St. Louis Blues bring up defenseman Leo Loof from Springfield Thunderbirds to bolster roster.
Today, St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced that the team has called up defenseman Leo Loof from their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Thunderbirds.
Loof, 22, has participated in 11 matches with the Thunderbirds this season, recording one assist and accumulating 21 penalty minutes.
During his rookie season in the AHL last year, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound defenseman recorded seven assists and accumulated 27 penalty minutes over 58 regular-season games.
Loof, a Karlstad, Sweden native, was first selected by the Blues in the third round (No. 88 overall) of the 2020 NHL Draft. There’s no assurance that Lööf will play in a game. The Blues currently possess six fit defenders on the roster and probably only sought an additional player for their upcoming three-game East Coast road trip in the next few days.
Loof was among the best waiver-exempt choices they had, which means they can avoid stress over adjusting their roster or reducing the temporary exemptions for Corey Schueneman, Hunter Skinner, or Tyler Tucker since the three cleared waivers during training camp.
Lööf, currently 22 years old, was selected in the third round by the Blues in 2020. The 6’1″, 201-pound left-handed defenseman spent his initial three years post-draft in Europe, playing for elite teams in Sweden (Färjestad BK) and Finland (Ilves) before inking his entry-level deal in April 2023 and arriving in North America the subsequent season.
Lööf has only played for Springfield while on his entry-level contract, but that could alter in the near future. The physical, two-way defender hasn’t seen his point totals rise in the minors, not scoring a goal and managing just eight assists in 69 games since last season.
It’s a significant decline from his statistics in the European professional leagues, where he recently recorded four goals and 12 assists for 16 points in 55 Liiga matches with Ilves during the 2022-23 season.
This season, only one of those points has been scored in 11 appearances for Springfield. Nevertheless, he shares the second spot on the team with 21 PIMs and is tied for the top position among defensemen with a +1 rating.
Although the scoring hasn’t yet materialized, and his capacity to interpret offensive plays is still adapting to North American hockey, he has mainly exhibited a smart style of play and has contributed physically. Lööf has one more season remaining on his entry-level contract following this one.
Even if he remains on the bench, the recall is financially important for him—temporarily raising his pay from only $80K in the minors to a pro-rated $775K while he is on the NHL team. In the summer of 2026, he will become a restricted free agent.
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