Ranking St. Louis Blues Offseason Moves from Least to Most Impactful

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5. Steve Ott, LW/C

31 years old, re-signed as UFA to two-year, $5.2M contract

Despite the fact that he’s scored as many as 22 goals at the NHL level, Ott probably isn’t going to be much of an offensive contributor for the Blues. However, he does contribute tenacity and physicality, and he does a very good job in the face-off circle. It’s probably a stretch to go along with Ken Hitchcock’s assertion that Ott was the team’s best forward during their six-game series loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in last year’s playoffs, but he did show that he can be a valuable role player when a lot is on the line, and for that reason he’s a solid guy to have around. He does need to work on improving his defensive ability, however; Ott had a minus-12 rating after arriving in St. Louis last year, by far the worst of any skater on the team. That may be attributed to a sports hernia that he was dealing with late in the year, but regardless that kind of play cannot happen again if the Blues want to succeed.

With the money that the Blues are paying Ott, expect him to be in the lineup for every game that he’s able. He probably fills the role that Vladimir Sobotka occupied before his emergence last season, working as a regular fourth-liner but capable of moving up to one of the top lines and playing any of the three forward positions.