Josh: What do you think it would take to land Phil Kessel as an RFA (for the Blues or any team)? How much money? And that would equate to how many picks if Boston did not match?

Also, what if a team wanted to trade for him later. What would it take?

Jeremy Rutherford: I'm hearing that the Blues have no interest in Kessel. If they did, he would be wearing the Blue Note by now.

But to answer your question, Boston would be interested in a young prospect who doesn't make much money or draft picks.

Top Shelf: Other than Pietrangelo, what up and comer will make the biggest impact this season? Who do we watch?

Jeremy Rutherford:
Well, Pietrangelo might be the only prospect that makes this team. We can talk about Eller, Sonne, Palushaj, Junland, etc. . . . but I don't think any of those guys make the team out of training camp. You ask a good question, but it might be a better question going into the 2010-11 camp.

BluesFan: Hey JR:

It seems like long term contracts for star players are in vogue, providing security for the player and in most cases lower salaries for the team. Do you know if the Blues brass is opposed to these types of deals? Obviously 12 years for Hossa is a little much, but the base salary was NOT. Thoughts?

Jeremy Rutherford:
I had a brief conversation with JD about this topic Wednesday night. He does NOT favor those types of contracts, but obviously if that's the trend that continues, he might have to change his thinking if he wants to sign some of those upper-echelon players.

Bryan S.: So with the signing of Conklin, does this guarentee that the Blues will play in an outdoor game in the 2010-11 season? He has played in all 3 outdoor games so far.

What will happen this year with him not playing in the outdoor game at Fenway?

Jeremy Rutherford: Conklin has played in all three of the NHL's outdoor games (with Edmonton, Pittsburgh and Detroit). I guess this year he'll have to watch on TV.

BluesFan: JR:

Thanks for taking questions. How good do you think the Blackhawks are going to be with their most recent signings? There are rumors that they will have to trade Cambell now. Is that for cap reasons? Also, do they really think Huet will bounce back?

As for the Blues, if Keith settles into a 3rd line role, what do you think the top 2 lines will look like? Is there enough fire power yet?

Jeremy Rutherford:
Chicago will be very good, especially with less glamorous signings like Kopecky and Madden. Toews and Kane will be a year better. And though Khabibulin was great last year, Huet might be better knowing that he's the guy.

With a third line of Steen, McClement and Crombeen, Tkachuk would actually play on the fourth line if that's where the Blues choose to play him. I'm sure Tkachuk will see some time on the top two lines.

The lines could look something like this:

Kariya-McDonald-Boyes
Kariya-Backes-Boyes
Kariya-Tkachuk-Boyes
Oshie-Berglund-Perron
Oshie-McDonald-Perron

Those are just guesses