- While forward Oskar Sundqvist was visibly elated to return to the St. Louis Blues this offseason in free agency, the club with which he won a Stanley Cup championship in 2019, it wasn’t the only option for his future he had in mind. In an interview with The Athletic’s Jeremy Rutherford earlier this week, Sundqvist revealed he greatly enjoyed his post-trade deadline stint with the Minnesota Wild, and there was mutual interest in an extension to keep him in the State of Hockey. However, there wasn’t a feasible way to keep him around with a heavy salary cap crunch on Minnesota’s end, thanks to nearly $15MM in dead cap caused by the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts. Sundqvist did end up signing a league-minimum one-way contract with the Blues, however, who were also in a tight financial situation after acquiring center Kevin Hayes at a reduced price from the Philadelphia Flyers. Sundqvist did well in Minnesota, posting seven points in 15 games down the stretch before injuries kept him out of most of their First Round playoff loss against the Dallas Stars.