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Kaberle Won't Be Moved Today

June 24, 2009, 3:49 PM ET [ Comments]
Andy Strickland
St Louis Blues Blogger •1380 ESPN • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Montreal...

Tomas kaberle won't be moved until Friday night at the earliest. As I have reported in the past his No-trade clause won't come off until the draft begins at 7:00 on Friday.


Earlier story.....


Don't know if they can pull it off or not, but it appears the Blues would like to make some noise this weekend. Not only would this help the Blues on the ice but it would soften the blow if the Blues decide to raise ticket prices.

If the Blues are able to swing a deal and acquire a big name talent they would certainly have to give up something good in order to make it happen. Would this be deviating from the plan the Blues have recently told me they will not do? It wouldn't be if they got a very good young player in return. Could the Blues have their eye on Kings D-man Jack Johnson? Would Blues fans be ok with trading a David Perron for a Jack Johnson? Not saying this would be the deal but i'm just throwing it out there. The Kings will obviously want something good in return.

In other news sources tell me Ducks D-man Scott Niedermayer may not be ready to give GM Bob Murray his decision prior to Friday's draft on A.) Whether or not he wants to play next season, or B.) Whether or not he wants to play in Anaheim next season.

Those close to Niedermayer tell me he is still trying to decide what he wants to do.

As I have been saying for months this should obviously play a role in what the Ducks decide to do with Pronger.

Off to Montreal....


Yetserday's story....




The fact the Blues are in hot pursuit of a NHL goaltender to support Chris Mason is the worst kept secret in the NHL. The club has been up front since April in regards to their desire to land a tender.


With that being said they will be careful in who they go after.

The Blues aren’t just looking for any goaltender with NHL experience to sport a Blues sweater next season. The team needs a guy who has shown the ability to carry the load if need be.

Where would the Blues have been last season without Mason? They sure wouldn’t have made the playoffs.

The Blues would love to land a guy who makes in the range of $500-$600 thousand. If they are able to land a guy like a Ty Conklin for example, they might be willing to go as high as $1-$1.1 for a guy who has played some good hockey the last two years and brings a decent amount of experience to the table. With that being said is Conklin anything more than a good #2 goaltender? I would say probably not.

Conklin is a good fit for what he would be asked to do which is to play 20-30 games.

A player that has drawn the attention of several teams is Josh Harding, a group II RFA out of Minnesota.

Sources tell me the Wild and their new GM Chuck Fletcher are concerned about possible offer sheets coming their way for Harding. The Wild have already committed long-term to Niklas Backstrom and if you’re Harding it probably doesn’t make a lot of sense for you to be there. Harding is a strong asset for Minnesota and they aren’t looking to give him away. The club is likely to match any offer that’s below $2 million. Minnesota can get more than just a draft pick in a trade for a player many teams feel has number one goalie potential.

There is a risk to floating out offer sheets and exposing yourself to retaliation down the road. The Blues have some pretty good players they need to sign in the next few years and they aren’t looking to open themselves up. We really don’t need to re-visit the Backes situation a year ago.

Mathieu Garon, Jason Labarbera, and Scott Clemmensen are also possible candidates.

LA and Edmonton are at least two other teams along with St. Louis looking for help in between the pipes.

These names may not be all that exciting on paper but they all come with NHL experience. The Blues don’t have a goalie in the organization besides Mason with playing experience which is a void Davidson, Pleau, and company will fill sooner than latter.

Fans should never rule out established starting goalies like Dwayne Roloson as a possibility for the Blues. We’ve seen players over price themselves and misjudge the open market in the past and you never know what can happen. It may not be likely, but how many teams out there will be looking to pay a 40 year goaltender the money he’ll likely be looking for? Don’t be surprised if Roloson ends up signing for less to play in Detroit.


Rink Rats!

Shanahan Back in 2009….

Sources close to Brendan Shanahan tell me the 40 year old sniper is definitely going to play another season. This time he knows he better open up his options to more than just New York area teams. Shanahan has indicated he will take his game elsewhere this season and it appears he may not have a choice.

As for the Blues? They are not interested in signing Shanahan. It doesn’t make sense for either side and Blues sources tell me they are ahead as an organization today vs. where they were at this time a year ago.

No reason to hop on the Shanahan to St. Louis train.


Veteran forward Mark Recchi is also looking to play at least one more season and word is Boston is interested in bringing him back.


Don’t be shocked if Rangers forward Brandon Dubinsky receives an offer sheet or two come July first.

The bottom line here is if Toronto trades away D-man Tomas Kaberle, somebody is going to get a steal. I really don’t understand why the Leafs are looking to trade a true top 10 PP guy in the world with a $4.25 cap number?

Word is Phoenix turned down an offer from Toronto that would have sent Ed Jovanovski and the 6th overall pick to the Leafs for Kaberle. I hear Phoenix didn’t want to give up the pick.

Toronto is going to have to go out and spend $5.5-$6 million to replace the guy.

Sources close to Kaberle tell me he is only interested in playing for a team in the Eastern Conference. That would rule out a team like the Blues who continue to say they (like every other team) are looking for a puck moving D-man. What a perfect fit Kaberle would be in St. Louis at a good price. Would a phone conversation with Al MacInnis change his mind?

Most know by now Toronto does have a window between the draft and mid July when they don’t need his permission to accept a deal. Toronto D-man Pavel Kubina has a similar limited no-trade.

Kaberle and his agent are hopeful Brian Burke respects their wishes.

If I were a GM, the one player I might shy away from is Calgary free agent Mike Cammalleri. Here’s a true one dimensional player who’s going to be asking for big bucks in July. He’s a very good player but also undoubtedly benefited greatly from playing with Jarome Iginla. There will be a team who overpays for this guy. His scoring dropped after the arrival of Olli Jokinen.

All this drama taking place in Tampa Bay sure isn’t helping the outside perception many have been speculating about for many months. I had an agent tell me he recently had a player sign for less money elsewhere just to keep him out of the Lightning organization.


Heatley Feeling Blue?

There was a rumor this week that Dany Heatley was about to be traded to St. Louis. John Davidson thinks highly of Heatley, but the truth is the Blues are one of many teams that have looked into it and have made a call. They always make a call, if they didn’t they wouldn’t be doing their jobs. The Blues are not in a position to deviate from their plan they have nicely executed over the last three seasons. They aren’t looking to give up the type of package Ottawa is looking to receive.

Travis Moen and the San Jose Sharks are having “discussions” but are not “negotiating”. The Sharks are interested in bringing Moen back but at this point it’s hard to forecast. There was lots if interest in Moen at the trade deadline.

Rangers forward Colton Orr is expected to become a UFA as is Bluejackets forward Manny Malhotra.

The Leafs will have an extra 2nd round pick to work with from the Dominic Moore deadline trade to Buffalo.

Not bad compensation considering John Ferguson plucked Moore off the waiver wire a few years back. The Leafs also got a third round pick last year in exchange for Chad Kilger who Ferguson also plucked off waivers. So a 2nd and a 3rd for two waiver claims, some would call that value creation right there.

I believe the third pick for Kilger ended up going to St. Louis for Jamal Mayers. The Blues selected OHL player James Livingston with the selection.


Blues Clues!

Best of luck to Dan Hinote as he tests the free agent waters this summer. Hinote is as class as they come in the NHL and there will be a team who is lucky to sign him.

Word is Paul Kariya is 100% as he continues working out in California.

Blues Strength and Conditioning Coach Nelson Ayotte has made personal visits to California to see Kariya.

Ayotte also made a recent trip to Toronto to work out several Blues who live in the area. He will also be in Montreal working out several potential draft picks.

Professional poker player and St. Louis Blues season ticket holder Dennis Phillips was knocked out by Mats Sundin last week in Las Vegas during an NHL charity poker tournament. Phillips sported a Blues jersey and hat douring the tournament which can be seen on ESPN this October. Other players in the tournament included Alex Ovechkin, Jeremy Roenick, and Roberto Luongo.

Brad Boyes served as the Blues NHLPA representative last week in Las Vegas for the NHLPA meetings. Jay McClement, David Backes, and Mike Weaver also attended the meetings.

Jay McKee is feeling 100% after having knee surgery shortly after the season ended. He’s dong sprints and 3.5 mile runs without any pain.

The Blues have no intentions of buying out any contracts this week.

How nice would it be for Erik Johnson to get an invite to the USA orientation camp to be held in Chicago this August? It would be a great way for him to get a head start on training camp.

Andy Murray was recently asked to be a guest speaker at the Shattock St. Mary’s Father and Son hockey camp.

The Blues are looking at guys like Erik Johnson, Paul Kariya, and re-signed forward Andy McDonald as free agent pickup’s heading into the season.

I will be providing reports live form Montreal all weekend long. Feel free to follow my updates on twitter. www.twitter.com/andystrickland

I will also be checking in several times a day on 590 the Fan in St. Louis.


More to come,

Andy Strickland

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