The St. Louis Blues are still in the playoff race, but they are one of the NHL teams that may be stuck in the middle for a while having some bad contracts that they can’t get rid of. While some players have had impressive seasons, some of the bad contracts are exaggerated this season.
Torey Krug is one of the four old-core defensemen the Blues have and can’t get rid of. He vetoed a trade that would’ve seen him traded and has really struggled. Throughout his career he has been a defenseman counted on to help produce offense. While he does have 31 assists, the rest of his game has just been noticeably tough on the team. He is a -26, the worst on the team, and is currently a healthy scratch. He is not a top-four defenseman anymore, and to make it worse, the Blues still have him for three more years at $6.5 million AAV with a no-trade clause that doesn’t turn into a modified no-trade clause soon enough.
Jakub Vrana was a sneaky pickup by the Blues last season, but it hasn’t worked out for them in 2023-24. The 28-year-old does have the ability to score, doing so 10 times in 20 games for the Blues last season, but not only hasn’t been given the opportunity this season, he is in the AHL. While he only scored two goals this season on St. Louis, he has put up 27 points in 32 games in the minors. Regardless, the Blues are paying him $2.625 million AAV and his overall cap hit is $5.25 million AAV until the end of the season.
While some of the other defensemen being paid a large amount could be here, they play big minutes and are counted on more than Marco Scandella this season. Scandella has averaged 12:34 of ice time this season through 61 games and doesn’t produce any offense. While the defensive side of his game is what he is known for, he has a $3.275 million AAV cap hit. For someone with his role, he should be under $1 million AAV without question.
