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St. Louis Blues Re-Sign Forward Magnus Paajarvi to One-Year, One-Way Contract

By Patrick Karraker

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After some recent speculation that he could return to his native country of Sweden for the 2015-16 season, forward Magnus Paajarvi worked out his differences with the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday afternoon, signing a one-year, one-way contract that will pay him a salary of $700,000 this season. By agreeing to the new deal, Paajarvi and the Blues are able to end a short contract dispute that caused him to file for arbitration last week. Besides defenseman Jani Hakanpaa, who decided to return to his home country of Finland for next season, Paajarvi was the Blues’ only remaining unsigned restricted free agent, so with him now in the fold the Blues’ in-house retention process is complete for this offseason.

It was somewhat surprising to see the Blues tender a contract to Paajarvi this summer, and it was yet another mild surprise to see him get a one-way deal due to the fact that he was waived and sent to the minors in late December of last year. Evidently, though, Paajarvi’s strong performance during his half-season with the AHL Chicago Wolves was enough to restore the Blues’ faith in him. Over 36 regular season games with the Wolves, Paajarvi had 11 goals and 18 assists, plus three goals and an assist in five postseason contests.

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Paajarvi, a 6-foot-3, 208-pounder, has had a perplexing career with the Blues since being traded for David Perron in 2013. He’s highly skilled, possessing perhaps the best speed of any skater on the team, as well as great size and some solid shooting ability. However, Paajarvi hasn’t really been able to get it going in the limited chances that he’s gotten as a top-nine player, and despite his size, he hasn’t really been able to play a successful physical game when he’s been pressed into action as a fourth line player.

Unless there’s just a major disconnect for Paajarvi at the NHL level, it stands to reason that he’s negatively affected by performing spot duty and sitting out for extended periods, as opposed to playing every night and having an opportunity to develop a rhythm. With no clear spot in the lineup for Paajarvi to occupy in 2015-16, the Blues will just have to hope that his AHL stint during 2014-15 was enough of a confidence-booster for him to become a better NHL player this season. The other option, of course, would be to develop a more defined rotational system in which Paajarvi could play semi-regularly without forcing anyone out of the lineup long-term. However, head coach Ken Hitchcock has traditionally stuck with the same lineup for extended periods unless there’s an obvious reason to make a change, so it should be interesting to see how things work out.

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With Paajarvi making just $700,000, it wouldn’t be too much of a pain to send him back to the AHL if he doesn’t earn a roster spot. He’s actually making less than the forward who is likely his top competition for a roster spot, Ty Rattie. Rattie is scheduled to make $832,500 with a full-season cap hit of $772,500 this year, though he’s still on a two-way contract and would make significantly less at the AHL level.

With Rattie and Paajarvi having put up rather similar NHL numbers in 2014-15, it should be interesting to see how their potential roster battle shakes out. Of course, they could both make the roster if 19-year-old forward Robby Fabbri is sent back to juniors this season, but Fabbri seems to be building some strong momentum for at least a nine-game NHL tryout in 2015-16.

Next: Notes and Observations from Blues Prospect Camp, July 7

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