The St. Louis Blues have acquired veteran defenseman Cam Fowler in a trade with the Anaheim Ducks.
The Blues announced Saturday that they are sending defensive prospect Jeremie Biakabutuka and a second-round pick in 2027 to the Ducks, and receiving Fowler and a fourth-round draft pick in 2027.
Anaheim will also retain $2.5 million percent of Fowler’s salary. He’s in the seventh year of an eight-year, $52 million deal ($6.5 million average annual value), making his cap hit $4 million for the Blues.
Fowler, 33, is in his 15th NHL season and has played all of his 991 games for the Ducks. He has 96 goals and 457 points, including 38 power-play goals and 174 power-play points.
In 17 games this season, Fowler has no goals and four assists. He’s a left-shot defenseman who has been playing in Anaheim’s top pair and logging the most ice time on the team at 21:04 per game.
Biakabutuka (6-foot-4, 203 pounds), an undrafted 22-year-old, has played two games with the Blues’ AHL affiliate in Springfield and 76 games in the ECHL over the past two seasons.
The Blues are also assigning defenseman Matthew Kessel to AHL Springfield.
What does this mean for the Blues?
My immediate reaction is that the Blues must know that Nick Leddy will not be returning soon from his injury. Leddy has played just four games this season, and after it looked like he would be back soon, his injury “flared up” again and he came back home early from the team’s Western Canadian road trip. While there’s no confirmation that Leddy will be out even longer, it appears that way.
Fowler provides the Blues with experience and some options for the top four. They could put Philip Broberg in the No. 1 pair with Colton Parayko, then play Fowler with Justin Faulk and drop Ryan Suter to the third pair. P.O. Joseph, Scott Perunovich and Kessel have been serviceable, but playing one of them instead of two would be better. — Rutherford
(Photo: Kelvin Kuo / USA Today)
