Jeremy Rutherford: Well, the schedule is out . . . What do you think? It doesn't look bad for the Blues. They will play eight of their first 10 games at home, including seven in a row. They have fewer Tuesday night games, which have been poorly attended in the past. And there's home games against Pittsburgh, NY Rangers, Philly and Ottawa. Overall, it's pretty attractive.

Hoff: JR, thanks for answering questions again this week (and for "professionally" answering your heckler last week). Not much happening this week as far as the blues go, and it has been a few weeks since I have bashed Brewer so I was wondering your take on when the blues are going to take the captaincy away from Eric Booer and give it to EJ. It seems the only leadership Brewer has is on the +/- sheets, and he is leading the team on the wrong end of that stat. Do you wait until Brewer's contract is up to take it from him to possibly negate an awkward situation on switching while he is still a blue? Im not exactly sure what qualitites ownership sees in him, he must be one helluva leader inside the locker room though. But I don't think that there is any doubt that EJ should/will be the captain of this team. I think it should be sooner rather than later to help capture this "youth movement" the blues are gunning for.

Jeremy Rutherford: Eric Brewer isn't going anywhere, and I can't see the Blues taking the "C" away from him while he's with the organization. Andy Murray believes in Brewer on and off the ice.

As high as the expectations are for Erik Johnson, and I believe he has a good chance of meeting them someday, he's no where near ready to be a captain. That's not a knock on EJ . . . he's just hasn't had enough time to build up the experience that someone like Brewer has.

I've said it before . . . I don't mind Eric Brewer as the captain of this team. He showed some ability last year and I think he'll blossom in the role even more this year.

Andy: Hey JR,

I'm excited to see Erik Johnson's 2nd season. I was able to attend several games in the second half of last season and he was, I felt, the best defenseman by far on the Blues. He skates effortlessly and sees the ice very well. Any news on his shoulder? How well do you think his sophomore season will go?

Thanks,

Andy

Jeremy Rutherford: At times, Erik Johnson was the best defenseman on the roster. I think that's partly to do with his offensive upside. He gets people more excited than the other stay-at-home defensemen.

The biggest thing that will help EJ next season is being familiar with his surroundings off the ice. Last year, he didn't know what guys did after a morning skate, off days, etc. He should be a better player just because he'll be familiar with everything around him from the start.

I would think EJ could put up at least 10 goals and possibly 40 points.

Note Nut: I applaud the Blues strategy of building talent from within and refraining from the FA market unless they can obtain reasonably priced young talent. However, I am confused on some of their recent transactions (trading for Cam Janssen and signing Winchester, Paddock, Foy, Weaver, Reiger). These seem like players with limited offensive potential. I understand the need for tough guys, but it seems like we should focus more on offense (even with Oshie, Burglund, Ellar, you can never have too much). Three questions then: 1) Can you give your impression of these players, 2) Can you explain how these players upgrade our overall "talent" and fit into the long term picture, and 3) realistically how many of these types of players do we really need on the roster since my impression has been in today's NHL you must have the top three lines considered offensively "dangerous" to be successful?

Thanks

Jeremy Rutherford:
This is the situation: The Blues don't have a lot of depth in Peoria. A few weeks ago, they didn't even have enough bodies to fill out a roster. The Blues are signing guys like Winchester, Paddock, Foy, Weaver and Reiger to two-way contracts to bolster depth in the organization. And who knows. Maybe King or Janssen gets hurt, so they need a guy like Winchester in St. Louis. He's played in the NHL and can handle his own. Foy and Weaver have both played in the NHL. When the Blues signed them, writers from Minnesota and Vancouver called asking about the deals they got. I was told they were decent players who could contribute if needed. So it's nice to have a lot of skill in your lineup (Oshie, Berglund, etc.), but you also need depth guys who don't mind playing in Peoria, but will be ready at the drop of a hat to play in St. Louis.

baddawwg: Hi JR.

Thanks for all you do here.
The Blues have loaded up on lots of depth/4th lines guys. Given our (expected) move to skill and youth on the top three lines I'm wondering if all options for the 4th line are on the table. Besides McClement and Backes, who is going to kill penalties? King? Doubt it. Janssen? Can he skate well enough? Statsny? Could be. Hinote? If he's in the line-up. New guys?
Could it be besides the D-men, that the most interesting and heated competition will be for those 4th line spots, where the 4th line is determined by their ability to kill penalties more than goon it up? If I see the roster as below, there can't be but 2 spots open assuming that McClement and King each have a spot. Thank you.

Boyes - Walt - Kariya
Perron - McDonald - Oshie
Stempy - Berglund - Backes
? - McClement - ?
King (PressBox many nights)

Jeremy Rutherford: I spoke to Andy Murray last week and he told me that you can expect to see ANYONE killing penalties next season . . . even Paul Kariya. The main guys will be McClement, Stempniak, Hinote, Porter and Stastny (when Porter and Stastny are with the big club). According to Murray, anybody is a candidate.

I agree that with the top 9 forwards looking solid, the top 4 d-men set and the goalies set, the biggest competition in camp will be defensemen 5-7 and forwards 10-14.