The St. Louis Blues just added some serious baggage to their forward group — and not the kind that comes with a gym membership. They signed Dillon Dube to a one-year contract worth $850,000, according to multiple reports.
Dube is a 27-year-old forward who last played in the NHL during the 2023-24 season with Calgary. But his career basically went on ice after he was one of five players charged with sexual assault stemming from an incident in 2018 when they were members of Canada’s world junior team.
All five players were acquitted in July 2025. Carter Hart, another one of the defendants, signed with Vegas and ended up playing in the 2026 Stanley Cup Final against Carolina.
But Dube had to take a longer road back. He signed a professional tryout with Springfield, the Blues’ AHL affiliate, back in December 2025. And he made the most of it. He tied for second on the team with 20 goals and finished fourth in scoring with 37 points in 46 regular season games. Then he added five goals and three assists in 12 playoff games as Springfield made it to the Atlantic Division Finals.
That performance was enough for the Blues to take a flier on him.
Dube was originally a second-round pick by Calgary back in 2016, 56th overall. He played 325 games for the Flames and put up 57 goals and 70 assists, plus 105 penalty minutes. He’s versatile enough to play center or wing, and at his best he’s a fast, hard forechecking guy who can kill penalties.
The Blues have been busy this offseason under new GM Alexander Steen. They traded Jordan Kyrou to Washington, brought in Mason Marchment from Anaheim, and added Brandon Carlo from Toronto. This Dube signing is a depth move, but it’s got more layers than most.
Teams don’t usually hand out one-way contracts worth nearly a million bucks to guys who spent the previous season in the AHL. The one-way part means Dube gets paid the same whether he’s in St. Louis or Springfield. That suggests the Blues see him as a legitimate option for their fourth line, at least to start.
The hockey part makes sense. Dube can skate, he brings energy, and he’s got some offensive touch if he’s used right. The off-ice part is obviously complicated. His acquittal means he’s not a convicted sex offender, but the circumstances around the case aren’t going to disappear just because a jury said not guilty. The Blues are betting that whatever happened or didn’t happen in 2018 is behind him and that he can focus on hockey.
Dube’s journey back to the NHL is unusual but not unprecedented. Hart got a similar shot with Vegas. Time will tell if this signing works out or becomes a footnote in a strange chapter of hockey history.
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