Blues additions make them 'top five' team in NHL, Edmundson says

ST. LOUIS -- Joel Edmundson believes the St. Louis Blues are among the elite teams in the NHL following the additions of forwards Ryan O'Reilly, David Perron, Tyler Bozak and Pat Maroon.

"We think we're top five in the NHL right now," the Blues defenseman said Friday after he avoided arbitration and signed a one-year, $3 million contract July 24. "We want to come into camp and from camp on we want to be one of the top teams in the League. We were middle of the pack last season, but with the team we have and the confidence we have, we're excited to come to camp with a new team, new look. It's going to be a good year. We're excited and we're looking forward to it."
Edmundson was trying to sign a long-term contract after becoming a restricted free agent July 1, but the 25-year-old will instead focus on helping the Blues return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs after they failed to qualify last season for the first time since 2010-11.
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A second-round pick (No. 46) by the Blues in the 2011 NHL Draft, Edmundson has 41 points (11 goals, 30 assists) in 205 regular-season games and seven points in 27 playoff games. He averaged an NHL career-high 20:44 last season playing mostly with Alex Pietrangelo or Colton Parayko and had seven goals and 10 assists in 69 games.
The Blues open the season against the Winnipeg Jets at St. Louis on Oct. 4.

"It's been on my mind the past few months, but it's nice to finally get [the contract] over with," Edmundson said. "I'm really excited to be back in St. Louis for another year. Looking at our team right now, I think everyone's excited to get back going.
"The second half of the year and the start of summer, I was thinking long term, but then I saw the trade they made (for O'Reilly) and guys we signed and then my agent said it could be one year and it could work out better for me, so I had no problem signing for one year. We just had to agree on terms on that."
The Blues acquired O'Reilly from the Sabres on July 1 in a trade for forwards Patrik Berglund, Vladimir Sobotka and Tage Thompson, and a first-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft and a second-round pick in the 2021 NHL Draft. O'Reilly had 61 points (24 goals, 37 assists) in 81 games for Buffalo last season.
On the same day, the Blues signed Perron (four years, $16 million) and Bozak (three years, $15 million), and then signed Maroon, who grew up in the St. Louis area, to a one-year, $1.75 million contract July 10. Each was an unrestricted free agent.

The additions not only left an impressionable mark on Edmundson, but on his teammates too.
"I was at [New York Rangers defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk] wedding and there were a bunch of the boys there and you could tell everyone's excited to get it going," Edmundson said. "Those four guys we got, they go to the net pretty hard. From a defensive point of view, we have to get shots on net because we have big bodies that can take care of [the puck]. That's what we've been missing the past couple years and it's nice to get these guys.
"They're all great guys in the dressing room. I knew O'Reilly from World Championships, Patty Maroon has been around St. Louis, everyone knows him, we know Perron already. I haven't really met Bozak yet, but I've heard he's a great guy. It's going to help us on the ice and in the dressing room."