St. Louis Blues use loophole to get unsigned RFA at training camp

With NHL players back at practice facilities across Canada and the United States, general managers are trying to get all the loose ends tied up before the 2024-25 season officially gets underway. With news that the Detroit Red Wings had signed restricted free agent Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract with an $8.55 million AAV, that leaves just four unsigned RFAs around the league. While RFAs usually don't attend training camp if they're unsigned, one of the four left will be, and his GM is pulling off some tricky moves to get him there.

The four unsigned RFAs include some very recognizable names. Jeremy Swayman of the Boston Bruins, who has said he won't attend camp without a deal, Cole Perfetti of the Winnipeg Jets, Dawson Mercer of the New Jersey Devils, and Nikita Alexandrov of the St. Louis Blues.

Of those, the 24-year-old Nikita Alexandrov will be at their team's training camp, although the St. Louis Blues have had to do some fancy juggling to make it happen. You can only have 50 players under contract at an NHL training camp, but you can add others with a professional tryout, or PTO. Alexandrov will be one of six players at the St. Louis Blues training camp on a PTO.

Once a player under contract from a junior league gets sent back, Alexandrov would be eligible to sign and remain . That there. However, if the Blues don't like what they see from him, they can choose to stick with the first offer and let Alexandrov sit if that's what he decides to do. The Blues would retain his rights until he became a free agent at the age of 28, Blues GM Doug Armstrong has managed to give himself 100 percent of the leverage in negotiations.

Nikita Alexandrov was given a qualifying offer from the St. Louis Blues back in June. It's not known what the offer was, but the minimum, according to Puckpedia, is $874,125. Alexandrov has played 51 games in the NHL so far in his career, scoring 6 goals and 9 points.