The St. Louis Blues have been one of the prospect communities darling organizations ever since the 2006 draft added Erik Johnson and Patrik Berglund to the pipeline boasting the likes of TJ Oshie. With stars in their eyes and warm fuzzy feeling projections in paper and pixel the end teen years hockey experts have fawned over Jarmo’s draft picks. Given that the Blues have not been as good as expected on the ice with the bevy of “sure to be” excellent stars, the coffers are consistently restocked with “potential”. Meaning everyone is used to lists ranking the Blues and the players in the organization and their significance.

Hockeybuzz.com’s prospect guru Brian Huddle delivered his such preseason list for the Blues today. Don’t be alarmed to find the list a little surprising.

*Feel free to hit the link to see his thoughts on each player, but here is the quick and dirty…

1. Vladimir Tarasenko
2. Jaden Schwartz
3. Ty Rattie
4. Evgeny Grachev
5. Joel Edmundson
6. Dmitrij Jaskin
7. Jake Allen
8. Jonas Junland
9. Brett Ponich
10. Brock Beukeboom

No one is out to poke fun at Brian by reviewing and critiquing his list. However, there are some issues that those who follow the Blues a little more closely would likely address.

- The exclusion of Ian Cole, Phil McRae and Ben Bishop is interesting.

Cole is widely considered the top defensive prospect in the system now that Alex Pietrangelo has graduated full time to the NHL. There may be some concerns with his injury history, but not enough to suggest that he has fallen out of the “top ten”.

McRae by most accounts falls in the 5-8 range, similar to fellow 2008 draftee Grachev. Both have less than 25 NHL games played (McRae 15 and Grachev and are starting the season as prominent top six forwards in Peoria. They share a similar “top six power forward” fully realized upside.

Bishop may have a lower ceiling than Allen, but is closer to a NHL role than every on the list. Not sure if his exclusion is due to his potential to be Jaroslav Halak’s backup or just that he is not rated as highly as two maybe third pairing defensemen.

- Jonas Junland… reallly?

With Junland’s defection to SEL side Farjestads in April 2010 the Blues basically wrote him off unless he had a mammoth coming out party back home. The trade bringing Kevin Shattenkirk to town plus the growth of Nikita Niktin, Mark Cundari and Cole have closed the door on Junland’s hopes, if he even has any, of coming back to St. Louis.

Time to scratch him off the list like Nikolai Lemtyugov.

- Allen Trending Down?

Hard to imagine how a strong showing in his first professional season (25-19-3, 2.52 GAA, .917 Save%) turned a potential NHL starter in Allen from one slot behind Tarasenko and Schwartz to below a maybe top 6 forward and a fringe second pairing defenseman who is more known for fighting than anything else.

I only got to see two Rivermen games this season, but he looked just fine to me.

I really do suggest hitting the link and reading what Brian says for some added detail on what type of player each could be, their current NHL compareable (don’t agree that Grachev = Fedotenko at all. Berglund two years younger, you bet.) and details of the strengths and weaknesses.

…and for fun, my top 10…

1. Jaden Schwartz
2. Vladimir Tarasenko
3. Jake Allen
4. Ian Cole
5. Ty Rattie
6. Phil McRae
7. Evgeny Grachev
8. Mark Cundari
9. Dmitrij Jaskin
10. Ben Bishop

Before any flames and claims of sacrilege for placing Jaden ahead of Tarasenko, I have a good reason. I was all aboard with the trade and drafting of Tank after researching him and even more so after his WJC performance. That said, he is still in Russia. Playing in the KHL for his father’s team. While he may be finishing out his contract with Sibir, there are still concerns that he will not come over or may not stay for long once he does.

The greater potential to play in the NHL and how quickly that may be has to be taken in to account. Given another year of maturation physically and mentally at Colorado College should prep Schwartz for a professional career starting in the 12-13 season. The KHL will do the same for Tarasenko, but there is zero guarantee he will actually cross the Atlantic.

Allen’s upside as a solid starting goalie puts him ahead of a #3 defenseman like Cole. But Ian’s near readiness for the NHL puts him ahead of a boom prospect like Rattie (I’m thinking like Perron here folks). Rattie could be that top line shifty winger with slick hands. McRae and Grachev more likely pan out to be a 4th winger on the depth chart.

Cundari belongs above all the other defenseman on the list save for Cole. He will have a big opportunity to have a coming out part with the Rivermen. Especially if injuries strike the big club and Cole heads down on the Peoria Shuttle. He may be small, but he is quick, strong and boasts a high hockey IQ that will make him a respectable 3rd pairing defeseman in St. Louis sooner than Edmundson, Poinch, or Buekeboom.

Jaskin has skill above all remaining forwards and deserves to be placed accordingly. Bishop? Well, he’s on the cusp of starting off a full time NHL career. That counts for something.

Honorable Mentions go to: Ryan Tesink, Sebastian Wannstrom and Stefan Della Rovere.

ANYWAY, What I am here to right about……Peoria needs some help!

Ian Cole will likely be back in Peoria next season, but my question is, what role will he play?

Can we expect any more free agent signings? My answer would be yes, but it will not be anything in St. Louis. Peoria needs some depth after seeing Justin Fletcher, Barry Tallackson, Jonas Junland, and Pascal Pelletier all inked contracts over seas. Leaving some pretty big holes on the Rivermen roster.

Having signing Matt D’Agostini and TJ Hensick, we can likely expect to see one of these two in Peoria unless they both have dominant training camps.  Which will add some high power American League scoring. Adding rookies such as Philip McRae, Tyler Shattock,  and Anthony Nigro the Blues will be adding size and scoring to their top affiliate team through rookies.

Though this being said, veterans are very much needed. We will see veteran forwards Nicholas Drazenovic and Chris Porter, who are my two top candidates for captain of the Rivermen. Not to mention forwards Cam Paddock, Ryan Reaves and Adam Cracknell returning as well. Who Peoria adds on AHL/ECHL deals or the Blues add via NHL/AHL deals, the offense could shape out in many different ways. Seeing Brett Sonne in a second year, hoping that one of D’Agostini/Hensick can dominate at the AHL level, we could see a very strong scoring team with a lot of toughness as well.

On the defense, we’ll see Daryl Boyle and Bryce Lampman most likely make the return as the only veterans returning.

Ian Cole will most likely will return to Peoria (unless he impresses at camp) and will be a big part of the Rivs defensive unit. Rookie Mark Cundari will be joining the ranks in Peoria and I wouldn’t be to surprised to see TJ Fast and Ryan Turek jump from Alaska to join the ranks in Peoria. The newest addition brings some NHL experience from Nathan Oystrick. I expect to see Oystrick in Peoria and Strachan in the role of the 7th defensemen in St. Louis. But the Blues could go opposite and stick Strachan back in Peoria as a top pairing defender and have Oystrick riding the pine in the Lou.

Add in defensemen and tough guy Brennan Evans on the blueline in Peoria and you round out a solid defensive core. Veterans in Boyle, Lampman, Evans, Oystrick/Strachan leaves me to question the roles of Ian Cole and Mark Cundari. Mex guess, they’ll be leading the Rivermen’s powerplay. We could see Russian Nikita Nikitin in Peoria as well which could add a big body to help stabilize the power play.

Bishop will be the go to goalie if Halak or Conklin sustain injuries.

Both Ian Cole and Mark Cundari play the same type of game. The ability to play the two way game of ranking up some points and shutting down the opponents. Not to mention both players can deck you if you’re coming down the rink the wrong way, the Rivermen blue line is going to be fun to watch.

The goaltending is pretty straight forward. St. Louis let Joe Fallon, acquired from Chicagolast season, go by not tendering him a contract last season. Peoria is going to work with Ben Bishop and Jake Allen this season. Who will start and who will back up? That’ll likely be whoever has the hot hand.

Now I don’t expect all of this to be right because the Blues could trade one or two of these players, or they could prove their worth in camp and force the Blues to keep them (ala Steve Wagner….wow that went down hill didn’t it?)

Here are my top call ups on the season;

Forwards : Nicholas Drazenovic, TJ Hensick/Matt D’Agostini/Chris Porter

Defense : Ian Cole, Nikita Nikitin/Tyson Strachan, Mark Cundari

Goaltending : Ben Bishop

Do you agree? Let me know!

RandallRitchey@gmail.com

This certainly opens the possibility that Jonas goes straight back to Sweden and moves past his NHL aspirations. There is also a possibilty that this contract is a fall back plan if he isnt unable to secure a spot on the NHL roster leaving training camp.

It’s too early to tell what is actually going on. Blues fans will have to wait for the hockey media to roll out of bed and bring in the details.

It’s an odd move now that Jonas is closer than ever to playing in the NHL full time. The Blues are losing three defensemen to free agency this summer and the Blues need his puck moving ability. Yes, his defensive abilities are in question. However, defense can be taught and the Blues are in need of more skill on the blue line.

As more info becomes available I will update the blog.

Update 5-1-10:

Jeremy Rutherford elaborated Friday on his Morning Skate blog on some details of the Junland contract.

Basically, JR confirmed that Junland agreed to the SEL contract and an out clause was not confirmed.

JR also cited the Peoria Star Journal saying Junland rejected a one year, one way contract for $500,000.

The Blues can continue to talk with Junland who is a RFA, but at this time there us no indication that the issue will be resolved soon.

See more on my Hockey Independent blog later tonight.

Per Jeremy Rutherford of the Post and Chris Kerber of KMOX, Alex Pietrangelo is heading back to his Junior’s team in Niagara.

Pietrangelo is heading back to his OHL Team the Niagara Ice Dogs. There are rumors however that he will be traded to a Juniors team contending for the playoffs.

While I do not see an official statement from the Blues on their site however, I have come to trust JR and Kerbs. Blues Vice President of Hockey Operations said on Team 1380 today that the team had already come to a decision on Pietrangelo’s status with the team and as of this afternoon that was not public knowledge. I am assuming that this decision was ready before his sluggish performance tonight against the US Team in the WJC Gold Medal game.

What does this mean Blues fans? Well a couple things.

1. The Blues are set on their current depth on defense.
2. They expect enough offensive output to come from Johnson, Colaiacovo, and Brewer to make this team competitive.
3. His offensive upside did not counter balance his defensive shortcomings.
4. They want to give Strachan and Junland a chance to get NHL time if the need arises. They do have more experience at higher levels than Alex.

I hope Alex doesn’t see this as the end of the world. I doubt he does, but I am sure it stings to find out that you aren’t going back to the NHL when you just lost the biggest game of your career to date. Alex has said that the front office has communicated clearly with him before on their plans for him. My guess is he takes his problems to task and improves on them. If Team Canada entrusted him with an “A” for the World Junior Championships, then the people with real hockey smarts see he is improving and maturing as a player.

Before fans start in with the “bust” label, let’s do a reality check.

- At the 2008 Draft it was said that of the 4 defensemen taken in the top 5 picks, he had the highest ceiling and the most development needed to get to the NHL level. Just because Doughty is lighting the world on fire and Alex isn’t, doesn’t mean tat Alex won’t get there.

- The Blues have 7 defensemn under contracts on the NHL roster already. By sending him back, his contract clock doesn’t start ticking yet. That means more years he is paid less, which helps the franchise pay the bills.

- The Blues have two very capable defensemen in Peoria who can step in to the same role Alex would. Strachan and Junland are just further along in their development than he is. The Blues will also have to re-sign both players and they need to see what they have in each guy going forward.

- Once his season is done back in Juniors, he can join up with Peoria if they are still playing.

I can say I am as disappointed as most Blues fans to hear this news. We all want to see the high draft picks blossom right away like other teams. However, there really is no room for him and he hasn’t shown enough progression to move himself up the Blues depth chart. So why burn a year of his contract? The Blues are working towards a special team filled with capable talent. Sometimes that talent doesn’t progress as quickly as the fans want. In this case Alex just isn’t progressed enough yet to warrant NHL ice time. When this team has the whole young core locked up and playing with experience, we won’t care that we had to send him back to Juniors.

Good luck back in Juniors Alex. Keep at it.

Rutherford also reported that Coach Andy Murray will give Alex Pietrangelo his first work of the 09-10 season vs. the LA Kings on Saturday night. Per the Friday practice expect Pietrangelo to be paired with fellow Lottery Pick Erik Johnson.

Fans could “read between the lines” about Keith Tkachuk not practicing today. Since Cam Janssen skated with TJ Oshie and David Perron it’s possible that Murray wants to get Cam on the ice to warm him up to dress for tomorrow night’s game. Who could he replace? Money would be on Brad Winchester, Patrik Berglund or BJ Crombeen. If I was a gambling man, I’d put the chips on Winchester. I really like Brad, from meeting him in person to his on ice game, but he has been the least effective of the 12 forwards to play to date. Murray did mention a few days ago that a couple forwards were not up to standard.

Another FYI in case you missed it. Forward DJ King was sent to Peoria for a two-week conditioning stint. At that point DJ must return to the active NHL roster.

Former Blue Kudos today go to former Blue Rod Brind’Amour.  He tallied a Goal and an Assist and a +2 rating while the Carolina Hurricanes beat up on the Florida Panthers 7-2 last night. Fellow Former Blues Cory Stillman and Radek Dvorak also played in that game for the Panthers. To the tune of a combined -4 rating and 1 Shot on Goal. At least they did better than Former Blue Jeff Woywitka, who was a healthy scratch for Dallas Friday night.