Alex Pietrangelo seeking new contract worth over $9M/year?

Alex Pietrangelo is ready to get paid. Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Alex Pietrangelo seeking new contract worth over $9M per season?

By Erin Walsh | Last updated 9/19/20

Alex Pietrangelo's time with the St. Louis Blues has seemingly come to an end. With the two sides not close to completing a deal, the Blues have advised Pietrangelo to enter free agency.

While St. Louis reportedly offered the 30-year-old a deal worth an average annual value of around $7.7 million, Pietrangelo reportedly is seeking to be paid far more. According to Andy Strickland of Fox Sports Midwest, Pietrangelo is seeking a deal worth over $9 million per season.

Hearing Pietrangelo camp had come in as high as $9.25 mill, just above the contract of #Preds Dman Roman Josi of $9.059 AAV. Josi also has $34 million in signing bonuses built into the first four years of his deal. #stlblues
— Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) September 19, 2020

If he were to land a deal for that kind of money, Pietrangelo would become one of the league's highest-paid defensemen. The only defensemen who currently make $9 million or more per season are P.K. Subban, Roman Josi, Drew Doughty and Erik Karlsson.

Pietrangelo signed a seven-year deal with the Blues in 2013 and has served as the team's captain for the last four seasons. If the Stanley Cup-winning defenseman hits the open market, he'll be among the most pursued players in the league next month.

While he has openly expressed his desire to remain in St. Louis, the club has just over $5 million in cap space this offseason, which will make it difficult for the Blues to retain him. If he signs with a new team, he'll end up similarly to former Blues captain David Backes, who signed with the Boston Bruins as a free agent after the 2015-16 season.

Pietrangelo tallied 16 goals and 52 points in 70 games for the Blues this season after helping lift the club to their first-ever Stanley Cup title in 2019.

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