Pius Suter signed a two-year, $8.25 million contract with the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday. It has an average annual value of $4.125 million.
The 29-year-old forward had NHL career highs in goals (25) and points (46) in 81 games for the Vancouver Canucks last season.
"He had obviously a very good offensive year, his best goal-scoring year, but we think that he can come in here and provide us depth at the center ice position," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said Thursday. "He and (Nick) Bjugstad (signed Tuesday) certainly change our center ice complexion. (We) have five natural centers now with (Brayden) Schenn there and [Oskar Sundqvist], so there's going to be some options and it's always easier to move a centerman over to wing than a wing to center. We like our depth there and we think he can play with (Dylan) Holloway and (Jordan) Kyrou if that's what the coach wants to do. He's very versatile and it's going to give us some options and the coach some options during training camp."
Signed by the Chicago Blackhawks as an undrafted free agent on July 16, 2020, Suter has 162 points (82 goals, 80 assists) in 364 regular-season games for the Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings and Canucks and three points (two goals, one assist) in 13 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
"He was on our list of centermen to discuss and then when the market hit, we really connected hard on the night of the first," Armstrong said. "We did our due diligence with him, he did with us. We had a conversation on the second with the coach and the player myself, talked about the city, talked about his role and he felt very comfortable. I think it's a great opportunity for him."
NHL.com independent correspondent Lou Korac contributed to this report
