Blues Re-Sign Defenseman Nick Leddy to 4-Year Contract

After giving center Robert Thomas a lucrative long-term contract, the St. Louis Blues continued their quest of bringing back their own free agents by re-signing Nick Leddy to a four-year deal worth $16 million dollars.

The deal has an average annual value of $4 million per season and gives St. Louis a consistent top 4 defense grouping they have been looking for.

“I think solidifying our top-4 defense was very important for us.” – Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong

Leddy was acquired by the Blues from the Detroit Red Wings along with AHL defenseman Luke Witkowski in a trade deadline deal that sent Oskar Sundqvist, Jake Walman and a 2023 2nd round pick back to Detroit.

The Blues desperately needed some form of stability within their top four during the season last year, and although Leddy did not put up flashy numbers, only totaling eight points in 20 games for the Blues, he did help contribute in a lot of other ways.

The Blues re-signed Nick Leddy to a four-year contract.

He excels at moving the puck into and within the offensive zone and helping eat significant ice time when the Blues faced injuries on the blue line.

Bringing back Leddy at an AAV of four million dollars certainly will put the Blues even further against the salary cap for the upcoming season, so expect Armstrong to make some follow-up moves to try and give the team some more flexibility moving forward.

Leddy will return to a top four group that consists of Colton Parayko, Justin Faulk and Torey Krug, all of which are on long-term contracts with four years or more left on their deals.

Krug has been mentioned in trade circuits for the last few weeks, but nothing has come of those rumors so far and it is very possible that he remains with the Blues for the foreseeable future.

Nick Leddy will likely see himself playing opposite of Colton Parayko the majority of the time, finally giving #55 a steady player on the blue line with him after he had to play with a revolving number of teammates that included Marco Scandella, Niko Mikkola, Calle Rosen and Jake Walman.

Pairing Leddy with Parayko for a larger sample size could finally give the alternate captain the consistency needed alongside him to bring him back into form.