- One of the more surprising free-agent acquisitions over the past two weeks was the St. Louis Blues adding veteran defenseman Ryan Suter on a one-year, $775K deal including bonuses. The Blues organization now has six left-handed shot defensemen competing for three spots in the lineup next year while Jeremy Rutherford of the Athletic (Subscription Article) surmises that a trade is likely coming soon. Regarding the reasoning behind adding Suter specifically, Rutherford notes in his article that the Blues had a heavy interest in adding Suter when he was originally bought out by the Minnesota Wild three years ago. Suter’s camp was adamant on signing a four-year deal and general manager Doug Armstrong was only willing to go three which led to the delay in their partnership.