Surprisingly, the first restricted free agent offer sheet didn't arrive in the inbox for any of the top 10 restricted free agents on yesterday's list. It came to Blues forward, David Backes, from the Canucks for 3 years at $2.5 million each. The offer sheet was quickly matched and signed by the Blues to keep Backes in the fold in St. Louis and thus ends our first offer sheet drama.Backes finished last season with 13 goals and 18 assists in 72 games for the Blues and is considered to be a good energy player for the third line, which would help Backes fit in well in Vancouver, but will only benefit the Blues down the road.
| Forwards | Defense | Goaltenders |
| Brad Boyes | Erik Johnson | Manny Legace |
| Paul Kariya | Eric Brewer | Chris Mason |
| Keith Tkachuk | Barret Jackman | |
| Andy McDonald | Jay McKee | |
| Lee Stempniak | ||
| David Backes | ||
| David Perron | ||
| Dan Hinote | ||
| D.J. King |
The signing of Backes now puts the Blues up to 15 players at a cap hit of $45.5 million, which leaves them with $11.2 million left in cap space for 8 players. There isn't a lot of room to move in the organization at the moment, so some clever budget moves may be needed soon to fit everyone in.
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