St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong announced on Thursday morning that the team has re-signed defenceman Vince Dunn to a one-year contract worth $1.875 million.
IT'S A DUNN DEAL!!!
VInce Dunn has agreed to terms on a one-year contract extension. #stlblues
DETAILS 👉 https://t.co/bGummCV3ss pic.twitter.com/uytjW2KEWv— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) December 31, 2020
Dunn, 24, was drafted in the second round, 56th overall by the St. Louis Blues in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. In 224 regular season games, he's recorded 82 points (26 G, 56 A), 92 penalty minutes, and is a +30. In 29 career playoff games, he's put up 11 points (2 G, 9 A), 16 penalty minutes, and is a -7.
Dunn was a member of the Blues during their run to the Stanley Cup during the 2018-19 season, their first Cup win in franchise history.
As Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic pointed out, this deal is below Dunn's value, but the pandemic, and having no arbitration rights are likely the reason he came out on the short end of the stick.
The deal is below Dunn's value. The combination of the RFA defenseman having no arbitration rights and the pandemic created a difficult negotiation, but he had to get to camp. The 24-year-old will have arb rights next year, so I'd expect a hungry Vince Dunn this year. #stlblues— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) December 31, 2020
The St. Louis Blues now sit $3.05 million over the cap following the Dunn contract. There have been reports that at the end of his PTO, Mike Hoffman may be looking for a one-year deal with St. Louis in the $3.5-$4.5 million range.
In order for that to happen, the Blues would have to waive two players, such as Jacob De La Rose and MacKenzie MacEachern, as well as placing recently retired forward Alexander Steen on LTIR according to CapFriendly. The Blues could also place Vladimir Tarasenko on LTIR as soon as January 13th which would give them $7.5 million in available space to recall players from the taxi squad, if needed.
The #NHLBlues could then place Tarasenko on LTIR on the first day of the season which would then allow them to exceed their new upper limit by an additional $7.5M. This would then give them cap space to recall players from the Taxi Squad if/when needed.https://t.co/WAUPbCJif9 https://t.co/W1USXVGpHz— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) December 31, 2020
