THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: What do you think are the St. Louis Blues top priorities this offseason?

JEREMY RUTHERFORD
One of the Blues’ priorities needs to be a scoring forward, preferably a right winger, but that probably won’t be addressed this offseason. The attractive wingers available — Marian Gaborik, Marian Hossa, Martin Havlat and Alex Kovalev — are going to command big money. The Blues may be a year or two away from signing a forward in that class.

Some of what they do this summer hinges on what happens with Keith Tkachuk . . . not because re-signing Tkachuk lessens the need for a scoring forward, because it doesn’t. If Tkachuk comes back, it will be as a third- or fourth-line center who plays 15 minutes per game. But if Tkachuk doesn’t re-sign, it will give the team a few more dollars to find a second-tier free-agent forward like a Mike Knuble OR Mikael Samuellsson.

Finding another offensive-minded defenseman should be a priority. The Blues could make a play for Chris Pronger near the NHL draft, which would certainly help fix their troubles getting the puck out of the zone and scoring a few points from the blue-line. Erik Johnson will be a nice addition, but if the Blues can’t get Pronger, I don’t know that you can put all the problems on Johnson’s shoulders. Johnson can’t score enough points to compensate for the lack of offensive production from this defensive group. The team won’t panic with a guy like Alex Pietrangelo on the way, but Pietrangelo won’t be a difference-maker next year when the Blues should have a playoff team.

Of course, the Blues will need an experienced backup to play behind Chris Mason, and there are plenty of options, including Jason LaBarbera, Brian Boucher . . .

DAN O’NEILL
The Blues top priorities became evident during the playoffs. They desperately need more offensive talent and skill on defense. Hopefully, Erik Johnson will not take long to regain form and help address that, and hopefully Alex Pietrangelo will add enough weight and strength to make the club and help, as well. Next, they need a right winger who can score to go along with T.J. Oshie. And last, they need a reliable, preferably experienced, backup goalie.

TOM TIMMERMANN
The Blues were 11th in the league in goals allowed, 18th in goals scored. They scored as many goals as they allowed, 233. The goals allowed should potentially come down if Chris Mason has a full, solid season, but in any case, the Blues have to score more. So they need to look at a first- or second-line forward, which of course doesn’t come cheap. Also, Keith Tkachuk is 37 and while he’s younger than me, I’m not getting a pounding in front of the net like he is. So that’s an area the Blues should shore up. And obviously, they need a dependable backup goalie so Ben Bishop can get playing time in Peoria rather than bench time in St. Louis. Ironically, someone like Manny Legace — one time starter, on back end of career, probably would come cheap after spending half the season in minors — would be a logical choice. But I don’t think that’s happening.

KEVIN WHEELER (Host of “Sports Open Line” on KMOX)
I think priority No. 1 is finding another experienced goalie who is capable of playing 25-30 games and playing them well. I really like Ben Bishop’s long-term potential but I don’t think it’s best for his development to sit 70-75 percent of the time as Chris Mason’s backup. He needs regular playing time.

Getting Roman Polak locked up is a big deal as well. I just hope nobody else decides to throw a goofy restricted free agent offer at him because the Blues really can’t afford to lose him and matching a big offer could mess up other plans.

Which leads me to Keith Tkachuk. He scored 25 goals this season, played well in a checking role and has already stated his desire to return. Figure out a fair price that works for both sides and get it done. Replacing him from outside the organization would be costly and risky. Replacing him from within would be also since you could lose Brad Winchester, Dan Hinote and Yan Stastny and I’m not sure there are two or three NHL-ready forwards coming into camp next year.

A playoff appearance will be expected by most next season and breaking in two or three more kids isn’t necessarily ideal in that circumstance. This team isn’t rebuilding anymore.

THE WATERCOOLER

QUESTION: The Blues were still sitting in 15th place in the Western Conference as recently as early February. How remarkable was this team’s ascent to the No. 6 seed in the playoffs and what were the keys to getting it done?

JEREMY RUTHERFORD
To go from No. 15 in the Western Conference to No. 6 in exactly two months (Feb. 12-April 12) is absolutely astonishing. Here’s how they did it:

• Still on the outside looking in heading into their game March 20 against Calgary, the Blues won 3-2 over the Flames with a strong third period, igniting a 9-1-1 finish in their final 11 games.

• In those 11 games, the Blues’ offense was led by its veterans: Brad Boyes (4 goals, 8 assists), David Backes (seven goals, three assists), Keith Tkachuk (four goals, six assists) and Andy McDonald (4 goals, 5 assists).

• The penalty-kill unit allowed just three goals on 43 power plays against in the last 11 games. The Blues’ PK erased 14 of 14 power plays against opponents at home and killed off 26 of 29 on the road.

• The Blues went 5-1-1 in their final seven road games to finish the regular season with a record of 18-18-5 on the road this season.

• Chris Mason started in goal the final 33 games of the regular season. His numbers in that stretch, dating back to Feb. 3: 21-7-5 overall with a 2.20 goals-against average and a .919 save-percentage.

DAN O’NEILL
It was especially remarkable with the number of young players in the lineup. Contrast the team’s finish this year with last year — night and day. The keys to the Blues’ second-half success was the emergence of Chris Mason in net, and the contributions of the “Kid Line.” Other than Mason, perhaps no one was more responsible for energizing the club than T.J. Oshie, who just seemed to change the landscape once he got healthy and got comfortable.

JEFF GORDON
In this forum and elsewhere, I predicted the Blues would not make the playoffs. How could they? There were too many teams to pass. Most of those Western Conference teams were playing pretty good hockey. The competitive balance on this side of the league was strong. For this team to climb from 15th to sixth and finish 10 games over .500 is one of the greater St. Louis sports stories ever. Even if it doesn’t carry through, this will stand as one of the greater team runs we will ever see.

ANDY STRICKLAND (Hockeybuzz.com, KFNS)
The obvious answer as to how the Blues got it done is that they got the saves that weren’t there in the first three months of the season, but it’s more than that. For example:

• The fact the Blues have had a power play that has ranked in the top ten in the league for pretty much the entire year has allowed this team to be an effective offensive club.

• The team has size … Bringing in players like Brad Winchester, B.J. Crombeen, and Alex Steen, combined with the impact David Backes has had since moving to center, has made this club a physical team that wears down the opposition.

• The Blues PK unit has been incredible over the last several weeks and that can be chalked up to Chris Mason’s ability to stop the puck.

• The Blues are about as good as it gets when it comes to D-zone execution. I have said this numerous times, but how often do you see the Blues give up odd-man rushes or breakaways against?

• Carlo Colaiacovo has given this club a defenseman who can push the offense, something this club didn’t have before he got here.

• The team has tremendous skill up front and can throw out four lines that have the ability to play in the offensive end.

• The players genuinely play for one another and that chemistry took awhile to develop.