I like this deal a lot (for a number of reasons) but I have to agree that the AAV is a bit surprising to me. It's fairly rare to see Army give out this type of raise to a guy with fewer than 100 carer games played, so I was expecting a 1 year bridge at a lower AAV.
With that said, I'm not complaining at all and have a few comments
1: This AAV seems to land somewhere in between what he'd get on a 1 year extension and what he would have made if he hadn't gotten hurt. This seems to be a nice mix of financial security for a player who plays a physical style and two years of a cap-friendly number for a team if he continues to succeed in a middle 6 role.
2: This contract is becoming a trend. $3M over 2 years has become our standard "this is what you get when you don't have arbitration rights" contract. I like it. This AAV is a few hundred grand more than we would have ultimately paid Blais for 2020/21 if we had played hardball and fought for every cent. But the flipside to that is that it prevents some amount of animosity among future RFAs. We are starting to build a really good track record to point to and say "this is the 2nd contract the St. Louis Blues offer unless we are talking about a long term deal. This number is not a reflection of your ability, but this is the bridge deal we offer unless we are getting a significant commitment into your UFA years." I'm thinking 100% about Dunn as I type this. We need to keep his AAV down if we are going to extend Petro. If I were the team, I would offer him a contract similar to these terms (worth slightly more), make the preceding sales pitch and (tactfully) tell his agent that he can either take the standard keep-the-band together bridge deal offered or he can take his QO and we will be happy to negotiate a higher AAV in 2021/22 when our cap space opens up.
3: My next jersey purchase is probably going to be a Blais jersey with a Cup Final patch. I almost pulled the trigger on one last summer, but had concerns about him getting nudged off the roster. This AAV pretty much locks him into a roster spot next year. I still crack up for some reason about Blais being the only guy who took a knee for the photo with the Clarence Campbell Bowl.
4: My childish brain wishes we had waited until Monday to announce the extension.