Blues sign Tyler Bozak to three year deal

Let’s face it. The Blues weren’t getting John Tavares, and the asking price for Ryan O‘Reilly was pretty steep - can the Blues afford to part with a first, second, and young player? Probably not, considering they appear to be in a “rebuild from within” sort of mindset right now (please ignore the David Perron re-signing for that to completely make sense). Factor in Paul Stastny heading to Vegas, and the Blues’ options for a center were dwindling.

So, after those three, the most reasonably priced UFA center on the market was Tyler Bozak, and that’s who the Blues snagged:

The Blues needed a second-line center, and that’s exactly what they got. Is it a consolation prize for the bigger catches? Absolutely. Is that a very reasonable deal? Yes, especially considering Bozak is 32. Three years is a good term - much longer than that and you get into absurdity.

Bozak’s career stats aren’t in the same league as the three centers I mentioned above - his career high came in 2016-2017, where he tallied 18 goals and 55 points.

Bozak isn’t going to be a top-line player, but I suppose at this point it’s nice to see that a consolation prize is a (kind of) second-liner, not a 3rd liner.