The St. Louis Blues announced on Sunday that they have re-signed restricted free agent forward Ivan Barbashev to a two-year contract. The contract has an annual cap hit of $1.475 million.
#stlblues announce that Barbashev has agreed to a two-year contract ($1.475 AAV). And with that news, everyone is in the fold.
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) September 1, 2019
Ivan Barbashev Re-Signs with the St. Louis Blues
Over his 3-year NHL career, Barbashev has only played for the Blues. He has put up 26 goals and 25 assists for 51 points in 163 career NHL games. His career possession numbers are 49.2 percent Corsi and a relative -2.4. He was originally drafted in the 2nd round, 33rd overall of the 2014 NHL Draft by the St. Louis Blues.
Last season was the first full season of Barbashev’s career. He scored 14 goals and 12 assists for 26 points in 80 regular-season games. He also added 17 minutes in penalties. His possession numbers were 48.7 percent Corsi and a relative Corsi of -3.9.
In the playoffs, he added three goals and three assists for six points in 25 playoff games played. He added four minutes in penalties. What really blew fans away, though, was Barbashev’s physicality during the post-season. In 25 playoff games, Barbashev led the league with a monstrous 87 hits. This high hit total even surpassed the 86 hits he totaled during 80 regular-season games last year. A new side clearly came out of Barbashev during the post-season. The often defensively-minded centre showed he had one more weapon in his arsenal and played a key role in the Blues eventual Stanley Cup win.
What Ivan Barabshev Can Do in The Future
Ivan Barbashev is a reliable fourth-line forward. For the majority of the playoffs, he played on a line with Oskar Sundqvist and Alex Steen, who are also both returning for the upcoming season. He had the best regular season of his career and added to his success in the playoffs. He was a great addition to the Blues already deadly forwards. Barbashev is capable of scoring more, but even if he just has a repeat of his offensive numbers from last season this season, the Blues got him for a steal.
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