T.J. Oshie, Blues agree to a five-year deal, avoid arbitration

The St. Louis Blues have confirmed that they have signed T.J. Oshie to a five-year contract worth an average of $4.175 million per season.

That’s a significant raise over the $2,350,000 he made in 2011-12, but based on Cap Geek’s numbers, the St. Louis Blues were operating under the salary floor, so they can certainly afford the hit. More importantly, this contract extension means that the two sides won’t have to go to arbitration on Friday.

Oshie set new career-highs last season with 19 goals and 54 points in 80 games on a team that struggled offensively. With the way the market value for top-six forwards has been skyrocketing lately, this deal seems perfectly reasonable. It might even look like a great signing if Oshie can continue to improve over the next couple of years.

With Oshie now locked up, the St. Louis Blues have him, David Backes, and David Perron all signed through at least 2015-16 for an annual cap hit of roughly $12.5 million. That’s not too punishing — even if the new CBA ends up reducing the salary cap — and it provides them with plenty of flexibility to re-sign Chris Stewart, Patrik Berglund, Alex Pietrangelo, and Kevin Shattenkirk, who are all scheduled to become restricted free agents next summer.