Despite chatter that he might get signed or a tryout with the Pittsburgh Penguins or Montreal Canadiens, 35-year-old depth center Tyler Bozak will be sticking in St. Louis as he’s signed a one-year deal with the Blues on Tuesday. This will be his fourth season with the Blues organization after a five-goal, 17 point campaign in 2020-21 suggested he might not be back.
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Likely looking at making close to league minimum no matter where he went, Bozak is staying with the team he knows. The deal is worth $750K (plus bonuses) and represents a good value for the Blues who certainly needed a bit of offense added to a lineup that lost Jade Schwartz and is trying to move Vladimir Tarasenko. The bonuses worked into Bozak’s deal are decent. Based on games played and playoff success, they can increase his salary to $2 million, according to Andy Strickland of Bally Sports Midwest.
Bozak offers experience and he’s still arguably one of the best faceoff men in the league while being able to kill penalties on a regular basis. He is an NHL player down the middle of the ice and it’s frankly a little surprising he wasn’t offered more options as an unrestricted free agent.
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