How can the Blues fill a possible hole left by Nick Leddy?

Some people like St. Louis Blues defenseman Nick Leddy. But, as I’ve mentioned in my lede, Leddy probably won’t stay with St. Louis.

The Blues should take a closer look at Leddy. He wrapped up his final season of a seven-year, $5.5 million contract. Of course, there’s a chance he’ll stay in the Midwest because of the “Minnesota connection” that he shares with his fellow Minnesotans. However, I’m not sure. The Blues might want to get a defenseman that plays physically and shoots big shots.
“But what about Scott Perunovich?” you ask.

Perunovich, who’s currently 23 years old, is a restricted free agent. He recently wrapped up a two-year, $4.35 million contract. He’ll turn 24 on August 18th.

I wouldn’t want to give up on a young defenseman so soon. He snapped a three-game skid in the postseason on May 23rd in Game 4 against the Colorado Avalanche. He recorded one point, a power-play assist, and a -2 rating in 12:23 of ice time. I don’t want to talk about plus/minus, but the Blues sat him out when their power-play was scoreless in the final two games of the series. I believe the Blues were desperate for defense.

As far as Colton Parayko and Marco Scandella go, St. Louis likely won’t end either defenseman’s contract soon.

Parayko will begin an eight-year, $52 million contract in 2022-23. That said, it’ll take an extraordinary deal for Parayko’s exit.

The Arizona Coyotes probably won’t take the last two years of Scandella’s four-year, $13.1 million contract. The Coyotes are rebuilding. Yes, St. Louis can hand Arizona some draft picks to sweeten a deal that takes Scandella off of the Blues’ hands, but they aren’t in a position to do so at this moment.