No, the Blues didn’t get Chris Pronger. Philly was willing to pay a desperate price for him, one the Note simply could not match.

That’s fine. Life goes on. This team is still dealing from strength. The franchise added some interesting long-term assets to its blue line, setting the stage for deals down the road.

(Some fans are killing the Blues for reaching on some of these D-men, but the Blues obviously wanted to mix some side and toughness in with some of their finesse defensemen in the pipeline. It’ll be fun to see if the Note’s apparent gambles pay off.)

Job One this week is securing a quality goaltender this week. The Blues need to be proactive there and sign one of the young veterans to back-up (and push) Chris Mason.

Hockey Guy urges the Blues to pass on Dany Heatley, especially since Philly set a high bar in terms of what Ottawa wants back. Some less dramatic opportunities will present themselves as all these teams start dealing with their salary cap issues.