Report: Blues advise Pietrangelo to pursue free agency

Alex Pietrangelo's days with the St. Louis Blues appear to be over.

The Blues have broken off contract talks with the pending unrestricted free-agent rearguard and have advised the 30-year-old to pursue free agency in October, TSN's Darren Dreger reports.

Pietrangelo, whose previous deal carried an annual cap hit of $6.5 million, is one of the league's top blue-liners and is due for a big payday after helping the Blues capture the Stanley Cup in 2019 and putting together a career campaign in 2019-20.

St. Louis currently has just $5.15 million in projected cap space for next season, according to CapFriendly.

Pietrangelo admitted earlier this week that the lack of a new deal with the Blues was "a little disappointing." On Friday, the 6-foot-3 blue-liner said contract talks hadn't gone the way he wanted, per Dreger.

The Blues' current offer apparently carries an average annual value of $7.7 million, but Pietrangelo has been asked to accept the proposal without knowing the structure of the deal, according to The Athletic's Jeremy Rutherford.

Pietrangelo recorded a personal-best 16 goals this season and was on pace to crack the 60-point mark over 82 games for the first time in his career. The Ontario native ranks third in goals (58) and eighth in points (195) among all NHL defensemen over the past four campaigns.

Drafted by the Blues with the fourth overall pick in 2008, Pietrangelo has spent his entire 12-year career in St. Louis.