ST. LOUIS — Jake Neighbours couldn’t have been clearer when he was asked would have made more sense to wait the St. Louis Blues out for a longer-termed contract.
“There’s obviously thoughts about it,” the 22-year old forward said after signing a two-year, $7.5 million ($3.75 million average annual value) bridge deal on Tuesday. “You’ve got to weigh all your options. For me at the end of the day, I think it’s just a smart move to kind of put that stress behind me and get that deal done and be here for two more years. I’m really happy with the contract. I think there’s only two guys, ‘Vladi’ and ‘Petro’, who have ever done it. I’m not those guys. I was really happy when [Doug Armstrong] reached out with an opportunity to extend and it was a no-brainer for me.”
Neighbours is essentially betting on himself here, and it’s not a bad idea.
He’s coming off a breakout year scoring 27 goals (38 points). He’s basically telling himself that if he puts up similar numbers, or greater that he will most definitely strive for, that a larger payday will come.
When the Neighbours contract expires following the 2026-27 season, he will be 24 years old with two more years of team control before being able to become an unrestricted free agent.
Before we dive into what a future Neighbours contract looks like, let’s look at some others that Armstrong has dealt with in similar fashion and how they played out:
* Alex Pietrangelo — The No. 4 pick in the 2008 NHL Draft was one of two exceptions in this situation. His entry-level contract was for three years and $9.68 million ($3.23 million average annual value) who cashed in immediately with a seven-year, $45.5 million ($6.5 million AAV).
Pietrangelo’s entry-level contract included two slide years, and when he played out the three base years, he had put up 43 and 51 points before dropping to 24 points in 47 games due to injury.
* Vladimir Tarasenko — Like Pietrangelo, the No. 16 pick in the 2010 draft signed a three-year, $2.7 million entry-level contract with a AAV of $1.75 million but was able to net himself a long-term contract (eight-year, $60 million, $7.5 million AAV) after putting up 37 goals (73 points) in 77 games in the final year of his ELC.
Tarasenko had no slide years and he came out of the gates ripping it up, and Armstrong, the Blues’ GM, saw the opportunity to sign these two players and invest in them immediately.
“We did it with two players — Tarasenko and Pietrangelo — and if I’m not mistaken, both players were second-team NHL all-stars at the end of the third year,” Armstrong said. “So there was enough information on that, where they were going to be and how they were going to be viewed moving forward.”
Neighbours falls into the category of Jaden Schwartz, Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou.
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* Jaden Schwartz — Schwartz, taken two picks before Tarasenko at No. 14, went the bridge deal route after he completed his three-year, $3.5 million ($1.67 million AAV) signed in 2012.
Schwartz was 23 at the time he became a restricted free agent and was susceptible to an offer sheet after putting up terrific numbers (25 goals, 31 assists in 80 games) but bet in himself when he signed his two-year, $4.7 million bridge deal in 2014.
He put up a career-high 63 points (28 goals, 35 assists) in the first year, then had 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in 33 games after missing 49 with a broken ankle. But Armstrong saw enough there and Schwartz’s bet parlayed into a five-year, $26.75 million ($5.35 million AAV) giving up a couple years of UFA status for a longer-termed contract while still a RFA.
Neighbours can definitely take this as a prime example of how his contract status can go.
* Jordan Kyrou — Same as Pietrangelo, Kyrou (No. 35 pick in the 2016 draft) signed a three-year, $2.27 million ($880,000 AAV) that included two slide years, and after putting up 35 points (14 goals, 21 assists) in 55 games in 2020-21, banked on himself with a two-year, $5.6 million bridge deal.
It couldn’t have worked out better when Kyrou put up seasons of 75 points (27 goals, 48 assists) and 73 points (37 goals, 36 assists) to take him to age 25, and there was also give-and-take here: Kyrou gave up the first six years of UFA status but was compensated well the final two years of RFA when he signed an eight-year, $65 million ($8.125 million AAV) last summer.
* Robert Thomas — He signed the same contract (eight years, $65 million, $8.125 million AAV) that Kyrou signed but took a slightly different route.
The No. 20 pick in the 2017 draft signed his three-year, $2.68 million entry level contract after being drafted in 2017 and had one slide year, then produced well during his ELC.
Thomas was only played in 33 games in the final year of his ELC in 2020-21 due to injuries, including a broken left thumb that limited him to 12 points (nine assists) and received a qualifying offer but also as a 23-year-old, much like Neighbours, agreed a bridge deal (two years, $5.6 million, $2.8 million AAV) would eventually lead to a long-term contract, and it did after putting up 77 points (20 goals, 57 assists) and 65 points (18 goals, 47 assists).
Thomas also had a give-and-take opportunity here, giving up four years of UFA while getting paid during three years of RFA.
This is where Neighbours feels he can also get to, and what the Blues believe the trajectory of his career path is.
“I think part of it is that he’s coming off 27 goals and one year doing that,” Armstrong said of Neighbours. “Our history is we try and do a bridge deal so everyone is comfortable when you do the long-term deal that there’s enough information on the player that nobody feels that they’re (not) getting their dollar value, the player or the organization. … We’ve had a lot of other great players since then, players that I have a lot of respect for, whether it’s Schwartz or Robert Thomas or Kyrou … lots of guys have done bridge deals coming out and I just felt that was the proper way to go with Jake.
“Again, he’s so young, I would assume Alex [Steen] will have that call at the end of next year, when he wants to talk to him about an extension. But I don’t think there’s anything that’s going to change that’s not going to make us want him to be a Blue for a long, long time and I think that next deal will do that if he wants it. I don’t have a crystal ball that far ahead, but the characteristics aren’t going to change.”
This is smart business for both the player and the organization. As Armstrong said, get the necessary information on the player and make the determination then if you want to invest long term or not.
And with Armstrong dipping into the offer sheet pool this past summer with the signings of defenseman Philip Broberg and forward Dylan Holloway from the Edmonton Oilers, was the GM worried about someone doing the same with Neighbours next summer?
“This wasn’t anything that had to be done today because we were worried about offer sheets or things like that,” Armstrong said. “I go back to what we talked about earlier. I look at how Boston and Detroit handled their summer with very good young players. They left enough space.
“I just think getting it done, it’s something that he can play with freedom now. The style that he plays, I think it’s conducive of physical play. It’s the ability to inflict pain and get pain inflicted upon you, and I didn’t want him to pull back from who he is. So economically, it didn’t have a big difference on doing it now or in the summer. It is nice to know that we have it done and when we get to next summer, that’s a fixed number in our budget, so when we went to free agency or do other things we want to do, we know what that cost is.”
So far, it’s worked out on a lot of fronts in this organization. This one also speaks that when it’s time for Neighbours to get his big contract, it will be here.
“I love it here,” Neighbours said. “I love the city, love my teammates and the direction this organization is going in. I think I fit in pretty well here and I enjoy playing for the Blues. It was a no-brainer to extend.”
And a no-brainer to bet on himself to not only get a larger payday but to display the qualities that one day Neighbours has captain material in him.
The pieces are aligning between the organization and the player as long as both sides stay the course.
