The Blues signed defenseman Colton Paryako to an eight-year, $52 million extension, the longest allowed, on Wednesday with an average annual value of $6.5 million per year.
Parayko would have been an unrestricted free agent after this season and now has a deal that will run through the 2029-30 season. He will have just turned 37 when the contact expires. His AAV puts him even with two of his blueline teammates, Torey Krug and Justin Faulk.
The deal cements Parayko as the linchpin of the defense, even though his past two seasons have not been up to the high standards of his play in 2018-19. He was hampered by a back injury for much of the 2021 season.
The contract goes into effect after this season. Parayko will make $5.5 million this season in the final year of a five-year contract he signed in 2017.
At $52 million total, it matches Brayden Schenn’s extension as the second-biggest contract in team history, behind the eight-year $60 million contract Vladimir Tarasenko signed in 2015.
