Blues Resign Nikita Nikitin

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The St. Louis Blues have stockpiled a nice nucleus of young defenseman, led by Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk.

On Thursday the Blues announced that they are dedicated to keeping that young core together as they have signed 24 year old Nikita Nikitin to a one year contract extension.

Nikitin, a left-handed shooter born in Omsk, USSR was solid during his time in St. Louis last season.

Nikitin appeared in 41 games for the Blues last season, scoring one goal while assisting on eight others.  Nikitin finished the season with a plus one on the plus/minus rating scale and averaged a respectable 16:24 seconds of ice time per game.

Sources:

• Nikitin 2010-2011 stats