Blues sign Jake Neighbors to two-year extension

The Blues will avoid restricted free agency with a young winger next summer Jake neighbors. He has put pen to paper on a two-year, $7.5 million extension, per the team release.

It's a solid bridge deal for the 26th overall pick in 2020. The 22-year-old is now the second-leading scorer for St. Louis last season. He joined in Pavel Buchnevich He ranked second on the team with 27 goals, although he only contributed 11 assists in 77 games, meaning he scored closer to 38 points. He averaged 15:42 per game, sixth among Blues forwards and shooting a team-high 18.6%. The 1.80 meter tall and 90 kilogram winger was also one of their more physical players with 138 goals.

Neighbors plays a top-six position, most recently on the right wing alongside Buchnevich and the sophomore Zachary Bolduc. But last season's performance showed that the stage is in place for the Neighbors to remain an effective second-line player, or even a complementary first-line player, if the Blues return to routine playoff contention soon.

The Calgary native got off to a slow start to the season with no points in his first four appearances, but has bounced back in recent days with two goals and an assist in wins over the Islanders and Hurricanes. He's averaging 15:48 per game so far this season, slightly higher than last year, and has a -2 rating with 12 shots on goal. His luck should continue to improve – his possession stats have been flawless so far (59.6 CF%, 50.0 xGF%) compared to last year's disappointing overall numbers (45.1 CF%, 46.7 xGF%).

Neighbors is in the final season of his entry-level contract, which counts $835,834 against the cap and only pays him $832.5K in base salary this season. He will not receive any performance or signing bonuses this year. PuckPedia reports that his extension reduces to a base salary of $3.5 million in 2025-26 and a base salary of $4 million in 2026-27, excluding bonuses, for a maximum salary of 3.75 million US dollars.

The Blues now have approximately $8.14 million in cap space for next season, with just four roster spots left to fill. This assumes the cap rises to $92.5 million, as expected. They still need to add or replace a few depth players, namely the outstanding RFA netminder Joel Hoferbut there is no truly game-changing offseason business left for the Blues front office in 2025.

The base salary breakdown means Neighbors will receive a qualifying offer of $4 million upon expiration in 2027. At that point, he will be an RFA and remain under team control for one more year before becoming eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2029.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.