Farewell to Bryce . . . hello to hometown kid
Larry Pleau took a good look at former St. Louis Sting winger Cam Janssen in the 2002 draft, but didn’t take him. It was too bad, because the fearless Janssen would have been a great story playing for his hometown Blues.
The kid hits, like Ian Laperriere. And he fights, like Lappy did — with a good bit more force. Blues fans like this sort of player.
Now Janssen, who has been mending from a shoulder injury, will that chance to play in St. Louis. The Blues dealt defenseman Bruce Salvador to the Devils to bring him home.
“I love my hometown,” Cam said. “I’m pumped.”
The popular Salvador became expendable when the Blues re-signed Barret Jackman, a looming free-agent-to-be. Salvador was also headed to free agency and keeping both players was problematic.
Could Salvador, 32, return this summer ala Keith Tkachuk? Yes, unless he signs an extension with the Devils. But the Blues have some kids stacked up on defense, awaiting their chance to play. Something has to give.
Other defensemen would have to part to create that opportunity here. Steve Wagner, Roman Polak and Jeff Woywitka were relegated to the Rivermen this year because of the defensive surplus and Matt Walker has spent a lot of time sitting.
Salvador is a class act and a real asset in the community. We’d all like to see a happy ending for him here . . . but as we sad, something has to give.
In the near term, Salvador joins a Stanley Cup contender with a real chance to win. And the rebuilding Blues have added one more young forward to their mix.
“To my mom and dad,” he said, “this is blockbuster deal. I want to play hockey. I want to go to a team that wants me in the lineup. I’m excited. I’m going to be a hard worker who sticks up for his teammates. They have a tough team already with that D.J.King. I’ll try to add to that and chip in a goal here and there.”
I have to echo everyone else. This is a disappointing trade. We already have plenty of “energy” guys and I think the Blues have way overestimated the lure of a home-town boy. This can’t even be played off as a salary dump since, as he is at the end of his contract, they’ve already paid Salvador the bulk of his money. I’d rather have had Salvador for the remainder of the season plus the freed-up money they would have had if he had walked at the end of his contract.
I have yet to see an objective reason why an energy guy with one career NHL goal and a career -5 makes the team better. I think losing Salvador makes the team worse (and until this season, I wasn’t too keen on Salvador); even if there were a blockbuster trade later today does not negate the unequalness of this trade.
Bottom line: I don’t care how many faces Janssen can smash into the boards, if the end result isn’t more pucks in the net, this trade is a big thumbs down.