[Signing] Robert Thomas

[CHunter]

2 years at 2.8M per

[Pengwin7]

Fair number.
One of my favourite (of potential) NHL players.
He still seems like he has another level he can hit... maybe this year.

I think too much was made of Thomas' contract as a delay on himself/agent.
To speculate, I think STL was trying to line-up status on a foreseably injured player: Oscar Sundqvist.

Prior to the signing, STL had almost exactly $80.0m committed to 13F/7D/2G... one F short of standard 23-player NHL roster.
Giving Thomas $2.8m, puts tehm at $82.8m, but it sounds like Sundqvist (also $2.8m) may head to LTIR - allowing STL to get under cap and promote a $1m-ish F14.


Also worth noting, the 2yr x $2.8m contract matches what STL gave Jordan Kyrou last month (Aug3).
Kyrou (age23) had 35pts (+1) in 55gp last year, a good surprise for STL - up from his 9pts (+1) in 28gp in 19/20.
Thomas (age22) had 12pts (+1) in 33gp last year, a major decrease from production of 42pts (+9) in 66gp in 20/21.

Tough comparison there, as Kyrou has an easier role on the wing - and just one proven year of production.
Whereas Thomas plays the harder spot (at center) - but didn't have much of a scoring year.

*In fairness, Thomas had a broken thumb that had him out of lineup from Feb 7-Mar 21. (He had 6pts in 12gp to that point).
Busted fingers can be tough to deal with, even healed, and he only put up 6pts in the 21gp upon return.

STL - who had Hoffman (& Schwartz) on roster last year - also didn't utilize Thomas much on the PP.
He had 0ppp in his 48:17min of PPTOI last year... barely more than Tyler Bozak. STL's PP2 did not produce much.

He should have a firm spot on the PP2 this year... but likely STL has a PP1 of Perron, ROR, Schenn, and Tank + Krug... to start this year.
Kyrou and Thomas will be on the oustide of that PP1 unit, trying to nose in.

Interesting player to see where he slots in this year.
I'm guessing he'll start at C3 - which won't be great for his production... again.

[Feenom]

Young and important piece for the Blues moving forward. But the 2 years seems like a tryout as does Kyrou's contract as well. Hopefully they can both take those all important next steps.

[niconasr]

He should eventually get a bigger role but I agree with Peng that he probably starts on line 3. Considering his peripherals are some of the worst in the league, probably a good idea to stay away from him in fantasy until he locks in a top 6 role.