Blues will not re-sign Barret Jackman
For the first time in his career, Barret Jackman could be wearing something other than a St. Louis Blues jersey next season.
The veteran defenseman will become an unrestricted free agent at season's end, and the team for whom he's played all of his 803 games has decided not to offer him a new deal, according to Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post- Dispatch.
The Blues have notified Blues defenseman Barret Jackman, 34, that they will be going in a "different direction" and thus not re-signing him this offseason.
Jackman, whose three-year, $9.5-million contract expires on June 30, will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. He will be allowed to sign with another organization without compensation.
Drafted 17th overall by the Blues back in 1999, Jackman won the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie in 2003, and the hard-hitting, shutdown defenseman has been plying his trade in St. Louis ever since, climbing to second place on the franchise's all-time games-played list.
He played in 80 games this past season, with two goals, 13 assists, 86 shots, and 47 penalty minutes to his credit.
Jackman acknowledged back in April that his time with the team was likely done at the conclusion of the playoffs, but he remains adamant that he still has gas in the tank, and longs to challenge for a Stanley Cup.
He'll have his chance to purse a new NHL home come July 1.