The St. Louis Blues are expected to tender Dylan Holloway a qualifying offer of $2.29 million as his two-year, $4.58 million contract nears its July 1 expiration, setting up a pivotal summer for the winger’s future in St. Louis.
Holloway will be eligible for arbitration once the deal expires, and the Blues must decide whether to keep him on that path or try to lock him up longer. The 23-year-old said the fit has been clear since the team poached him from the Edmonton Oilers via offer sheet two summers ago, calling the move “kind of wild” and adding that he is “very thankful to be a Blue and I want to be a Blue for a long time.”
That stance is backed by what Holloway did in his first full season with St. Louis. He scored 26 goals and 63 points in 77 games, finished with a plus-21 rating, averaged 16:49 of ice time and ranked fifth on the team in hits. He also trailed only Jordan Kyrou among Blues forwards in possession metrics, a sign that his impact went well beyond the scoresheet.
The case for a longer deal, though, is not uncomplicated. Holloway played only 59 games this season after a right ankle injury began in mid-December, and that injury history is part of why the club may hesitate before committing long term. Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic projected that a multi-year extension could land in the $7 million to $9 million per year range, a significant jump from the bargain number attached to his current contract.
Holloway does not reach unrestricted free agency until after the 2028-29 season, which gives the Blues some leverage if they decide to bridge the gap with a shorter arrangement. They also have other contract decisions to make this summer, including whether to tender a deal to waiver-claim Jonatan Berggren, while Justin Holl, Oskar Sundqvist and Matthew Kessel are also pending free agents.
For the Blues, Holloway is no longer just a headline from an offer sheet raid. He has become one of the team’s more valuable forwards, and the next move will tell whether St. Louis sees him as a core piece worth paying for now or a restricted free agent to manage carefully on the way to a much bigger payday later.