The Blues have signed forward David Perron to a two-year contract extension.
Perron, who was a restricted free agent, and the club agreed to a deal that will pay the 2007 first-round draft pick $4.3 Million.
Perron, 22, will make $1.8 million in 2010-11 and $2.5 million in 2011-12. The average of $2.15 million will be the salary-cap hit each season.
"I'm really excited right now ... I love the way the team is going to look for the next few years," Perron said. "It's awesome that I'm going to be a part of that."
After making the Blues' roster as an 18-year-old rookie in 2007, Perron has posted 48 goals and 76 assists in 225 games over the last three years.
Perron has increased his goal total each of the three seasons, reaching the 20-goal plateau in 2009-10. He registered 13 goals and 27 points as a rookie and then had 15 goals and a career-high 50 points last season.
"It went by super fast," Perron said. "It’s crazy thinking three years ago I was trying to make the team and now I have three years in the NHL. It’s fun to see that it worked out good for me. But at the same time, I’ve still got a lot of work to do."
Perron was the 26th overall pick in the 2007 draft. He has already registered 225 NHL games, ranking him second behind Chicago's Patrick Kane (244) from the '07 draft class. Perron also ranks second in goals behind Kane (76-48), third in assists behind Kane and Edmonton's Sam Gagner (154-87-76) and third in points behind Kane and Gagner (230-131-124).
"David, coming from where he was drafted and making the NHL his first year, he’s earned everything he’s gotten as a Blue," St. Louis general manager Doug Armstrong said. "He wasn’t expected to make it the first year. He had very good players played in front of him and had to earn the power-play time, and the ice time given to him.
"I think he’s progressed on and off the ice very well. Now he’s gotten that experience and he’s going to be more prepared to be a consistent factor offensively for us. One of the necessities on our team is being a good two-way player, and we think he'll be an excellent two-way player."
