St. Louis Thoughts: 4/23/10

Some thoughts running through one fan’s mind on a Friday afternoon.

Will Paul Kariya return to the Blues next season? Perhaps a better question would be asking if Kariya will even play next season. Some writers (Bernie from the Post-Dispatch) doesn’t believe the topic is worth conversing, but I feel it definitely is worth discussing as we move toward 2010-11. My thought for Kariya is he should be retained under one condition: the price must be right. The Blues can not afford to give him a sizable contract and he frankly doesn’t deserve one based on his play. If he walks to a new club, I won’t miss any sleep over it. Kariya was brought in to be a star for this team and he really has never lived up to it. That being said, if the Blues were to say sign him for between $2 million and $2 and a half million, I would be pretty excited to retain him. If he asks for any more money than that, I really can’t justify investing more salary into him in the waining stages of his career.

– I’m stuck between two thoughts as to what I believe the Blues will do in net. Time after time the team has stated that Chris Mason is their goaltender, so I would not be surprised to see Mason return as the main man in net. However, based on his erratic play and loss of concentration late in games, one has to think the team will look in a new direction, right? Ty Conklin is a candidate to take over the starting role and I won’t rule out the possibility that an answer might be brought in sometime this summer. Personally, I’d like to see a change as the current solution, Mason, does not appear to be able to take this team to the next level. – Wow a lot of time is spent on the NFL Draft. I like football as much as the next guy, but how much watered-down coverage do we need? Before Bradford’s name was called, I already was sick of hearing about different scenarios that had been talked to death some days prior.

– Cam Janssen and DJ King. The Blues have yet to decide if they want to keep both of their fighters or ride one next season, and I am left in an awkward decision having to decide between the two. King obviously has the size and offensive upside, but his injury history leaves me wondering how valuable a fighter is if he is constantly missing time with injuries. Janssen gives his all on the ice and knows how to pick up the tempo, but he really can’t offer much in any other aspect of the game. – The Cardinals bullpen looks pretty shaky and the team looks to be relying heavily on the homerun early. This probably won’t bode well in the postseason.

– Lars Eller looks primed to take over Keith Tkachuk’s spot in the St. Louis lineup in 2010-11. Eller fans rejoice, we might finally see an extended look at the much hyped prospect. Overall, I’d say Eller gave fans a lot to be excited about last season in his brieft stint at the NHL level but clearly has several aspects of his game he needs to work on before he will contribute regularly to the offense at this level.

– The 2010-11 season marks regular playing time for Alex Pietrangelo, right? I’d have to imagine we will see him throughout the season as it makes no sense to keep him in the minors any longer.

– Speaking of the NFL Draft, I still think the Rams should have went Suh over Bradford and then selected a QB in the second round. Suh will be an animal. Mark it dude.

– Is it just me or has this year’s edition of the Stanley Cup playoffs gotten off to a great start? Multiple overtimes, back and forth games and plenty of underdogs to root for. Only thing missing is our St. Louis Blues.

– That wraps up my thoughts on this Friday. This likely will be a regular segment through the summer as we count down the days until the Blues take the ice.