Thomas: Hi JR, wanted to ask two question for you
1)Have you heard any rumors of the Blues putting a package of players (King or Janssen and a draft pick) for a more experience on the blue line?
2) What's the status on Paul Kariya I haven't heard anything since the playoffs?

Jeremy Rutherford:
1) I have not heard of any specific trade rumors involving King or Janssen, but as I've written before, it wouldn't surprise me to see only one of them on the roster in 2009-10.
2) JD says that Kariya is 100 percent. Look for a Kariya update in the Post-Dispatch and Stltoday.com very soon.

Matt: Thanks for taking my questions. It seems our recent drafts indicate a preference towards bigger players, but skilled enough to avoid the "enforcer" label (2009 draft had all but 1 above 6 feet tall in addition to Pietro, EJ, Eller, .. basically every hot prospect not named Fairchild, Sonne or Oshie). Our recent resignings also echo this (Winchester, Crombeen, Wagner). Obviously the NHL is getting bigger and there is a league wide desire for skill on all 4 lines, but can you comment on the organizational philosophy regarding this? Did our performance in the playoffs show this as a weakness? And given the aparent desire for size and skill (which I applaud), what does that mean for King and Janssen? Is there any trade market value for either of these two to free up a roster spot for more skill?

Jeremy Rutherford:
The Blues have drafted some bigger players in recent years. Having high picks in the first rounds, they've drafted taller, puck-moving defensemen (Rundblad, Pietrangelo and Johnson) because obviously they're the most attractive players on the board. But the Blues have also gone for size and toughness in later rounds of the draft. I think that can be tied to the overall team toughness guys like Winchester and Crombeen have provided. To me, there's still room for players like King and Janssen, but the Blues are drafting for down the road. Who knows what the league will look like then?

Matt: The Blues have a well stocked (and publicized) prospect pool. Yet have a limited number of roster spots. Some will hopefully shine, some will be shipped out at some point to address the logjam, and others may not ever make it past the propsect label. That said, who are the top 5 prospects not on the current roster most likely to be "long term" contributors to Blues and what type of contribution could be expected? Who are the top 5 prospects most likely to be shipped out and what could be expected in return? Who are the 5 current prospects least likely to move past the prospect label and why? And if you can, please shed some light on how, as an organization, the Blues work through this process to make solid decisions? Thanks for the insight.

Jeremy Rutherford:
It's too early to tell which guys might get shipped out, but the 4-5 guys who haven't played a full season and should be "long-term" contributors are Alex Pietrangelo, Lars Eller, Ben Bishop, Jake Allen, Jori Lehtera . . .

There's others like Philip McRae, Brett Sonne, Aaron Palushaj, James Livingston, etc., but it's too early to tell.

Mark: Hey JR,

Do you know if Nikolai Lemtyugov will be returning to the Rivermen this season? Even though he returned to Russia last year, he still has another year on his contract and expressed in a Russian newspaper that he thought leaving the Rivermen was a mistake. Will he be back?

Jeremy Rutherford: I asked this question to Peoria coach Davis Payne and Payne was unaware that Lemtyugov expressed interest in returning to the Rivermen.

Thomas: Reading Jeff Gordon Live: "Perron still has his superstar syndrome, which creates constant challenges for Andy Murray. I love the kid, but it's clear the Blues would move him in the right deal. Kariya's return and Eller's arrival creates some scoring depth that didn't exist much of last season". Is this true that they would move Perron and is he having problems with Andy Murray's system? I thought he played very well during the playoff's. I think moving him would be a mistake. JR what do you think?

Jeremy Rutherford:
The Blues don't have any interest in trading Perron. Now that doesn't mean they wouldn't trade him if the right deal came along. But they like the way he's played and they like his potential, so it would have to be a really nice offer.

JD and Andy Murray both talked up Perron following the Vancouver playoff series. I think that series showed a lot of people what he's capable of. I don't buy into the gossip about a rift between Perron and Andy Murray. Is Murray hard on Perron? Yes. Is he hard on Berglund? Yes.

I remember in Erik Johnson's rookie year when he injured his foot early in the season. When he was ready to come back, Murray didn't put him into the lineup right away. Johnson was not happy. This happens with a lot of players.