The St. Louis Blues caught the Philip Broberg situation at the right moment.
When they signed the 25-year-old defenseman to a six-year extension earlier in 2026, there was plenty of noise around the deal. A lot of people figured the Blues were paying too much. But after this week’s contract explosion around the NHL, Broberg’s $8 million cap hit suddenly looks a lot more manageable - and maybe even cheap.
That shift in perception says everything about how fast the market can move. Broberg is not Cale Makar, and nobody is pretending otherwise.
Makar has the trophies and the championship to back up his place at the top of the defenseman market. Broberg doesn’t have that yet.
But the Blues aren’t paying for what he has already done alone; they’re paying for what he could become over the next six seasons. If he ends up winning a Norris Trophy and a Stanley Cup, that number will look like a steal.
That’s why timing mattered so much here. Had St.
Louis waited until this summer to get the extension done, the price tag could have climbed fast. Broberg would have been an RFA, and if the talks had dragged the way things have in Anaheim between the Ducks and Cutter Gauthier, the whole negotiation might have taken a very different turn.
Makar’s new deal reset the ceiling for defensemen across the league. Once that happened, every blueliner could point to it and make his own case.
In that kind of market, Broberg could have pushed hard, too. If Makar is worth $20 million, what’s to stop Broberg from asking for $10 million or more?
That’s not the same as saying he definitely would have landed there. It’s just the reality of the market: when salaries jump, teams feel it everywhere else. A couple million here or there can change the shape of a roster, turning a useful depth piece into a league-minimum option or forcing a team to settle for less.
For the Blues, avoiding that squeeze with Broberg is the win. They’ll have other free agents to sort out later. For now, Alex Steen doesn’t have to worry about Philip Broberg becoming even more expensive than he already is.
In Other News...
Blues Camp Invite Could Matter More Than Fans Usually Think
Training-camp invites in the NHL usually get treated like an afterthought, but the Blues know better than to dismiss a professional tryout. These deals are not really about discovering whether a veteran can play at this level again, since the league already has a pretty good read on anyone with NHL miles on their skates. They are more about fit, and whether a player can plug a very specific hole without costing much to find out.
That is why a PTO can matter more than a casual fan might expect. The Blues are not just looking for another body in camp, they are looking for a player whose skill set answers a need the roster still has. Mike Hoffman is the kind of example that keeps those invitations relevant, because sometimes the path from tryout to contract starts with showing there is something distinct enough to be worth keeping around. [Read more 🡒]
Blues May Be Counting On Logan Mailloux More Than Fans Realize
Logan Mailloux did not have the kind of opening to 2025-26 that would have quieted any skepticism, but his game turned after the Olympic break and gave the Blues something real to build on. The young defenseman settled in, chipped in offense, and started looking more like a player St. Louis could trust in bigger spots as the season wore on.
Jim Montgomerys confidence followed, and by the end of the year Mailloux was handling a heavier workload that suggested the Blues see him as more than just a depth piece. Looking ahead to 2026-27, there is already a sense in St. Louis that he could be part of the top defensive pairing, which says plenty about how important his late-season stretch may be to the teams plans. [Read more 🡒]