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

Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

3. Jori Lehtera, C

26 years old, signed to two-year, $5.5M contract

The Blues basically signed Lehtera, a 6-foot-2, 190-pounder out of Finland who they selected in the 2008 draft, to deliver the production that they’ve never been able to get out of Berglund at center. He’s expected to contribute an elevated level of physicality up the middle, and he’ll hopefully display the same quality puck distribution skills that he’s shown over the last few years in the KHL, where he’s had 100 assists over 178 career games.

If all goes according to plan, Lehtera probably will end up centering the Blues’ second line, most likely with his former KHL teammate Vladimir Tarasenko and another budding offensive star, Jaden Schwartz. If that line can show improvement in 2014-15, they may be the biggest part of extending the Blues’ playoff success to multiple rounds. With that in mind, Lehtera was a very important acquisition.