Blues Sign Paul Stastny for Four Years, $28 Million

The St. Louis Blues have signed former Colorado Avalanche center Paul Stastny to a four-year, $28 million-dollar deal. The 28-year-old Stastny is the son of former Blue Peter Stastny, and he spent a large chunk of his childhood in St. Louis, playing a portion of his prep career at Chaminade College Prep. Stastny’s brother Yan also played for the Blues from 2006 to 2010.

Paul Stastny played in 71 games for the Avalanche in 2013-14, scoring 25 goals and notching 35 assists while having one of the better all-around seasons of his career. He also had five goals and five assists in seven playoff games. He’ll presumably fit a first-line center role with the Blues, perhaps allowing David Backes to shift outside to wing. He played with Backes and T.J. Oshie on Team USA at the Olympics earlier this year, so it should be interesting to see if those three end up being paired on a line together.

Stastny’s signature number 26, which was also worn by his father, is currently occupied by 21-year-old Dmitrij Jaskin. We’ll see if Jaskin ends up switching; the number 25, which Yan Stastny wore during his time in St. Louis, is also available.