Blues avoid arbitration with Toropchenko on 2-year contract

The St. Louis Blues dodged the arbitration process with forward Alexey Toropchenko, agreeing to a two-year deal worth $1.25 million per season, the team announced Sunday.

Toropchenko was a restricted free agent and had an arbitration hearing scheduled for Thursday.

The 6-foot-6, 220-pound Russian collected 10 goals and nine assists over 69 games in a bottom-six role with the Blues this past season. He added one tally and two helpers in five contests with their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds.

Toropchenko has played parts of two campaigns with St. Louis, the club that drafted him 113th overall in 2017.