Ryan Suter is set to play his 20th NHL season this fall with the Blues, who signed him to a one-year deal.
The contract includes a base salary of $775K and up to $2.225M in performance bonuses, although the team didn’t share how these bonuses break down. Suter’s last three seasons were with Dallas, but in 2023-24, his playing time dropped to an average of 18:56 per game—the lowest since his rookie year in 2005-06 with Nashville. Despite playing all 82 games for the third consecutive year, he only managed two goals and 15 assists. In the playoffs, he added four points over 19 games but saw his ice time decrease to 17:50 per game.
Due to this decline in performance and minutes on ice, Dallas bought out the final year of his $3.65M contract. Minnesota is still paying him from their buyout back in 2021 as well, making him one of only two players ever bought out twice—Tony DeAngelo being the other.
Career Milestones:
Suter has played an impressive 1,444 NHL games and ranks fifth among U.S.-born players in total appearances. If he stays healthy and maintains a regular role with St. Louis, he could move up to second place on that list; he’s just 72 games behind Matt Cullen for that spot. Over his career, Suter has accumulated 681 points while averaging more than 24 minutes on ice per game.
However, those stats don’t tell the full story of where Suter is now . He’s more of a depth player at this stage rather than a key defensive anchor. With Colton Parayko, Justin Faulk, Nick Leddy, and Torey Krug ahead of him on the Blues’ roster, Suter will likely compete with Scott Perunovich, Tyler Tucker, and newcomer Pierre-Olivier Joseph for third-pairing minutes.
Fans might find it interesting that despite having ample cap space—over $7.3M according to PuckPedia—the Blues structured Suter’s contract with a league-minimum base salary. This could make him an appealing trade option if St. Louis falls out of playoff contention by the deadline since it lowers his daily cap hit.
If he remains with St. Louis throughout next season and hits all his bonuses , they should be able to handle those costs within their cap space for the following season instead of rolling them over.
What do you think about Ryan Suter joining the Blues? Do you see him making a big impact?
