Robert Thomas' availability for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final will be determined shortly before puck drop.

The St. Louis Blues forward will be a game-time decision for Sunday's contest, head coach Craig Berube told reporters, including NHL.com's Lou Korac, on Saturday.

Thomas practiced Saturday on a line with Patrick Maroon and Tyler Bozak but didn't work with the power-play groups.

The 19-year-old has been out with an undisclosed injury since Game 1 of the series.

Thomas has provided a goal and five assists in 20 playoff games this spring.

Vladimir Tarasenko and Alex Steen missed practice Saturday but Berube said both players took maintenance days. Tarasenko's wife gave birth on Friday.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Doug Armstrong doesn't believe Ivan Barbashev's one-game ban was warranted.

The St. Louis Blues general manager made his feelings known after the fourth-line forward was suspended for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final following a hit to the head of Boston Bruins forward Marcus Johansson in Game 5.

“We feel that the suspension to Ivan is excessive for the play on the ice,” Armstrong told Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Regardless, we need to prepare for a quality Boston team on Sunday."

The GM did acknowledge that the referees don't have it easy.

“The NHL on- and off-ice officials have a difficult job and we respect their integrity," he said.

Barbashev caught Johansson up high early in the first period Thursday. Johansson remained in the game, which the Blues ultimately won to move within one win of capturing the Cup.

Game 6 is scheduled for Sunday night in St. Louis.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

The Buffalo Sabres and forward Jeff Skinner are closing in on an eight-year contract extension with an expected average annual value of $9 million, according to TSN's Bob McKenzie.

Skinner is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. A $9-million AAV would make him the sixth-highest-paid winger in the league.

Buffalo traded prospect Cliff Pu, a second-round pick in 2019, a third-round pick in 2020, and a sixth-rounder in 2020 to acquire Skinner from the Carolina Hurricanes last summer. The 27-year-old went on to tally a career-high 40 goals in his first season with the Sabres.

Skinner ranks 10th in the NHL with 129 goals since the start of the 2015-16 season and has reached the 30-goal mark four times in his nine-year career. He and playmaking center Jack Eichel formed a dynamic one-two punch on Buffalo's top line this past season.

An eight-year extension would take the former Calder Trophy winner through his age-34 season.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

St. Louis Blues forward Ivan Barbashev has been suspended one game for his hit on Boston Bruins forward Marcus Johansson in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night.

No penalty was assessed on the play. Johansson, who has a long history of concussions, stayed in the game.

Barbashev, 23, has played primarily in a fourth-line role for the Blues. After a career-high 14 goals and 26 points during the regular season, the former second-round pick has chipped in three goals and three assists in 24 games during St. Louis' postseason run.

Game 6 will take place Sunday at 8 p.m. ET in St. Louis, where the Blues will have a chance to hoist Stanley Cup for the first time in club history.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

If you were planning to attend Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final in St. Louis on Sunday, hopefully you saved up.

The contest - which could see the host Blues win their first-ever Stanley Cup against the visiting Boston Bruins - is the most expensive Stanley Cup Final game this decade, on average, and the second-most expensive game among the four major North American sports leagues in the same span, according to prices at Ticket IQ.

* Prices according to Ticket IQ

The Blues have won two straight games, setting themselves up for a chance at history on Sunday night.

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.

Throughout June, theScore will be projecting contracts for the star-studded restricted free-agent class. In this edition, we project Mikko Rantanen's new deal.

The player

Rantanen has developed into one of the game's premier wingers after being selected 10th overall by the Colorado Avalanche in the stacked 2015 NHL Draft.

Rantanen is a big-bodied playmaking winger and efficient goal-scorer. He's yet to surpass the 200-shot mark in a season but has a career shooting percentage of 15.6, signaling some untapped scoring potential.

The Finn has developed great chemistry with Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog to form one of the NHL's most lethal lines. However, he's not simply a beneficiary of his surroundings. In the 122 five-on-five minutes Rantanen took the ice without MacKinnon and Landeskog, the Avs scored 83.3 percent of the goals and generated 55.7 percent of the high-danger scoring chances against their opponents.

The team

The Avalanche might have the best long-term outlook of any organization in the league. They have premier players on team-friendly deals, young talent coming through the system, no terrible contracts, and ample draft-pick capital.

General manager Joe Sakic has a projected $37 million in cap space to work with. Fellow RFA forwards Alexander Kerfoot and J.T. Compher also need new contracts, but Rantanen should clearly be the top priority.

Given the financial flexibility and Rantanen's status as a core player, an eight-year contract would make sense for both sides. A max-term deal would require a greater cap hit, but the Avs have more than enough available space to make it work.

The comparables

Here's a select list of wingers who signed contracts out of restricted free agency in the last few years:

CH% = Cap hit percentage, based on cap ceiling when the contract was signed

* - Nylander's cap hit in 2018-19 was prorated to $10.2 million because of time missed in negotiations

Draisaitl is listed among the comparable players despite splitting his time between center and wing throughout his career. He tallied 77 points in his contract year, but his deal now looks like a bargain after a 105-point campaign in 2018-19.

The Tampa Bay Lightning got a bargain with Kucherov, the likely Hart Trophy winner. Florida has no state income tax, so Bolts players receive a higher percentage of their salary than someone who plays, for example, in Colorado, which has a 4.63 percent income tax rate. This allows teams like the Lightning to sign their players to a lower cap hit, so it wouldn't be shocking if Rantanen's deal exceeds Kucherov's.

The projection

Rantanen's contract could largely depend on when he signs. If fellow RFA wingers Mitch Marner or Matthew Tkachuk sign first, it'll offer the best comparable for Rantanen's camp to look at in negotiations.

At the very minimum, Rantanen's cap hit will start with a nine if he signs an eight-year deal. It's also quite possible that annual figure enters double digits.

Verdict: 8 years, $80 million ($10 million AAV, 12.05 CH%)

(Advanced stats courtesy: Natural Stat Trick)

Others in this series:

• Zach Werenski
• Charlie McAvoy
• Sebastian Aho
• Timo Meier
• Brock Boeser (June 10)
• Patrik Laine & Kyle Connor (June 11)
• Brayden Point (June 12)
• Matthew Tkachuk (June 13)
• Mitch Marner (June 14)

Copyright © 2019 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.