Scandella agrees to four-year contract with Blues

Marco Scandella agreed to a four-year, $13.1 million contract with the St. Louis Blues on Thursday. It has an average annual value of $3.275 million.

The defenseman could have been an unrestricted free agent after this season. He was acquired by the Blues in a trade from the Montreal Canadiens on Feb. 18 for a second-round pick in the 2020 NHL Draft and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft.

"[Scandella] played very well with Colton Parayko, but above and beyond that, he's the style of player that we've had success with in the past," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. "He's a rangy player, he's got a really good stick down low, can kill plays, strong skater, good first-pass player, good complement to our younger players like (Scott) Perunovich and (Vince) Dunn, a different style of player, so your group of six has to have different elements and he brings an element that we see being helpful for us moving forward."

Scandella has one assist in 11 games for the Blues. He had nine points (three goals, six assists) in 31 games for the Buffalo Sabres this season before he was traded Jan. 2 to the Canadiens. He has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 2019-20.

"We've followed him closely over the last couple years," Armstrong said. "... Our team is relatively easy to play for as a left shot when you've got (Alex) Pietrangelo, Parayko and (Justin) Faulk or (Robert) Bortuzzo. He's going to get a good matchup and he just found a home here with Parayko quickly."

Selected by the Minnesota Wild in the second round (No. 55) of the 2008 NHL Draft, Scandella has 137 points (42 goals, 95 assists) in 580 NHL games. He was traded to the Sabres by the Wild on June 30, 2017.

NHL.com independent correspondent Louie Korac contributed to this report