Sources have confirmed that Blues President John Davidson and Don Meehan, the highly respected agent for defenseman Eric Brewer spoke on Wednesday.
The two are comparing schedules and will likely get together next week in either St. Louis or Toronto in attempt to iron out an extension for the 27 year old veteran d-man.
Meehan recognizes this is an opportunity in Brewer’s career to hit a homerun. He will likely seek a contract in the three to four year range. Brewer will get paid, but like I‘ve said before, if Brewer is looking for Jay Mckee type money he will probably walk away disappointed.
The Blues want to get a deal hammered out as quickly as possible. If a deal is not agreed upon by the trade deadline the Blues will think twice about hanging on to Brewer.
When you have an asset like an Eric Brewer you can’t afford to risk letting him walk away without getting any value in return.
The Blues have made that mistake in the past, immediately Pavol Demitra comes to mind.
Meehan is in no hurry to get a deal done and would be more than willing to stretch negotiations into the summer.
The positive here is that both sides appear to be on the same page.
The Blues want to lock up Brewer long term and Brewer is very interested in re-signing with the St. Louis Blues.
The Blues recognize they overpaid for Mckee last summer. They had no choice either. They were 30th in the NHL last season and needed to pay a little extra to sign a coveted free agent like Mckee.
If Brewer is allowed to test the open market and if he continues to perform the way he has as of late then St. louis will likely have to overpay Brewer if they want to bring him back.
The bottom line is, the Blues want Brewer extended by the end of the month.
I’m hearing that the Blues are thinking hard about hanging on to Billy Guerin.
If Keith Tkachuk accepts a trade prior to the deadline don’t expect him to land in an Eastern conference city. There are plenty of teams in the West that could use a player of Tkachuk’s caliber. He can play wing or center on any number one line in the conference.
There are people inside the Blues organization that are so impressed with his ability to use his strength and size in the defensive end that they think Tkachuk is developing into a true number one center.
I think if you ask him Tkachuk would rather be playing on the wing but hasn’t once complained about sacrificing some points to fill a much needed role for his club.
The Blues are disappointed with the lack of offensive production from Petr Cajanek. A member of the Blues organization put it this way, “Peter is being paid like a top six forward therefore we expect him to produce like a top six forward”.
Peter can be a consistent player for the Blues. He has proven in the past the ability to elevate his game. Maintaining that level is what he is striving to accomplish.
Speaking of free agents, goaltender Manny Legace absolutely loves it in St. Louis. He is hoping the Blues give him a chance to stay with the club. Legace told me he loves what J.D is doing and wants to be a part of it.
Legace said this is the best dressing room he has ever been a part of. According to Legace he says there are no problems ever, which is very unusual.
He went on to say he hopes the nucleus stays in tact, he points out that the main reason Detroit is good every year is because they keep their players together. They may bring in one or two players a year but then that player usually sticks around for four or five years.
Legace told me all he wants is too be paid fairly. He is making 1.4 million this season and has been the team MVP since the Andy Murray era began.
When Jeff Woywitka got the call from the Blues that he was being called up he was on the lake fishing in Edmonton. He went home for the AHL All-Star break.
He was told to keep his phone on before he went home.
Before he went out on the lake with his brother, Dad, and girlfriend he realized he wasn’t getting any cell phone service. His brother was getting service, so he took his phone back home and told his mom to answer the phone if anyone calls. Woywitka asked his mom to call his brother’s phone if the Blues happen to call.
Sure enough they did.
It was noon and the Blues were hoping he could catch the 3:00 flight this past Monday. He lives two hours from the nearest airport so the only other option was a 6:30 flight the following morning.
He woke up at 2:30 in the morning to get to the airport on time to catch his flight. Woywitka got some sleep on the plane which had a layover in Denver. He made it to St. Louis in time to watch the Blues play Minnesota Tuesday night.
Andy Murray wants to watch Woywitka play to see what he brings to the table.
Davidson had nothing but positive things to say about Jamie Rivers who was sent down to Peoria to make room for Woywitka. Rivers has done everything the Blues have asked him to do this season. He signed a two-way contract in the summer which means he won’t need re-entry waivers and is eligible to be called up at anytime.
General Manager Larry Pleau spoke to both Rivers and his agent to explain the situation.
Rivers is disappointed he didn’t get picked up on waivers. Understandably he wants to be in the NHL.
Top NHL prospects T.J. Oshie (20) and Jonathan Toews (18) were cited at a local pub in North Dakota for underage drinking. Oh No!
I think the Blues and Blackhawks may need to rethink if these guys fit into their respective organizations.
UND Head Coach David Haskstol says he will handle the matter internally.
Here’s how you handle it…. RELAX!
More to come,
Andy Strickland
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St Louis Blues Blogger •1380 ESPN • 
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