One offer sheet theory can be put to bed now.
On Tuesday morning, the Blues signed forward Jake Neighbours to a two-year contract extension with an average annual value of $3.75 million, securing one of their main pending restricted free agents. Neighbours would have been an RFA next summer without the extension and instead will remain a Blue through the 2026-27 season.
鈥淚 know they like me here and I like it here,鈥 Neighbours said Tuesday after morning skate. 鈥淚 want to be here. Obviously, we have a lot of guys locked in for a lot more years that I really enjoy being around.
鈥淚 love this group, love all my teammates here and I want to be a part of it. Want to be here when we start getting back in the playoffs and being a real successful team again. We鈥檝e already showed that we鈥檙e heading in the right direction this year.鈥
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Neighbours, 22, scored 27 goals last season and has two goals and one assist through six games this season. He was originally a first-round pick by the Blues in the 2020 draft.
According to PuckPedia, the extension will pay Neighbours $3.5 million in 2025-26 and $4 million in 2026-27. Neighbours will be an RFA in 2027 due a qualifying offer of $4 million.
Neighbours was eligible to sign an extension beginning on July 1, and he said signing it now 鈥渇rees your mind.鈥
鈥淥bviously, you鈥檙e not thinking about it,鈥 Neighbours said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something that can be an added stress on you as a player in your contract year. For me, it was just exciting and puts it out of my head. I can just focus on playing hockey now and get to be a Blue for two more years, so very excited.鈥
With the Blues鈥 splashy double offer sheet maneuver this summer with Edmonton 鈥 poaching Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg 鈥 there was thinking from fans that next summer could bring revenge from the Oilers with St. 亚洲无码鈥 RFAs. Neighbours, from Calgary but played junior hockey in Edmonton and grew up an Oilers fan, was a popular name, as is goaltender Joel Hofer, who is still on track to be an RFA in the summer.
鈥淓xcited for him, well-deserved,鈥 Blues coach Drew Bannister said. 鈥淚 think it kind of puts away some of the conspiracy theories that were going around, so it鈥檚 good for us.鈥
Neighbours鈥 bridge deal lines up decently with recent deals signed by Winnipeg鈥檚 Cole Perfetti (two years, $3.25 million cap hit) or Ottawa鈥檚 Shane Pinto (two years, $3.75 million cap hit). With another season like last year, Neighbours might have commanded more on his next deal, but he opted to agree to a short-term deal instead of waiting out an long-term pact.
Under general manager Doug Armstrong, the Blues have been reticent to sign players coming off their entry-level contract to long-term deals. There have been only four players to sign a second deal with a term of at least five years (Kevin Shattenkirk, Alex Pietrangelo, Vladimir Tarasenko and Colton Parayko), and only Pietrangelo鈥檚 seven-year deal and Tarasenko鈥檚 eight-year deal bought significant years of unrestricted free agency.
鈥淭here鈥檚 obviously thoughts about it,鈥 Neighbours said of a long-term contract. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to weigh all your options. For me, at the end of the day, I think it鈥檚 a smart move to put that stress behind me and get that deal done and be here for two more years. Really happy with the contract. I think there鈥檚 only two guys, Vladdy and Petro, have ever done it, so I鈥檓 not those guys. I was really happy when he reached out with an opportunity to extend. It was a no-brainer for me.鈥
Some of Neighbours鈥 teammates didn鈥檛 know about his extension until he was doing interviews about it in the room. Mathieu Joseph poured water down Neighbours鈥 back when he found out and said, 鈥淎tta boy Jakey, I didn鈥檛 know about it.鈥 Dylan Holloway and Robert Thomas were among the teammates with lockers close by who offered congrats.
Neighbours started slow with zero points in four games this season but scored the game-winning goal in overtime to beat the Islanders on Thursday and scored again in Saturday's 4-3 win over the Hurricanes.
鈥淗e鈥檚 going to continue to build on his game,鈥 Bannister said. 鈥淚 think we鈥檝e everything that he does and does well at this level and the understanding from him of what he needs to do to have success. I think you鈥檝e seen that over the last two games. The work has always been there, it will always be there for him.鈥
鈥 Blues forward Alexandre Texier returned to the lineup after missing five games with an upper-body injury suffered in Seattle. Texier said the injury happened on the first shift of the season 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 in the past.鈥
As a corresponding move to create a spot on the active roster, the Blues placed Nick Leddy on injured reserve. Leddy is eligible to play as soon as Thursday night.