Blues sign Mike Hoffman to a professional tryout

While waiting for the cap relief that comes with placing Alexander Steen on long-term injured reserve, the Blues can’t rush out and sign any free agents to large deals. There’s also the Vince Dunn situation to take into consideration - the defenseman hasn’t signed his new contract yet, and he is in for a bit of a raise.

To get around that, Doug Armstrong has invited Mike Hoffman to skate with the team on a professional tryout basis. Hoffman has spent most of his career as an offensive threat, cracking 25 goals every complete season that he’s played in the NHL Last season, he lead the Florida Panthers with 29 goals scored, plus 30 assists. His output would go a long way to mitigate the loss of Vladimir Tarasenko for however long he will be out. Hoffman would be a nice compliment to 25 goal scorers David Perron and Brayden Schenn.

Hoffman may be looking for a multi-year deal, which means Armstrong is going to have to do some long-term planning to land the high scoring forward.

Hoffman had a rocky exit from the Ottawa Senators due to his then-fiancee’s alleged targeted on-line harassment of Melina Karlsson, wife of then-Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson, after the stillbirth of their son. Hoffman’s career bounced back in Florida, though, leaving him as one of the top remaining free agents of this off-season.