The St. Louis Blues have signed Hugh McGing to a one-year, two-way contract extension, after giving him a qualifying offer yesterday. The deal will pay him $750K at the NHL level and $90K in the AHL, the kind of compromise you’ll see from lots of players over the next few weeks. McGing’s qualifying offer would have been worth $874K in the NHL and $70K in the AHL but since he isn’t likely to spend much time at the upper level, he took the slightly higher AHL salary.
Originally selected in the fifth round of the 2018 draft, the 24-year-old McGing was only in his second season of professional hockey this year after a long career at Western Michigan University. In 67 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds, he scored 14 goals and 34 points and was a strong contributor during the team’s run to the Calder Cup Final.
Now back on a one-year deal, he’ll be a restricted free agent again next season and arbitration-eligible.
The signing leaves St. Louis with five restricted free agents, including Niko Mikkola, Scott Perunovich, and Klim Kostin. The team decided not to issue Tanner Kaspick a qualifying offer yesterday, making him a UFA.