Philip Broberg's agent, Blues' Doug Armstrong break down new contract: '6 was a sweet spot'
SOURCE:The Athletic|BY:Jeremy Rutherford
Broberg signed a six-year, $48 million contract extension with the Blues, keeping him in the fold through the 2031-32 season.
ST. LOUIS — When Philip Broberg signed a two-year offer sheet with the St. Louis Blues in the summer of 2024, the question became that if he played well, would he want to re-sign long-term in St. Louis?
Broberg played so well that the question then quickly became, how much could he command?
On Saturday afternoon, hours before the Blues’ home game against the Vegas Golden Knights — a game Broberg would later leave with an upper-body injury — it was all answered.
The 24-year-old defenseman signed a six-year, $48 million ($8 million AAV) contract extension, a deal that confirmed his comfort level with the club that afforded him the opportunity for his career to take off after the Edmonton Oilers declined to match the offer sheet.
Broberg, being a game day, was unavailable for comment, but his agent, Darren Ferris of Quartexx Hockey, said his client was adamant about staying put in St. Louis.
“He loves the coaching, the city, the fans, his teammates — everything fell into place,” Ferris said. “There hasn’t been a single complaint at all from him on anything. Normally, with players, there’s usually something they don’t like. In his case, it’s just all-around happy that he’s there. They’ve been great to him. Right from the offer sheet to getting there and getting climatized with St. Louis, just the whole experience for him has been really good.”
Broberg was in the final season of the two-year, $9.16 million contract ($4.58 million AAV) that helped the Blues lure him out of Edmonton. If not re-signed by July 1, he would have become a restricted free agent, and the team would’ve held his rights for the next two seasons.
Now Broberg has signed through the 2031-32 season, making him the only player on the roster contractually in the fold that long. He has a full no-trade clause that will kick in before the third year of the deal, a 20-team no-trade list in the fifth year and a 15-team no-trade list in the sixth year.
“It basically takes him to the meat of his prime years,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. “He’s been one of the few bright lights in a season that hasn’t gone anywhere near the way we expected. He’s a cornerstone player on the back end that it’s nice to have in the fold.
“He touches our penalty kill, our five-on-five play, and is getting incorporated a little bit more in the power play, which he’ll take a bigger chunk as time goes on. He’s upheld his end of the bargain and now it’s up to the management to uphold their end of the bargain and put together a team around him that can have success.”
Philip Broberg has signed a six-year extension with the Blues that will keep him in St. Louis through the 2031-32 season. https://t.co/N92LUvyIay#stlblues
In October, Armstrong and incoming GM Alexander Steen met with Ferris in Calgary, but it was just an exploratory conversation about a contract extension.
“That was more of, ‘Hey, we want him here, does he want to be here?’ and that we were going to try to get a deal done,” Ferris said.
Over the next couple of months, Broberg began to establish himself as the type of defenseman — a shutdown specialist with a lot of offensive upside — that they hoped they had. He overtook the team lead in average ice time per game, which was 23:18 heading into Saturday’s game, and while he had just two goals after 45 games, he’s been on the ice for 35 five-on-five goals for and 33 against, per Natural Stat Trick.
“We were very pleased (last season), coming into a difficult situation with an offer sheet and the pressure that went with that,” Armstrong said. “We wanted to take the first half of this season to allow a more normal path for him to see where his game was at and where we think it’s trending towards.
“I have been very impressed with his game and very impressed with his demeanor, quite honestly, as much as his game. As things have gone awry with this year, he’s one of the few people that is able to come in every day and do the task at hand and do it at a high level.”
There was some thought that the Blues and Broberg could get an extension finalized before Christmas, but talks didn’t pick up in earnest within the last week or so, and they were able to finalize the terms.
Originally, Broberg’s camp was looking for a four-year contract, according to Ferris, and the Blues wanted an eight-year deal. This will be the last offseason that teams can offer their own players the maximum term of eight seasons, as it will be reduced to seven under the new collective bargaining agreement.
“Philip was open to all opportunities,” Ferris said. “I think the happy spot for them, where I was willing to swallow, was the six (years). It gives him a chance to prove himself, his worth, and come back to market six years from now and see how he does and maybe sign again for another six or seven with St. Louis.”
Armstrong was comfortable with six.
“Eight gives you two more years (of) security, but I think having that carrot out in front on a shorter term, it’s beneficial,” Armstrong said. “(Four years) wasn’t an area that we wanted to go to today. We would’ve just continued to play this (out) and then try to get a longer deal a little bit later, even if we did a one-year deal and tried to get a longer deal next year.
“It didn’t provide enough security for the Blues for the compensation that was going to be needed. I think everyone thinks six was a sweet spot.”
Broberg had two more seasons before he would have become an unrestricted free agent. He would’ve had arbitration rights this offseason, and if he filed, the Blues would’ve had the option to pick a one- or two-year term. They likely wouldn’t have walked him into UFA status with a two-year deal.
The two sides worked with a six-year term and came up with an $8 million AAV, which is less than many expected.
“Hey, if he was a free agent today, he’d probably (be) $9-10 million (AAV),” Ferris said. “The cap, the way it’s moving up and the way defensemen are getting paid, he definitely made it work for the team and for him.
“With the cap rising, it’ll be $114 million by the time he would’ve been a free agent. That’s why Doug moved in ahead of it because he’s a smart, astute man, and he knows, ‘If I don’t get on top of this, I could end up paying this guy $10, $11, $12 million.'”
The #stlblues signed 24 y/o D Philip Broberg to a 6 year $8M cap hit extension
Yr1-2: 10M
Yr3: 9.25M
Yr4: 6.75M
Yr5-6: 6M
All salary and covers 2 RFA season,Yr 3-4: Full NTC, Yr 5: 20 team NTC, Yr 6: 15 team NTC
Ferris was in Las Vegas Saturday and went to breakfast with Broberg at the Blues’ hotel, where they went over the pros and cons and reached their decision.
“He was adamant that he wanted to stay in St. Louis,” Ferris said. “He said he wanted to get a deal done. I told him the perimeters where I would be willing to support and he was all for it.”
That Broberg was willing to accept the terms that he did, Armstrong said, tells a lot about him.
“He needed to want to be here,” Armstrong said. “I think it shows his character. He wants to take ownership in this deal. We’ve talked to him about that. There’s a group, whether it’s Jake Neighbours up front or Philip, we want these guys to start taking ownership in this group to help push it forward and to play a major role in that.
“We brought him here under different circumstances, and I think he appreciates that opportunity we’ve given him and now what I’m excited about is the trust that he has in Alex and the group moving forward that we can build a winning team around him.”
The Blues believe there’s more in Broberg. He’s averaged just 27 seconds per game on the power play, but Armstrong envisions that going up.
“We thought he was going to be a very good player — maybe a (No. 1 defenseman), or a 2, 3, 4,” Armstrong said. “He’s certainly, at worst, a 2-3 now and trending toward a 1. That power play will help change that narrative to a definite 1.
“He has the foundation of his calling card, which is a very strong two-way player. Now we can hopefully peel some layers back on the onion to find offense under there. We’re very excited about the player the way he is today and that growth just comes from understanding the league and getting more comfortable.”
From the day Broberg signed the offer sheet Aug. 13, 2024, it’s hard to see how everything could have played out any better for him and the team.
“Absolutely, I wish all the guys could go in that direction,” Ferris said. “The process itself is actually a credit to St. Louis, Doug and his crew, and that’s part of why I think this whole thing worked out. The whole thing worked out because everything that’s happened, and everyone worked on something that was good for everybody.”
Actually, Armstrong said it could have worked out better.
“Well, if we were in first place, but other than that, it’s worked out OK,” Armstrong said. “For Philip and the Blues, this is a great day. But he’ll be the first to say that we need to be a better team. If this (contract) was on his mind, which is human nature, he has that security now where he can fully continue to drive this organization forward.
“We’ve talked to some of our guys recently, it’s not the money, it’s now the legacy and now he can start working on the legacy.”