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The Blues "top priority" this summer (Doug Armstrong's words, not mine) was to get RFA forward Jaden Schwartz signed to a contract extension. The team and Schwartz elected to go to arbitration, but neither let it get that far. The Blues today announced that they have re-signed Schwartz to a five year contract.
There was some concern, with Ty Rattie re-signing and Vladimir Sobotka really, really coming back this time, that the Blues may not have a good deal of available cash for Schwartz. Those concerns were put to rest today. The five year deal is, according to the Blues, one worth $5.3 million a season:
BREAKING NEWS: Jaden Schwartz has agreed to a five-year deal worth $26.75 million. https://t.co/KQ1qwYHNnB #stlblueshttps://t.co/ZYs5g4HtOf
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) July 15, 2016
According to General Fanager, this gives the Blues $3,320,418 worth of cap space, a decent amount of which will be going to Vladimir Sobotka ($2,725,000).
Schwartz's contract is a reasonable deal, it locks him up, and he has the benefit of a modified NTC that kicks in starting in 2019.