Over on his HockeyBuzz.com blog, Andy Strickland insists that Brendan Shanahan isn’t interested in returning to St. Louis. He still expects Shan the Man to end up on the East Coast.

But the rumor mill is churning out some interesting tidbits. The Kings seem intent on moving young scorer Patrick O’Sullivan and adding help for the blue line. The Blues have some surplus on the blue line and could use more scoring punch.

So it’s only natural that speculation surrounding O’Sullivan includes the Blues. Also, HockeyBuzz insists the Blues are also in the hunt for Florida defenseman Jay Bouwmeester.

Interesting. The Panthers haven’t been able to lock Jay Bo into a long-term deal. Old friend Jacques Martin, the Panthers GM, apparently does not see the kid as a Pronger-like franchise cornerstone.

Of course, a lot of teams are in the hunt. And Florida has a lot of other potential deals in discussion. TSN is reporting that Bryan McCabe will become a Panther once the Maple Leafs pay his $2 million bonus on Sept. 1 and finalize this deal with Florida.

RATING THE BLUES PROSPECTS

Hockey Guy regards David Perron as the Blues’ top prospect. But the Hockey’s Future website doesn’t agree. Check out its rankings here.

All in all, the review of the up-and-coming talent gives fans here reason to be optimistic.

Among the Blues prospects moving on to new AHL homes this summer were goaltender Chris Beckford-Tseu and Mike Glumac.

Here is a profile of the new Peoria Riverman coach. And here is some stuff of one of my favorite Rivermen.

WHERE IS ALEXANDER RADULOV?

He returned to Russia even though he was still under contract with the Predators. The NHL is trying to block the move, but now there is talk that Radulov would not be welcomed back to Nashville.

This is a huge blow for the Preds, since this kid was poised for an offensive breakout. Here is an interview with him from back home in Russia.