ST. LOUIS -- Remember when Doug Armstrong spoke on locker clean out day, two days after the St. Louis Blues were eliminated by the Winnipeg Jets in Game 7 of the Western Conference First Round on May 4?
Armstrong indicated that there are players that could potentially be unrestricted free agents on July 1 that would be of interest to him.
A lot has been made of one particular potential UFA, who is a bit pre-ooccupied these days getting ready for the Stanley Cup Final in search of back-to-back titles, and for me, he would be at the top of my picks for Armstrong and Blues brass to target, and that's Florida Panthers center Sam Bennett.
But there's one caveat to it all.
There have been reports circulating that the 28-year-old (29 when next season starts), who had a regular-season career-high 26 assists and 51 points this past season, his 10th full one in the NHL, could receive offers -- should he hit the market -- upwards of $10 million per season on a new contract.
If that's the case, thanks but no thanks.
It's no secret the Blues need a No. 2/3 type of center, preferably a No. 2 behind Robert Thomas with Brayden Schenn, the warrior that he is, starting to get longer in the tooth and will be 34 when the 2025-26 season begins. Bennett could fit the bill of what the Blues could use: someone who has the skill set (has 20 or more goals in three of the past four seasons with the Panthers), is mean, strong, willing to play at the net front and physical (listed at 6-foot-1, 193 pounds).
Bennett's style of play seems to be more suited for the playoffs more so than the regular season, and with the Blues, he would certainly get more responsibilities to accentuate some of his finer points. But sorry, if I'm Armstrong, I'm not going anywhere near eight figures for Bennett if there's a bidding war. Not for someone who just reached 50-plus points in a season for the first time.
Bennett does have 16 points (10 goals, six assists) in 17 playoff games this season and 45 points (22 goals, 23 assists) the past three playoff seasons in 56 games shows he does come to play in the big games of the postseason.
Say what you will, and we will see should Bennett hits the market who will be interested and how much they're willing to pay, the Blues should definitely be among those, and I'm willing to give him Schenn's contract ($6.5 million average annual value) for seven years all day, any day, and I'd be willing to go as high as seven years, $49 million ($7 million AAV) with a full no trade clause if that's the sweetener needed and that's as high as I'd go.
If Bennett would be sold on St. Louis, and he has the right see the price go as high as can be, that would be my floor and ceiling. Our friends at capwages.com have a projected cap hit and term for Bennett at six years, $6,637,250 million AAV which is very comparable and fair; it falls into the window I think the Blues would be interested in and would mark a significant raise after Bennett finished a four-year, $4.425 million AAV he just finished with the Panthers.
The Blues have cap space to work with, and that's without potential interest in bringing back Radek Faksa and Ryan Suter, who can also be UFAs on July 1 and Joel Hofer can be a restricted free agent July 1, but for the right price, Bennett would fill a great void the Blues could use. It would give them a middle of Thomas, Bennett, Schenn and Oskar Sundqvist (or Faksa, if he re-signs), and of course Dalibor Dvorsky, the No. 10 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, could play a role in this as well. Pretty darn good and reliably experienced as the team moves into the next phase of what Armstrong called the "re-whatever."
The Blues have $15,515,293 in cap space at their disposal, according to capwages, which also includes Torey Krug's $6.5 million AAV on long-term injured reserve, but that doesn't mean they will be given the space to spend to the limit. Stay tuned.