Thursday Bluenotes: 5-20-10
Vote today for the Blues 2009-2010 Season Fan Awards on team’s official website. My votes?
MVP – Backes
Best Forward – Oshie
Best Defensemen – Polak
Unsung Hero – Weaver
Biggest Surprise – Steen
Most Popular – Oshie
Best Moment – Tkachuk’s Final Game
TJ Oshie leads Team USA to a shootout win over Italy to avoid relegation at the IIHF World Championships. Pretty sad that Team USA went from Silver in Vancouver to barely avoiding relegation in May. While US Hockey has come a long way, the depth simply isn’t there yet. The biggest drop off has to be in net.
The Blues signed two prospects last week, Tyler Shattock and Anthony Nigro, to Entry Level Contracts. Depth and filler the Blues need to continue developing in to capable professional players. I love Shattock’s size mixed with his skill. He could become an effective 3rd line/energy player at the NHL level. Nigro reminds me of a Drazenovic type of guy. Has offensive ability, but not likely enough to make it as an offensive player it the NHL. Don’t discount him though (or Draz).
Any Strickland writes about many things Blues related this week. Here are some highlights.
- Blues passing on Weaver? He is this offseason’s version of Ryan Johnson. Thanks Weaves, but we’re moving on.
- Carlo coming back? I would guess he has to take less than open market value to stay in St. Louis. With three of the biggest names in the UFA Defenseman market retiring, moving to Europe, or staying put…Carlo could be a hot commodity come July 1st. Playing his cards right would be to test the market and get paid. That said, it’s going to be hard to replace his points from the blue line.
- TowerBrook news? Not really, just that fans need to be patient.
- No talks between Blues and Perron??? That needs to change. He cam still add more depth to his game and become an even scarier offensive weapon in the next 3-4 years. Get the kid locked in now.
- Find a steady Dman for EJ? I’m with you 100% Andy. That said…the Blues blueline is shaping up to be quite a bit like Nashville’s solid core. Weber, Suter, Hamhuis vs. Johnson, Pietrangelo, Polak. Adding another experienced piece will certainly help push the Blues over the top while keeping their budding core intact.
- All (mostly) quiet on the Mason front? Not surprising. This could be Chris’ only real shot for a big contract. I cannot fault him for going to July 1st wanting to test the waters.
- Will Mark Cundari make an impact with the Blues one day? Andy says so and I agree. Mark was good at camp and had a good playoff run this season. He will make fans not care so much about losing Junland.
Over at STLToday.com Tuesday, Roger Hensley asked Blues insiders and “insighters” what is the difference between the Hawks and Blues? There are standard answers in the blog, but they are still true answers. The Hawks have had their players develop faster. With a larger market come more money and an ability to pay for Brian Campbell, Marian Hossa, and John Madden. They have drafted key players who develop faster (forwards) and supplemented them with free agents paid at an inflated value. Its not knocking them, it’s just that the Blues don’t have that type of revenue to dabble in free agency the way the Hawks have.
Example: Look at Duncan Keith. Fighting for a Norris now, but was drafted in 2002. Imapct forwards like Toews and Kane were drafted at #3 and #1. High talent and the “easiest” position to develop in the NHL equal faster success. Compare that to Erik Johnson drated #1 in 2006. Give him a year or two and he shold be producing like Keith. Oshie, Berglund, Perron, Eller were all drafted after the 10th overall pick. The Blues haven’t had a top 10 forward pick since Rod Brind’Amour in 1988. The general thought process is the lower the pick, the longer to develop. The Blues can only expect so much, so fast from guys taken where they have been. If you want proof that those players can develop down the road, look at players like Getzlaf, Perry, Richards, Parise, Kesler, and Stewart. All developed in to impact players after players drafted above them.
On Wednesday the Blues announced they re-signed Forward Adam Cracknell. A nice depth move for Peoria. The Bkues are just cleaning house with the recent contracts to Shattock, Nigro and Cracknell. It’s not an indication that the Blues are going cheap due to the TowerBrook divestment. This is a normal process.
Erik Johnson was on NHL Live yesterday with EJ Hradek and Rob Simpson. Hop over to iTunes and check for the podcast version. Search for NHL Live.
