So what are the pundits saying about the Lee Stempniak trade? Did the Blues get much in Alex Steen and Carlo Colaiacovo?

Here was some of the instant reaction in cyberspace:

Pierre LeBrun, ESPN.com: “Stempniak has the most upside offensively, although with the long list of injuries in St. Louis, the Blues get some much-needed depth. Colaiacovo has never been able to stay healthy long enough to live up to his first-round draft pick potential, but this is a worthy gamble for St. Louis. Puck-moving defensemen are a valuable commodity, and if Colaiacovo ever manages to figure it out, this deal could help both teams.”

Eklund, HockeyBuzz.com: “Great trade for both teams (in my opinion). Really like Stempniak in Toronto and both players add a lot of stability to the Blues. Although I have yet to reach anyone for the official word, my bet is this trade was made with serious consultation from Brian Burke. I also believe this trade tells us that Burke is all but locked up in Toronto.”

Darren Dreger, TSN.com: “In the end, the Leafs get a young, skilled, right-handed player who has proven he can score, while the Blues receive a checking center who lacks confidence and a defenseman who, in the eyes of his coach, just did not fit.”

Greg Wyshynski, Yahoo! Sports: “As TSN points out, Colaiacovo and Steen are ‘two former draft picks that didn’t live up to their first-round billing.’ No kidding. Obviously, the Blues believe they haven’t lost enough games to injury yet with this Colaiacovo move.”

Dan Rosen, NHL.com: “Steen fills a need the Blues have in the middle right now. They have three centers on the shelf and two of them, Andy McDonald and T.J. Oshie, are on injured reserve with long-term injuries. Patrik Berglund is listed as day-to-day with a groin strain, but he’s missed the last two games and this trade could mean the Blues fear the rookie will be out for an extended period of time. St. Louis also had a need on the back end, which Coloaiacovo could fill. Outside of Barret Jackman, Eric Brewer, Jay McKee and Roman Polak — the four defensemen who have played in all 18 games this season — the Blues haven’t had much consistency. Steve Wagner, Mike Weaver and Jeff Woywitka also are on the roster, but Coloaiacovo could steal ice time from any one of them.”

Two-Line Pass hockey blog: “St. Louis made the deal, I suspect, simply because it needed warm bodies to fill out the lineup every night. There’s no other reason to trade a player as good as Stempniak, who scored 27-25-52 two years ago and is playing at almost a point-a-game pace. The move also clears up about half a million in cap space for the Leafs. Phenomenal move for Toronto on all fronts, and an understandable one for St. Louis.”

So what do you think of the deal?