Alex Pietrangelo didn’t look out of place in the NHL. The teenager flashed his potential and showed why the Note took him with its first draft pick last summer.

But Pietrangelo didn’t star, either, so the Blues made the right decision by returning him to junior hockey for the time being.

Here are the reasons why:

• He needs to play, a lot, and further develop his offensive skills. He did not arrive as a finished project, due to playing and training time missed before the draft.
• Alex will get a chance to play for Team Canada in the World Junior Championships, which will be an excellent experience for him. With other WJC-eligible defenseman playing in the NHL this season, Pietrangelo could become a key team component. David Perron would have benefited from that opportunity last year, had the Blues let him play.
• It is difficult for offensive defensemen to develop at this level, since the revised NHL rules interpretations create more vigorous fore-checking. Mistakes can compound and young “D” can lose their confidence in a hurry. It is much easier to bring along forwards, as the Blues did with Perron last season. Erik Johnson spent an extra year in college and Jonas Junland spent an extra year playing in Sweden for this season.
• The Blues are deep on defense, believe it or not. Junland went to Peoria of the AHL and made a speedy adjustment to the North American game. Expect him to be a factor this season.  Also trapped with the Rivermen was Jeff Woywitka, who deserved a spot in St. Louis.
• Blues coaches have multiple kids to work with at once, including defenseman Roman Polak – whose added year of maturity has allowed him to settle right in at the NHL level.
• On the business side, this move sets Pietrangelo’s contract clock back one year. This is critical, since the club will need to offer him big money on a multi-year deal as he nears free agency. The Blues can’t have all their top young players nearing free agency at once.
• Depending on how the Niagara Ice Dogs fare this season, Pietrangelo could still return in the spring and play for the Rivermen or Blues.

This move made sense on many levels, despite the protestations of Blues fans. Here is an update on the Rivermen called up after the Pietrangelo move.

AROUND THE RINKS: Now that former Ducks GM Brian Burke is a free agent, the bidding on his services could get quite interesting. It has been long assumed he would take a similar job in Toronto, where Cliff Fletcher has been holding the fort on an interim level. His buddy Ron Wilson is the Leafs coach and Burke is one of the few hockey executives with a personality big enough for the Toronto stage. But NHL insiders remind us that Burke’s sudden availability ought to make other GMs nervous; you never know where a vacancy can suddenly occur. Chicago and Boston are just two of the possibilities . . . Meanwhile, you have to wonder what’s up with the ownership of the Ducks . . . The Blue Jackets have been as disappointing as the Blues, despite the stellar of rookie center Derek Brassard and rookie goaltender Steve Mason. Rick Nash just scored his first goal in 10 games . . . The Ottawa Sun suggests the Senators could be headed for a shake-up. Other teams are calling about Antoine Vermette and the Senatos are shopping for defensive help. Might that come in the form of Jordan Leopold, who may be on the block in Colorado? . . . Here is how quickly things change in the NHL: The Kings have won four consecutive games while the Stars have lost five of their last six . . . The Flames continue to suffer from poor team defensive play, a trademark of Mike Keenan-coached teams. He prefers to build attacking teams, but even in the new NHL teams need consistently strong defensive positioning and discipline to succeed. “You play a team like this and wonder where you are in terms of your own development,” Iron Mike said after a 6-1 loss to San Jose. “You got a good sense of reality when you end up quite not on the same level.”