Jeremy Rutherford: I hope everyone had a great Christmas, most importantly spending time with your family. I'm chatting with you today from Scottrade Center, where the Blues are on the ice as we speak. Paul Kariya was on the ice for the start of practice, participating in drills, but left after about 10 minutes. I haven't spoken with Andy Murray yet, but I'm assuming it wasn't planned for him to leave after just a few minutes. He's probably dealing with some discomfort. T.J. Oshie is on the ice, wearing a no-contact jersey. So he is back, but I can't see him playing this weekend after just one practice. I'll know more after practice. Let's get started . . .

Rodimus Prime: JR - what a crazy week...hope you had a great Christmas. You need to tell FSN to get you on TV, you looked pretty good there on 11 the other night.

1. How did the Blues feel about Junalnd's first game? Anything surprising in his limited time? Progress report on Wagner?

2. Extensions. We know now that the Blues would like to keep McDonald assuming he comes back strong. Anything new on the McClement front? PLaying well in a contract year in a clearly defined role...does this mean he is priced out of what we can pay for a 4th line guy when we wouldnt pay RJ and Mayers? Or is this situation different due to age?

3. The Filewich deal. Is this purely a depth move at Peoria or if he plays well could we see him in St Louis as a filler like Winchester or Paddock?

Thanks JR.

Jeremy Rutherford:
Thanks Rodimus . . .

1. The Blues thought Junland wasn't bad. That's a tough assignment playing against Washington in your first game. He got about 12 minutes and didn't do anything to embarrass himself. They like Tyson Strachan, and with the financial constraints of roster, they weren't going to keep both. They need to keep Junland playing, so he'll get some more time in Peoria.

2. I know they want to re-sign McDonald and McClement, and both players act like they want to return. They'll try hard to keep both. With the injury to McDonald, missing several weeks, I don't know that he'll be able to "overprice" himself. His numbers won't be as attractive as other potential free agents. And with McClement, I'm sure the Blues will find room to sign him. They've really been impressed with him this year.

3. JD said they decision of Nikolai Lemtyugov to go back to Russia led to the trade for Filewich. Peoria coach Davis Payne likes Filewich, so it seems like a good pickup, but I don't know that we'll see him in St. Louis this year.

Bluerage35: As we all know scoring has been a problem as has been our goalies, but how do you think JD and the front office will address this problem, via free agency, trade, draft?

Thanks for your time! Happy Holidays!

Jeremy Rutherford:
This will depend on whether they want to re-sign Keith Tkachuk and Andy McDonald. If they re-sign both, they probably won't be spending much more "outside" the organization. They could add someone through trade, but I think they'd be more apt to go into the season similar to this year with Oshie, Berglund, Perron, McDonald, Kariya, Tkachuk, Backes and Boyes as guys who would play among the top-six forwards.

Jeremy Rutherford:
I'm going to have to break here . . . the Blues just opened their locker room to the media and I've got to go do some interviews. I will be back as soon as I can. Thanks for being patient . . .

Jeremy Rutherford: That took a little longer than I thought . . . I touched on Kariya earlier. Here's the update: he left practice early because the Blues were beginning some contact drills. Kariya wasn't available after practice to talk about how he felt and Andy Murray hadn't yet received a report. So, we'll have to wait on that . . . I talked to Oshie, who stayed for the entire practice, and he said he felt great, better than he anticipated. As of now, though, Oshie is not ready to play.

Back to the chat . . .