from Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,

The Blues believed they were in the running with Backes until the end, but in the end, the team chose not to match the length of the deal he received from the Bruins.

"We talked last night and again this morning," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. "At the end of the day, the term was a concern for myself. David is a great player, and he's been a great Blue, and we wish him nothing but the best. But when you project out long-term, it was problematic for me personally to project out that far with players.

"There's analytical data that shows where players play at their peak, and we wanted to try to stay within a window. We were ready to stretch that window, but only to a certain level. That's more of a personal thing than anything. Ultimately, David took a really good offer from Boston, and we wish him nothing but the best. He'll be sorely missed."

In addition to losing Backes, the Blues will also move on without Troy Brouwer, who signed in Calgary. He inked a four-year, $18 million deal ($4.5 million).

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