Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Blues pass on signing Arnott

Jason Arnott

The St. Louis Blues have decided not to sign veteran UFA Jason Arnott for the remainder of the season, the Post-Dispatch reports.

The 37-year-old center had been skating with the Blues this week after a rash of injuries sidelined forwards Vladimir Tarasenko (concussion), Alex Steen (shoulder) and Andy McDonald (knee).

Blues GM Doug Armstrong said it’s possible Steen and McDonald will rejoin the club this week, as the club begins a three-game homestand on Tuesday against the Sharks.

Arnott spent the 2011-12 season with St. Louis and performed well during the regular season — racking up 17G-17A-34PTS — but his time with the Blues didn’t end well.

He was a healthy scratch in the final two games of the Kings series and, as the Dispatch’s Dan O’Neill notes, “made no bones about” voicing his displeasure with the decision.

That said, Arnott did speak with head coach Ken Hitchcock about returning in a limited role this year, and clearly has a desire to keep playing. He signed a one-year deal with the Rangers in late January, only to see the Rangers nix the deal after Arnott was unable to receive medical clearance.

Arnott turns 38 in October and, given two clubs have now passed on his services, it seems unlikely he’ll be playing in the NHL this season.