The Blues have taken care of their final remaining restricted free agent. The team announced that they’ve re-signed winger Nikita Alexandrov to a one-year, two-way contract. The deal will pay $775K in the NHL, $300K in the AHL, and has a guaranteed salary of $350K.
The 24-year-old was a second-round pick by St. Louis back in 2019, going 62nd overall after a solid showing with QMJHL Charlottetown that had him hovering at just under a point per game. Alexandrov was able to eclipse that mark the following year with 23 goals and 31 assists in 42 games before turning pro in the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season that saw him spend most of the year in Finland plus a handful of games with AHL Utica.
After one full season with AHL Springfield, the Blues thought Alexandrov was ready for an NHL look in 2022-23, giving him 28 appearances in primarily a fourth-line role where he had seven points. The following year, he received 23 contests in St. Louis where he notched a pair of assists, seemingly putting him in the mix for a longer-term NHL chance heading into last season.
However, that wasn’t the case. Instead, Alexandrov was cut with around a week left in training camp and aside from being a Black Ace recall late in the playoffs, he played exclusively with Springfield. He had his best showing in the minors, notching 21 goals and 28 assists in 48 games while also missing nearly two months with a lower-body injury along the way. Over his career in the AHL, Alexandrov has 58 goals and 71 assists in 170 contests.
A return to the minors may be a little more difficult for Alexandrov as he’s waiver-eligible. That means he’ll have to get through waivers unclaimed in order to return to the Thunderbirds. If that happens, he’ll be in line to play a big role in Springfield once again in the hopes of getting recalled while getting more than double his AHL salary from 2024-25. However, a strong training camp performance could also be enough to land him a spot with St. Louis, especially if they’re concerned about him getting claimed off the waiver wire given his offensive success from last season in the minors. Suffice it to say, Alexandrov’s performance in training camp a couple of months from now will go a long way toward dictating what happens to him next season.