeared in 48 games in 2023-24 and had a career high seven goals, 13 points and 16 PIMs.
Krug will be evaluated in 6-8 weeks to determine if surgery on his ankle is needed. If he does require surgery he is expected to miss the entire 2024-25 season. The 33-year-old defensemen just completed his 13th NHL season and had four goals, 39 points and a -31 plus/minus in 77 games played in 2023-24.
The Blues selected Jiricek with the No.16 overall pick in this year's NHL Draft. The 18-year-old blueliner spent the 2024 season in Czechia, posting one assist in 19 games with Plzen HC. He also represented Czechia at the World Juniors but played just one game before suffering a knee injury that forced him to miss the rest of the tournament.
St. Louis locked up one of their key core pieces on Tuesday as they signed 29-year-old Pavel Buchnevic to a six-year, $48 million ($8,000,000 AAV) contract extension. The Russian left-winger just completed his eighth NHL season and had 27 goals, 63 points, 48 PIMs and 207 SOG in 80 games played in 2023-24.
McMichael took a massive step forward with his game in 2023-24 after Niklas Backstrom was ruled out for the season and earned himself a two-year contract extension worth $4.2 million ($2.1M AAV). The 23-year-old averaged 5:21 TOI/GP more than his previous career high last season which led to his 18 goals and 33 points in 80 games played.
Stancl is St.Louis' 2023 fourth-round pick (106th overall) and has signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Blues on Thursday. The 19-year-old left-winger appeared in seven games for Vaxjo Lakers HC (SHL) and had a goal and zero assists at Sweden's top level.
Pekarcik is St. Louis 2023 third-round pick (76th overall) and has signed a three-year, entry-level contract on Wednesday. The 18-year-old forward spent the entire 2023-24 season with Dubuque of the USHL and had nine goals, and 59 points in 43 games played in his first season in North American hockey.
Broberg has yet to appear in any of Edmonton's 2023-24 playoff games so far but is expected to make his debut as he replaces Vincent Desharnais for Game 4 on Wednesday. The 22-year-old defenseman appeared in 12 regular season games and had two assists, six SOG and a -3 plus/minus.
