Goalie news…

Ty Conklin made 36 saves in the Blues overtime loss at Tampa Bay – and when the Lightning scored with 6 seconds of overtime left…well, as the above video shows, Conks was not a happy bunny. Good for him – nice to see a bit of passion from time to time.

Jaroslav Halak has recovered from his upper body injury and is now good to go – as such, Ben Bishop has been reassigned to Peoria.

Andy Strickland has stated at True Hockey.com that the Red Wings may have interest in Conklin. It will be intriguing to see if this develops. If the Blues DO trade Conklin and then make the playoffs, we’ll see Ben Bishop being Halak’s backup.

Weekly Roundup

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Hardly a quiet week in the NHL with the fallout from the Kovalchuk decision still rattling around the online sites. The Blues, however, did make a move or two.

• Acquired forward Graham Mink from the Florida Panthers in exchange for defenseman TJ Fast.  Mink played in the AHL last season posting 37 points (20 goals and 17 assists) with 86 penalty minutes from 67 games played.   This is a move designed to strengthen Peoria.
• Signed 34 year old forward Dave Scatchard to a two way contract.  Scatchard shared time last season between the AHL and the Nashville Predators in the NHL.  He managed three goals and two assists for the Predators last season.
• Signed defenseman Dean Arsene to a two way contract.  Arsene shared time last season between the AHL and the Edmonton Oilers.  With the Oilers, Arsene played 13 games and registered 41 penalty minutes.

More details on the above moves can be found on the Blues Official Site.

Rumour: Dmitry Chesnokov of yahoo sports has tweeted the following: “In other reports out of Russia, Blues 2010 1st round pick (16 overall) Tarasenko is close to signing an extension with his KHL club.” There is no word on length of contract and this is yet to be officially announced. This could merely be a formality – Tarasenko is only 18 after all.

UPDATE: Jeremy Rutherford has just tweeted the following: “Nothing official but word is Tarasenko may be signing 1-yr contract with KHL team, replacing his current 2-yr deal.” Looks like we can not only breathe again but start to get a wee bit excited too…

And again…

Strickland reports the Blues are expressing interest in Mathieu Schneider now that Scott Neidermeyer has re-signed with the Ducks.

More…

Andy Strickland reports that Ty Conklin is down to two teams. The Blues and one other. Blues are also reported to have contacted Mathieu Garon.

Rumours…

Well I doubt if this will be the only one I put up today.

So, first day of free agency.   Blues, we know are looking for a backup goalie.

According to Jeremy Rutherford at the Post Dispatch the Blues and Roman Polak are not close to a new contract. They’ve basically told him to get an offer sheet.

Andy Strickland at hockeybuzz.com has said that the Blues are one of three teams on Scott Clemmensen’s list. Blues also interested in Ty Conklin and Josh Harding.

I’ll update as we go today…no doubt there will be more to come.

Rumour Mill

First up, a bit of news.  The Blues and defenseman Roman Polak are in the midst of discussing contract terms.  Polak received a qualifying offer of $522,500 but is hoping to negotiate a multi-year extension.

Hockeybuzz.com has been reporting a possible three way trade that could involve the Blues. In that scenario, the Wild would end up with Dany Heatley from the Senators and the Blues would end up with goalie, Josh Harding. Don’t be surprised if the Blues try and sign Harding to an offer sheet.

Detroit Free Press reports that the Wings have decided not to offer a new contract to goalie, Ty Conklin. It’ll be interesting to see if the Blues take a run at Conklin.

NJ.com has an interview with Devils backup goalie, Scott Clemmensen. Looks like he might well hit free agency on Wednesday too. The Blues might be spoilt for choice for a good backup.

Andy Strickland is reporting interest from the Blues in signing UFA Sergei Zubov. He also states that Jeff Woywitka is not expecting a qualifying offer by today’s deadline and that BJ Crombeen has countered a two year offer he received from the Blues. Crombeen expects to hear back from the Blues shortly.

That’s it for today…unless something major hits, of course.