Leo Loof Departs St. Louis Blues to Return to Finland
The St. Louis Blues organization will be parting ways with defenseman Leo Loof, who has decided to conclude his tenure with the NHL franchise and return to his native Finland. The 24-year-old blueliner, originally selected by St. Louis in the third round of the 2020 Entry Draft, will rejoin Ilves, a professional club in the Finnish elite league Liiga where he previously competed before his stint in North America.
Loof’s departure comes as his contract with the Blues expired, positioning him to become a restricted free agent on July 1. The Finnish defenseman spent the majority of his time with the organization playing for the Springfield Thunderbirds of the American Hockey League. Over three seasons, he accumulated 30 points on two goals across 168 appearances for the affiliate. In the most recent campaign, Loof skated in 47 regular-season contests but remained on the sidelines throughout the organization’s 12 postseason matchups.
Measuring 6-foot-1 tall, Loof never materialized into an impact player at the professional level. Regarded as a defensively-minded player, his tenure with St. Louis proved challenging, as neither his offensive contributions nor his defensive prowess developed sufficiently to establish him as a reliable shutdown defenseman or earn him NHL ice time. Throughout his affiliation with the Blues, he achieved no games played at hockey’s highest level.
Prior to joining St. Louis, Loof established a track record with Ilves, where he recorded eight goals and 26 points in 103 games over two seasons. The Finnish team, which concluded the most recent Liiga season in fourth place before losing to eventual champion Tappara in the semifinals, will add Loof to a roster that includes newly signed goaltender Christoffer Rifalk, defenseman Tony Sund, and forwards Aleks Haatanen, Topias Hynninen, Jan-Mikael Järvinen, Benjamin Korhonen, and Jaakko Lantta.
Meanwhile, the Blues face several offseason decisions with seven restricted free agents on their roster, led by prospects Jonatan Berggren and Matthew Kessel.
