CupBound: JR, after the game last night the Defensive 7 seems to be clear as mud.
EJ, Cola, Jax, Polak, seem to be a lock, Bell, Sydor, Weaver and Petro looked good last night. Bell is on a 2 way contract, Sydor is on a tryout basis and if Petro doesn't make the team he has to go to Jr's. So, who will be our 7 D for the start?

Jeremy Rutherford: I don't think it's any more clear than the day camp opened. Several of them have played well and no one has really hurt their chances.

Wagner didn't fare well in the conditioning test last week at the Mills, but then Andy Murray singled his performance out in the exhibition game. I would think, though, that Wagner and Jonas Junland will start in Peoria.

That leaves four guys (Bell, Sydor, Pietrangelo and Strachan) battling for two NHL spots. Do you keep Pietrangelo? If he's played well enough and you decide to keep him, he eats up one of those spots. To me, that decision needs to be made first because he can't go to Peoria like the other guys.

Once that decision is made, then your procede . . .

If you keep Pietrangelo, I think the choice for the final spot is either Strachan or Bell. It depends if you're looking for offense or steady defense. Pietrangelo gives you offense, but he hasn't proved it in the league like Bell has. So you can keep both Pietrangelo and Bell.

Sydor remains an option, but I think the Blues would keep him more because of his leadership and mentor ability than because of his play.





Then you have to decide if you want to keep Pietrangelo.

Xavier: Hey JR,

how did Paul Kariya looked in his first game since nearly a year ? (tuesday against the wild)

and how about his line overall (kariya-berglund-boyes) was there some chemestry going between those three..i know boyes and kariya were pretty amazing two years ago together so i expect this line would be good this year

thank you for your time and your great work !!

Jeremy Rutherford:
Kariya looked good, picking up a goal. The Blues are going to be careful with Kariya early in the season. He's been on the ice for 1 1/2 months, but not in game situations.

The Kariya-Berglund-Boyes is going to be fun to watch. Kariya has wanted to play regularly with Berglund, who he thinks can be a 100-point scorer in this league. Boyes, of course, has led the Blues in goals the last two years.

hisTALLness117: With so many solid players in camp and so few positions available, do you get the feeling that the Blues will just do their best to keep as many of the players in their system as possible? AKA the guys who have two way contracts would get sent to the minors, the ones that would have to pass through waivers would get to stay.

Also, I know that in baseball's system, there are sometimes restrictions that say if you bring a player to the majors too early, the earlier you lose the rights to that player. Does hockey have anything like that?

Jeremy Rutherford:
I understand what you're saying, but I don't think the Blues can afford to hoard guys in their system like that. If they think Brendan Bell is a better option than Alex Pietrangelo, they've got to keep Bell and send Pietrangelo back.

If they think Sydor is a good fit, they have to send guys like Wagner, Strachan, etc., to Peoria and risk waivers later. You can only protect guys to a certain extent. Now that the Blues are nearing the end of the rebuilding project, winning is going to be more important.

NHL teams have a drafted player's rights for seven years. So when a guy like Pietrangelo plays 10 games in the league, the clock starts. That's why the Blues are careful to decide if he can play at this level. If not, they'll let him play nine games and then send him back to junior hockey.

Scott L: Hey JR, thanks for taking questions...

My question is since Mason is due on contract this coming off season and believing that his season this year would probably decide if he gets that contract or not, what are the odds of Bishop becoming the #1 goalie in the near future?

Just from listening to the game Tuesday on the Wild radio, and your article posted, it seemed like he is bounded for that spot in the near future. Maybe within a year or two....What are your thoughts about that?

Jeremy Rutherford: Bishop is at least two years from starting or being the fulltime backup with the Blues.

The Blues signed Ty Conklin for two years, so he will be the backup next year. Whether the starter is Mason or someone else, I don't see it being Bishop.

So as well as he has looked in camp, Bishop probably won't be in the permanent plans until the 2011-12 season.

Mark: JR, a month or so ago in one of these chats, you said Alex Pietrangelo had a 99% chance of making the team. Would you give him the same odds now? I kind of get the impression the Blues are floating the "it's possible he gets returned to juniors" thing out there mainly as a way to keep him and the other players motivated. What's your take?

Jeremy Rutherford:
I believe that I wrote that before Brendan Bell signed, before Darryl Sydor decided to try out and before it was widely known that Eric Brewer wouldn't start the season.

I still think there's a good chance Pietrangelo could make the team, but with those other developments, the chances did slim down a bit.

Pietrangelo looked good at the rookie tournament in Traverse City, he was fairly solid in the first preseason game and he's looked steady in camp. If nothing else, he's made it hard for the Blues to send him back to junior.