The St. Louis Blues have brought back a piece from the blockbuster Ryan Miller trade by signing Steve Ott to a two-year contract worth $5.2 million.
Ott, 31, played in 23 regular season games for the Blues after being dealt from Buffalo, and registered zero goals and three assists. He then added two points in six playoff games, including a key assist on Alexander Steen’s triple-overtime winning goal in Game 1 against the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference Quarterfinals.
Throughout his National Hockey League career, Ott has played in 696 games, racking in 267 points and an astonishing 1,355 penalty minutes. After being drafted by the Dallas Stars in 2000, the Summerside, PE native acquired a hard-nosed style of play which became well-known around the NHL.
Perhaps the main catalyst of the Ott signing was Blues forward Vladimir Sobotka reportedly leaving the NHL, only to sign with Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League for three years, according to ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun.
The 27-year-old was taken to salary arbitration by the Blues, who hoped to settle their contract dispute on July 21. Last week, it was established that Sobotka had left his agent Stephen Bartlett, the man St. Louis had been negotiating a deal with for the past four months.
As there is no exact confirmation on Sobotka’s departure, it would be a huge blow to the Blues if they couldn’t sign the Czech native. Not known for his point-producing, he did manage to put up a career-high 33 points in 61 games last season for St. Louis. Over his career, he has scored 35 goals and 88 assists in 381 NHL games.
Sobotka’s role in St. Louis is a monumental one, as he is utilized by coach Ken Hitchcock in a plethora of situations; he was one of the Blues’ main penalty killers and lead the entire NHL in faceoff percentage last year. Since joining the team in 2010-2011, Sobotka became a fan favorite due to his ability to throw his body around and protect the puck effectively, despite his 5’10” frame.
In the end, the Blues should be very disappointed with the news surrounding Sobotka, but with the additions of Paul Stastny and Jori Lehtera up the middle, St. Louis still has an assortment of talent at center.
Armstrong says that he can not confirm that Sobotka has signed in the KHL. #stlblues
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) July 10, 2014
Armstrong says the #stlblues will attend the July 21 arbitration hearing, unsure of whether Sobotka will be represented.
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) July 10, 2014
Sobotka will earn 4 mil. dollars per year in Omsk, he can leave back for NHL after any given season (per isport.cz) — Roman Jedlicka (@jedli) July 10, 2014
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