A Long-Term Contract Awaits Joel Hofer and the Blues – The Hockey Writers – St Louis Blues

Prior to his breakout season, Hofer had two strong seasons as the team’s backup. Now that he has taken over the starting job, he is clearly in the team’s future plans. With his current contract expiring after this season, what could his next contract look like?

Beware the Offer Sheet

The Blues do retain Hofer’s rights beyond this season as he will be a restricted free agent (RFA) for one more summer before qualifying for unrestricted free agent (UFA) status in 2028. In theory, this should give general manager (GM) Alexander Steen some breathing room, but current trends suggest it could be a dangerous game to play.

Two teams tendered offer sheets this summer. On July 1, the New Jersey Devils tendered one to Barrett Hayton (Utah Mammoth). Two days later, the Philadelphia Flyers tendered one to Leo Carlsson (Anaheim Ducks). Both the Mammoth and Ducks matched offers to retain their players, with the Ducks making Carlsson the league’s highest-paid player. However, as the salary cap continues to rise, organizations will be more willing to tender an offer sheet to a player they believe is worth giving up draft picks for. Ironically, the Blues started this trend with Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg in 2024.

Hofer is a prime candidate for an offer sheet as a young goaltender showing promise. A team looking for their long-term goalie could easily pull the trigger. All of a sudden, the Blues could be without Hofer, and possibly without Binnington (who is a pending UFA and whose name is in trade rumors), putting the team many steps back in their rebuild.

The days of there being an RFA cushion appear to be gone. Hofer needs a contract.

Short-Term Deal?

Hofer’s last contract was a two-year bridge deal signed during the summer of 2025. This protected him from the offer sheet and gave the Blues more time to assess his future with the team. The results have been great, with Hofer seemingly ready to be the permanent starter.

After three productive seasons, including taking over the starting job, a short-term deal does not seem appropriate. However, it is not impossible. The Blues could want to see if Hofer can replicate his success as a starter before committing to a long-term contract.

However, the Blues could easily evaluate Hofer this upcoming season. If they like what they see, they can offer him a long-term extension at the end of the season, similar to what they did with Holloway last season. If there is a desire for further evaluation, the team can easily do that this season with Hofer still under contract.

If Steen wants to do something short term, he is more likely to give Hofer a one-year deal to protect him during his final RFA summer. Even that, however, seems like a stretch.

Long-Term Deal

A long-term deal makes the most sense, but what should it look like? A good comparable is Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen with the Buffalo Sabres. After emerging as the team’s starter in 2023-24, the Sabres locked him up to a five-year contract that July with a cap hit of $4.75 million.

Hofer is a similar story, but actually has a bigger sample size than Lukkonen had at this time of his extension. Luukkonen got his contract after just two seasons of playing in more than 10 games. Hofer has had three seasons, giving him a little more maturation.

A five-year deal would a lot of sense for Hofer as it would buy out his final RFA season and keep him under contract during the time the Blues are set to become a contender.

When it comes to the dollars and cents, a $25 million deal seems reasonable. Hofer would get a significant raise from his current salary ($6.8 million over two seasons), but it would be team-friendly with the rising cap. If Hofer continues to grow as a starter, this deal could feel like a bargain.

A New Chapter Between the Pipes

Binnington’s pending UFA status suggests new chapter is about to start in goal for the Blues. Once Hofer puts pen to paper, we will officially begin the new era. When that will happen remains to be seen, but it seems more of a question of “when” than “if.”