If you haven’t seen it yet, we have a story on STLtoday.com regarding Brendan Shanahan’s decision to put the New York Rangers in his rear-view mirror.
“I’ve told (agent) Rick (Curran) that I can no longer wait and that it’s time to move on,” Shanahan told The New York Post on Wednesday. “Until now, Rick has been under instructions to tell inquiring teams that my focus was on re-signing with the New York Rangers, and that I was not accepting any other offers. That has changed.”
I talked to John Davidson this afternoon and here’s what he said: “We’re playing it by ear. Our forwards have done well for the most part. But I think you always have interest in a player like Brendan Shanahan. It’s something we’d be wise to look at, but it has to fit to do something like that.”
The Blues could fit Shanahan under the salary cap, or else they wouldn’t be interested. Shanahan made $4.5 million last year, but with the season three weeks old and so many teams close to the cap, he’s probably going to get a lot less now.
Assuming Shanahan would have interest in the Blues, could they sign him to a one-year, $2-2.5 million deal?
“I have no idea what it would cost,” Davidson said. ”I don’t know if he knows.”
It’s important to note that the Blues have not made an offer yet. When I asked Davidson why they haven’t, he said, “I didn’t know he was available until today. It makes no sense to make an offer if he doesn’t want to come here. You have discussions. The agent is Rick Curran, who is very respected. Rick will let us know if he’s interested in the Blues, and then if we have interest … If there’s mutual interest, then we’ll find out if there’s a deal.”
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Tonight against Carolina, the Blues will keep the same lineup as they had Saturday against Florida, with the exception of Chris Mason in goal.
Lee Stempniak-Andy McDonald-Brad Boyes
Paul Kariya-Keith Tkachuk-David Backes
T.J. Oshie-Patrik Berglund-David Perron
Dan Hinote-Jay McClement-Cam Janssen
Scratches: Yan Stastny, David Koci
The 4-0 win over Florida Saturday is the first time in the regular season Oshie-Berglund-Perron had been teamed together.
“I thought they had their moments,” Murray said after the game Saturday. “They’re good friends, so it was kind of fun for them to play together. You could hear them talking on the bench, what they’re going to do and that type of thing. They had good plans.”
Good plans, but not a lot of production . . . Perron, Berglund and Oshie will stay together tonight, and Murray wants then to remember their No. 1 goal the gold line.
“I asked them to come in my office this morning and we chatted and I said, ‘What’s the definition of the gold unit . . . one word?’” Murray said. “David Perron knows better than the other guys and he said, ‘It’s energy.’
“We expect those younger guys every time they’re on the ice to give us energy. Their energy is maybe not the physical energy that a Cam Janssen gives you, although they can do that. It’s just energy: hardwork, showing everybody that you’re a young player and you’re so excited to be here. Every time you step on the ice, they’re should be a ripple throughout the crowd.”
Perhap the Blues’ best line Saturday was Hinote-McClement-Janssen.
“That’s what we have to do,” Hinote said. “We have to realize we’re not always going to contribute on the scoreboard as much as we’d like, but there are many other ways, and one is to provide energy for the team and get the crowd going a little bit.”
Hinote said there’s a bigger emphasis on drawing penalties now that the Blues’ power play is scoring goals.
“If we’re going to be a successful team, our power play has to, maybe not maintain the level they’re at now, but certainly be successful,” Hinote said. “Our team success rides along with that, so the more power plays we can draw, the more effective our line is going to be, the more games we’re going to win. That’s how we look at it.”
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D pairings for tonight are the same:
Eric Brewer-Barret Jackman
Jay McKee-Roman Polak
Steve Wagner-Mike Weaver
Murray said that the Blues’ strong back-checking was the reason for the better defensive effort against Florida Saturday.
“We felt our pressure from behind on the back-check was great,” Murray said. “We had great examples of Keith Tkachuk back-checking, Paul Kariya and David Backes, too. . . . You always talk about closing the gap from the defensemen, but when you’re forwards are closing the gap from behind, it doesn’t create a lot of operating space for the opposing team. It leads to turnovers, which eliminates their shot possibilities and generates offense the other way.”
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Murray said that defenseman Alex Pietrangelo could be available Saturday night against Pittsburgh.
“Alex told me after practice yesterday that he could play tonight,” Murray said. “I cautioned him and said, ‘That was your first practice, we’ll maybe wait a couple more.’ He skated Tuesday, Wednesday, today, tomorrow . . . there’s an outside chance he could be available to us Saturday.”
Chris Mason will start in goal tonight. Marek Schwarz will be the backup.
Not much to report on the progress of Manny Legace (hip) or Ben Bishop (groin).
“Neither one are skating, but there’s talk that they’ll go on the ice in the next couple of days,” Murray said.
Legace if officially on IR, but he is eligible to come off for Saturday’s game, although it’s doubtful he would play.
JR