How do the Blues address their pivotal restricted free agent class of 2027?

Gift this article New subscriber benefit! Copied to clipboard Out of gifts for the month Unfortunately you've used all of your gifts this month. Your counter will reset on the first day of next month. Share this article paywall-free Email Email Copy Link Prefer us on Google Learn More This is the sixth of 10 installments detailing the biggest questions facing the Blues entering the 2026-27 season. 5. How do the Blues address their pivotal RFA class of 2027? Next summer could be a very expensive one for the Blues. That's when they could be facing a class of restricted free agents that includes Jimmy Snuggerud, Jake Neighbours, Joel Hofer and Logan Mailloux. Each player is in line for a raise, and some will receive a massive step up from their current pay grade, presenting a challenge for Alexander Steen during his first full offseason as Blues general manager. A version of this happens nearly every offseason, of course. The Blues would have been trying to sign both Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway as RFAs this summer, but both players agreed to extensions before July 1. In 2025, Hofer and Neighbours looked like potential offer-sheet targets, but again, both players signed extensions before their contracts expired. The summer of 2023 could have been a monumental one for the Blues, too, but Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou inked extensions a year before hitting restricted free agency. So these things tend to work out most of the time. It's just getting to that point. There is a week remaining until the new collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players is in effect, and once the new CBA kicks in, eight-year contracts are no longer allowed. Currently, players re-signing with their current team can sign for a term of up to eight years and can sign with a new team for up to seven years. The new CBA drops those limits to seven and six years, respectively.