Blues, Ty Rattie Agree To One Year Deal

The Blues announced today that they have come to contract terms with RFA forward Ty Rattie, signing him to a one year, one way contract worth $650,000. Rattie split his time last season between the Blues and the Chicago Wolves, scoring four goals and two assists in 13 games in St. Louis, and 17 goals, 29 assists in 62 games in Chicago.

Earlier this summer, Doug Armstrong had some high praise for Rattie, saying the forward "needs to get a very good look at what we’re doing here." Obviously said good look should involve playing time. However, with Magnus Paajarvi returning and Dmitrij Jaskin still probably in Hitchcock's doghouse until Paajarvi returns, Rattie's one-way deal may not encourage regular playing time based on previous coaching underutilization. The most he's played in a game has been 11:20, back on Halloween of last year. His TOI listed on his brief game log looks like a fourth liner's.

So, enjoy your "show me" one year contract. Get on the ice, and you get a pay raise during next year's free agent negotiations. The trick is, getting on the ice. The best way to do that is to have a killer training camp, but even that won't gaurantee him a spot when Paajarvi, Jaskin, Vladimir Sobotka, et al are ahead of him. Unless Scottie Upshall needs a night off - then perhaps we'll be treated to Ty Rattie: fourth liner. It worked so well for Jaskin.