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St. Louis Blues Sign Morgan Ellis to One-Year Deal

By Patrick Karraker

Feb 27, 2016; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens defenseman Morgan Ellis (85) handles the puck before a game against Toronto Maple Leafs at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 27, 2016; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Montreal Canadiens defenseman Morgan Ellis (85) handles the puck before a game against Toronto Maple Leafs at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports /
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With three veterans likely to play elsewhere in 2016-17, the St. Louis Blues bolstered their minor-league defensive depth on Friday.

The St. Louis Blues signed defenseman Morgan Ellis, who had been in the Montreal Canadiens organization since being selected by the Habs in the fourth round of the 2010 draft, to a one-year, two-way contract late Friday. The 24-year-old will make the pro-rated portion of $575,000 when he plays at the NHL level, while he’ll make $150,000 if he plays in the AHL.

After spending most of his first three seasons in the AHL (along with a 39-game stint in the ECHL during the 2014-15 season), Ellis finally broke into the NHL with the Candiens in 2015-16. Over three games, Ellis had no points and posted an even rating while collecting two penalty minutes. With the St. John’s Ice Caps of the AHL, the team with which he spent most of the season, Ellis played in 73 games, scoring 16 goals and adding 26 assists with a plus-2 rating and 51 penalty minutes.

The 6-foot-1, 207-pounder is generally viewed to be an offense-first defenseman, but he’s held his own more often than not as an AHL defender. Whether that holds up over the long term remains to be seen at the NHL level, but at least he’ll give the Blues some righthanded-shooting defensive depth, and at 24, he theoretically still has time to become a significantly better player.

Next: Blues Sign Andrew Agozzino to One-Year Deal

Ellis figures to fill the void of veteran defensemen Andre Benoit, Chris Butler, and Peter Harrold, most or all of whom are expected to play elsewhere in 2016-17 after serving as depth options at AHL Chicago this past season. Assuming that the Blues end up keeping Kevin Shattenkirk, Ellis will likely compete with Petteri Lindbohm and Jordan Schmaltz to be the first defenseman that the Blues call up in the event of an injury. While he’s still just 24 years old, he should be able to serve as somewhat of a mentor for younger prospects like Vince Dunn and Dmitrii Sergeev, who are expected to get their first-ever AHL action in 16-17.

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