Pius Suter has signed a two-year deal in St. Louis with an AAV of $4.125 million.
With the move, the Blues continue to reshape their middle-six forward group, and by bringing in Suter they are signing one of the best centers in what was a very thin market. Suter is coming off of a career-high 46-point season, and can play in whatever kind of role you need him to.
On the Blues, that likely means a third-line center gig behind Robert Thomas and Brayden Schenn. St. Louis has a depth of wingers, which is what prompted the recent move of Zach Bolduc for Logan Mailloux, meaning that Suter should still have some decent support.
However, working against him is that the majority of his jump in production this year can be attributed to a jump in ice time, which is all but certain to be washed away now that he's pencilled into a middle-six role in St. Louis. The power play time might also shrivel up, which has been over a minute per game each of the last two years, but has only lead to five PPPs each season.
The acquisition likely pushes Oskar Sundqvist over to the wing, after he only posted a 45% win rate in faceoffs last year. This will likely also keep Mathieu Joseph on the fourth line, and possibly hold Dalibor Dvorsky in the AHL to begin the year as well.
Players this helps (ordered most to least):
Jordan Binnington / Joel Hofer
Maybe Brayden Schenn as it could soften some of the defensive load.
Players this Hurts (ordered most to least):
Dalibor Dvorsky