St Louis Blues

The lockout is approaching three weeks now, and we are just under a week away from what was going to be the start of the regular season. The two sides have yet to make any real movement in getting a deal done, and for fans, it looks like the lockout will be lasting a while.

For St. Louis Blues fans, this could mean no Vladimir Tarasenko.

The Blues drafted Tarasenko with the 16th overall pick in the 2010 draft. The coveted Blues prospect has spent his past two years playing in the KHL, while the Blues have been trying to get him to jump ship to the NHL. After these two years of waiting, the Blues got Tarasenko to sign a three-year, entry-level contract.

Tarasenko was brought to St. Louis and was practicing with the team. Then, the NHL locked out. 

At first, it seemed as if Tarasenko was not going back to Russia, as he and SKA ST. Petersburg could not reach an agreement. But, the two hashed out an agreement, and Tarasenko was on the next flight to Russia. 

It would make sense for Tarasenko to go back to Russia, because that is where he has been the past four years of his career and where he has seen success. It is where his friends and family are, and he doesn't need to get accustomed like he would if he were in America. 

And now with the exodus of NHL stars to Europe, he is playing against NHL-level talent.

So far, in the 2012-2013 season, Tarasenko already has four goals in three games, on only eight shots, making his shooting percentage 50 percent. He's playing on a line with Ilya Kovalchuk, who has seven points in four games, including six assists. The two have become leaders on the SKA team, and have the team in seventh place and a plus-12 goal differential. 

With the success Tarasenko is already having the KHL, along with playing with NHL talent, he may not want to come back to the NHL. If he can compete now, what is to say that when the NHLers go back to the NHL, he doesn't become the best player in the KHL? 

Tarsenko is already proving that he is exactly what the Blues need to make the final push to becoming Stanley Cup contenders and they are just left to wonder if he will ever be coming back.

With preseason games completely cancelled and the NHL lockout in full swing, hockey fans are distraught. The threat of a season-long lockout is a very real fear. But, I would like to look on the positive. 

One positive is that when the NHL does resume, the St. Louis Blues will welcome back the best goaltending tandem in the NHL. 

Jaroslav Halak has not been a stranger to the spotlight. Halak and Carey Price dueled for the starting job of the Montreal Canadiens for all of the 2009-2010 season. Paired with strong play in the Vancouver Olympics and the inconsistent play of Price down the stretch, Halak was awarded the starting job for the playoffs. He backstopped the Canadiens to consecutive upsets over the top-seeded Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins. 

At the start of the 2011-2012 season, after a trade to the Blues and a year of mediocre play, Halak was primed for a breakout season. But after a rocky start, a no-name goalie stole the show from him.

Brian Elliott came into the NHL and played for the Ottawa Senators. He showed a lot of promise, being named "Goaltender of the Month" for December of 2008. He would play three seasons with the Senators but was also mediocre. He was traded to the Avalanche at the 2011 trade deadline, finishing with two wins in his final 12 starts. 

Elliott signed with the Blues and completely flipped his career around.

Halak start out the season with one win in five starts. The Blues decided to start Brian Elliott to give Halak a break and he reaped the benefits. Elliott played his first game with the Blues against the San Jose Sharks, and made highlight save after highlight save. Elliott went on to win four of his first five games, and gave Halak a reason to be worried about his starting job.

But the fireworks started when Ken Hitchcock was named head coach.

Elliott and Halak, fueled by the defensive surge Hitchcock brought, became the best tandem in the NHL. Over the course of the season, Halak and Elliott combined for a 1.89 GAA average. They faced the least amount of shots in the NHL thanks to their stellar defense that was 17th in blocked shots.

But what makes them the best tandem in the NHL is the fact they split time and competed for the starting job all season.

When teams say they have the best tandem, normally it means they have a great starting goaltender and a good back-up, one that can take over and still win some games while the starter is hurt or resting.

But not Halak and Elliot.

They played equal time, and were able to put up the best numbers in the NHL. Both put up numbers that a starter should be proud of and could have been a starter on the majority of teams.

Halak and Elliot hands down are the best goaltending tandem in the NHL. They competed all season for the starting job, pushing each other to be the best they could be, and they were. When the NHL season starts back up, Halak and Elliott will steal the show again.  

Alex Pietrangelo, arguably the most vital player for the St. Louis Blues on the blue line, has elected to have surgery on a lower-body injury, according to Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. But relax Blues fans, the surgery has been deemed minor.

The extent of what the injury is has yet to been seen. It could be an extension of the Dwight King hit on Pietrangelo in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Kings, which caused him to miss Game 2.

But to have the surgery now, after months of down time and time to work out, would be curious timing for Pietrangelo. Why not just have it right after the playoffs, recover and then still be back in time for the season?

It would make more sense that Pietrangelo injured himself while doing offseason workouts. Then with the current labor disagreement, he may have elected to take the surgery while there is still enough time. But regardless of if the season starts on time or not, Pietrangelo is expected to be ready for training camp, which opens on September 21. 

Pietrangelo was the third-highest scorer on the Blues last season with 51 points in 81 games. He trailed leading scorers David Backes and T.J. Oshie by only three points, and he is the highest-scoring defenseman on the team.

Pietrangelo is already one of the best young defensemen in the league, and if there is a season, he should be a contender for the Norris Trophy. This latest surgery does not look like it will change any of that. 

The St. Louis Blues have been in the market for a top-six forward or a top-four defenseman. Earlier in the free-agency period, the Blues could have locked up a defenseman, but those worth getting were too expensive. 

As for top-six forwards, one of the biggest names, Shane Doan, is still on the market, but the Blues are not on the list of teams he wants to sign with. So the only way to get one before the season is via trade. 

Bobby Ryan is now the biggest name on the trade block, but the Blues should not bite the bait. 

The Anaheim Ducks have not publicly said an asking price for Ryan, but it is assumed that it will be a steep asking price. A fair guess at what the Ducks would want in return would be a first-round pick or two and NHL-ready prospects.

The Blues may have the pieces that the Ducks want. The Blues have their first-round picks in 2013-2015, which would fill the draft section of a trade.

The Blues also have the prospects. Ryan would demand a player that is a younger version of himself. The Blues could part ways with Vladimir Tarasenko, whom they worked extremely hard to get to even come to the NHL. Any combination of Phil McRae, Jaden Schwartz, Ian Cole, and Ty Rattie could be prospects that the Ducks would be interested in. 

So, the Blues have the pieces to make the deal happen. But, it would cripple the team more than Ryan would help.

Ryan is a great, natural goal scorer. The Blues were in need of one last season, and the lack of one could have been the reason why they didn't get further into the postseason. But that role could be filled by Tarasenko this upcoming season. 

Tarasenko has the scoring ability that Ryan does, putting up 100 points in 176 games in the KHL. Plus, it would not be smart for the Blues to trade away a player that they worked for over a year to get to come to the NHL. 

Rattie has just as much potential as Tarasenko does. Just last season, Rattie put up 129 points in 69 games for the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL. Over four seasons in the WHL, Rattie has put up 238 points in 207 games. Rattie may still be a couple of seasons from the NHL, but he could be even better than Ryan.

Phil McRae and Ian Cole both have seen NHL time on the Blues' roster last season. With the potential departure of Carlo Colaiacovo and the loss of Kent Huskins, Cole will be starting on the Blues' blue line. Phil McRae may be starting in Peoria, but he has become the first recall the Blues make if a player goes down.

Ryan would be a great addition to the Blues, no doubt about that. But, to give up any of these prospects and first-round picks would be detrimental for the team in the long run.