Everybody is excited to see young skilled players develop for the Note. But a HUGE piece of last season’s late success was due to the team’s collective grit.

The team lost a bit of that on defense by buying out overpriced Jay McKee. Keeping big Brad Winchester was a nice step, though, as was Monday’s retention of B.J. Crombeen.

Both forwards can mix it up. Both forwards will also attack the net and score the occasional goal, too — unlike past Blues role players.

The return of Winchester and Crombeen will give coach Andy Murray lots of flexibility. Their re-signing also ensures healthy competition for playing time up front.

(To hear our interviews with Winchester and Ty Conklin on “The Sports Edge,” head over to our show page for the audio.)

On another note, it’s nice to see Hannu Toivonen take another stab at the NHL after regrouping in Scandanavia for a year. He and Ben Bishop will share the load at Peoria.

Should either Chris Mason or Conklin go down this season, Toivonen could move into the back-up role (if his game comes back) while Bishop continues to work on his game at Peoria.

It’s notable that the prospect the Blues burned to get Toivonen, forward Carl Soderberg, has been reluctant to bring his game to North America. So the Note has no regrets about dealing him away.

On still another front, USA Today’s Kevin Allen agreed with my assessment that Notre Dame standout Ian Cole would be well-advised to turn pro this summer and start adapting to the pro game. He could be a Top Four defenseman here for a long time.

AROUND THE RINKS: Alexei Kovalev’s arrival in Ottawa adds some edge to the Senators-Canadiens rivalry. Also, it gives Ottawa some cushion if Dany Heatley pulls an Alexei Yashin and sits out the season. After demanding a trade, he rejected a deal to send him to Edmonton. So he and Ottawa GM Bryan Murray remain at loggerheads. Kovalev’s arrival gives Murray more leverage, so Heatley may agree to the next deal his boss comes up with . . . Hockey Guy is shocked — shocked — that a NHL team has been accused of tampering with a free agent in advance of the market opening. This never happened when the great Jack “Action Jackson” Quinn ran the Blues in his heyday . . . Toronto’s offseason grade goes up with defenseman Francois Beauchemin signing a three-year deal. That gives the Leafs blue line a boost . . . Chris Pronger really would like to sign a contract extension with the Flyers, if the dollars are rght. At his age, a long-term deal with an elite franchise would be impossible to pass up. He will be a terrific fit in Philly, giving the Flyers real hope of making a Cup run.