Pavol Demitra is receiving interest from several teams including the New York Rangers. The Rangers are in need of wingers and Demitra would certainly fit in.
Vancouver and Atlanta have also expressed interest.
How long are teams willing to wait for Sundin to make a decision? At some point you have to move on.
Word is Hossa turns down 9 years 81 million from Edmonton. He will likely sign a long-term deal with Detroit after the season.
Hearing Demitra is waiting to see if Sundin ends up in Vancouver. Is Sundin goes elsewhere Pavol culd sign with Canucks.
Goaltender Curtis Sanford re-signs with Vancouver. One year deal good for $650,000.
As I reported last evening prior to notifying team 1040 in vancouver, Ryan Johnson gets a 2 yr. deal worth 1.2 million per season with the Canucks.
The Vancouver Canucks have had their eye on Blues forward David Backes for several weeks.
Several days ago Vancouver approached St. Louis with a trade offer that would have sent Backes to Vancouver. It’s unclear who the Blues would have received in return but sources say the offer wasn’t worth taking seriously.
The same situation occurred on Monday when once again Vancouver GM Mike Gillis phoned St. Louis in an effort to trade for Backes, again St. Louis rejected the offer.
I had originally thought the offer sheet given to Backes caught the Blues completely off guard but after doing some investigating I discovered Vancouver informed St. Louis on Monday that an offer sheet was on the way.
The Blues and Backes have had many discussions over the last several weeks but the two sides were unable to reach an agreement. Backes had every intention of taking the Blues to arbitration if a no agreement was reached by July 5th.
The Blues and the agent for Backes never discussed a contract longer than two years. It’s more than safe to say that if the case was heard before an arbitrator, Backes would have probably been awarded a two year deal totaling somewhere between 3 and 3.5 million dollars.
Obviously a three year contract worth 7.5 million is a surprise to everyone involved here, but that’s what offer sheets do, they pay a player more than the individual is worth. Is Backes worth 2.5 million right now? Obviously not, but again this is part of today’s NHL.
At the end of the day, when the contract expires, there is a decent chance Backes will be worth every bit of the 2.5 million he’ll be getting paid.
This is hardly a contract that’s going to kill the Blues financially. In fact Blues Owner Dave Checketts wasted no time in deciding to match the offer. The Blues can’t afford to lose Backes for a number of reasons. He’s a valuable player for the Blues moving forward, this kid has plenty of character and money won’t change or affect his motivation to become a complete player.
This contract will put more focus on Backes heading into the season and he will need to find a way to become a more consistent offensive performer.
Please keep in mind that even though Backes likely would have been awarded a two year deal worth 3 to 3.5 million in an arbitration case, this hardly means the Blues should have negotiated a contract just to prevent Vancouver from signing their player to an offer sheet. It was going to take a deal in the neighborhood of $2 million per season to make that happen and the Blues felt this number was too high.
At the end of the day it didn’t matter, Backes still got his money after St. Louis was forced to give it to him.
Scott Mellanby who is a full-time St. Louis resident wasted little time in making his presence felt as a Canucks employee. Mellanby watches plenty of Blues hockey and even contacted former Blues players in an effort to gather information about Backes.
Ryan Johnson wasn’t a bad plan B for Mellanby and the Canucks. As I have already reported Johnson’s deal is worth 2.4 million over two seasons.
The Blues must find a way to replace a whole lot of character they've lost inside the dressing room. With Doug Weight, Bryce Salvador, Jamal Mayers, and now Ryan Johnson leaving the club, that's a boatload of experience and leadership leaving town.
Blues Clues!
David Perron is considering switching his number from 57 to 39 prior to the upcoming season.
Patrik Berglund is considering either 88 or 21 next season.
The Blues may look to sign University of Michigan standout Aaron Palushaj after this coming season.
Are people done questioning the Blues decision to draft Philip McRae 33rd overall after his performance last week during the Blues prospect camp?
Former first round pick Lars Eller will not attend Blues training camp this fall. The Blues are obligated to send Eller back to his pro team in Sweden at least two before his season in the SEL begins. The combination of the NHL starting training camp later than usual and the SEL season beginning earlier than usual prevents this from happening.
T.J Oshie and Chris Porter are training together at Shattuck St. Mary’s in Minnesota for the remainder of the summer.
Alexander Hellstrom did not participate in camp as he continues to recover from wrist surgery, he is expected to be ready to go by training camp.
Alex Pietrangelo will begin skating this week in King City, Ontario.
Roman Polak’s injured shoulder will not require surgery.
The Blues expect to reach an agreement with Jay McClement on either a one or two year deal very soon worth slightly more than his $735,000 qualifying offer.
Doug Armstrong is living in Dave Checketts apartment until he and his family purchase a house in St. Louis.
AHL teams will be allowed to carry one extra skater this season. The number has been increased from 17 to 18.
More to come,
Andy Strickland
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St Louis Blues Blogger •1380 ESPN • 
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