from David Satriano of NHL.com,

The St. Louis Blues hope a nearly identical roster will help them repeat as Stanley Cup champions.

Coming off the first title in their 51-season history, the Blues didn't look outside the organization for free agents to bolster their roster, instead retaining their own restricted and unrestricted free agents.

Forwards Sammy Blais (July 1) and Robby Fabbri (July 12) each agreed to a one-year contract; forward Oskar Sundqvist (July 21) agreed to a four-year contract; and goalie Jordan Binnington agreed to a two-year contract (July 13). Defenseman Joel Edmundson was awarded a one-year, $3.1 million contract by an independent arbitrator on Aug. 6, and defenseman Carl Gunnarsson, who could have been an unrestricted free agent July 1, agreed to a two-year contract June 27.

"From a chemistry standpoint it does help for sure," said coach Craig Berube, who signed a three-year contract June 25. "I guess you don't want complacency to set in; I guess that could be a concern with pretty much the same roster coming back."

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