(Title Pending) with Andy Strickland

“It’s time for all these guys to start focusing. They’re not kids anymore…these guys are all going to have the opportunity to be impact players. We’ll see what they do with it.”-KFNS & HockeyBuzz Blues writer Andy Strickland

Ben Bishop

With the signing of Jaroslav Halak, the Blues starting goal-tending situation seems to be solid. However, back-up Ty Conklin’s contract is up after this season meaning that the 2^nd string goalie job could be up for grabs. Among those who could make a run at the job is St. Louis native Ben Bishop.

Bishop, who was drafted 85^th overall out of the University of Maine in 2005, had a decent 2009-’10 season in Peoria, going 23-18 with a 2.77 goals against average. Big Ben received a lot of hype from those of us living in Saint Louis because he was a local boy. After a very brief stint in the NHL, the excitement surrounding Bishop has quieted and not much has been said about him.

I sat down with Andy Strickland of HockeyBuzz.com and KFNS on Friday afternoon and asked him about Big Ben and what effects the recent signing of Halak will have on Bishop’s chances of making it to the NHL.

“If Bishop has a very strong season in Peoria this year, it’s very possible that he becomes a part of the equation here in Saint Louis the following year,” said Strickland. “This guy’s gotta accept where he is, he’s gotta understand how much work he’s gotta do. Statistically, he hasn’t been very impressive over the past few years…you don’t just hand guys assignments to the NHL. [Bishop] has to dominate the AHL before we start talking NHL.”

Strickland also mentioned that there are “some question marks internally” with Bishop and what type of goalie he will turn out to be. While this doesn’t necessarily mean that they are down on Big Ben, Strickland said the organization is definitely not as high on him as they were when he was initially drafted.

Erik Johnson update

With David Perron wrapped up, the Blues attention now turns to defenseman Erik Johnson. Strickland says that the Blues are nearing a deal with Johnson and that he does not expect it to “linger much longer.”

Johnson, the Blues number 1 overall pick in 2006, put up 39 points last season and will most likely sign a contract similar to Perron’s. These short term deals allow the Blues to keep pushing the young players to earn a longer, more lucrative contract.

“[The Blues] want to keep that carrot dangling in front of the player’s nose to keep them hungry, which I don’t think will be an issue with either [Perron or Johnson],” said Strickland. “It all comes down to the Blues just don’t wanna give them any sort of long term security right now to make them feel too comfortable.”

DJ King update

Restricted free agent DJ King remains unsigned after he allowed a 1-year offer from the Blues to expire earlier this month.

One possible reason behind King’s hold out is that he believes that he deserves a contract similar to Derek Boogaard (4-year deal worth $6.5 million from the New York Rangers), whom he has beat up on over the past few years. The only problem for King is that he has only played 13 games over the past few years due to injury and has yet to prove himself in the NHL.

If he continues to hold out, King could be royally screwed by the Blues.

“They could just give him a 2-way offer and that’s it. [Because he’s a restricted free agent,] he has no choice but to take that offer,” said Strickland. “They could throw him in the minors and pay him $50,000 if they wanted to.”

While Strickland doesn’t think the Blues will try and screw King over, the RFA forward is definitely not helping himself by holding out.

Once King re-signs with the Blues, they will be presented with a serious dilemna: what to do with two enforcers on the team.

The first, and one of the worst things they could do, is hold onto both King and Cam Janssen. If they were to do that, coach Davis Payne would be forced to alternate King and Janssen, meaning that every other night one of the two is stuck in the press box.

The second, and more realistic option is to trade either King or Janssen. Strickland said that Montreal, Detroit, and Edmonton are all searching for fighters and a trade could be completed with one of those three teams after King’s contract situation is solved.

When asked if he preferred King or Janssen, Strickland said this (let me editorialize this a little bit and say that Ol’ Dirty Strick got pretty fired up when answering this question):

“I’m taking Cam. This isn’t boxing. Cam is an energy guy. I want a guy who will bring fans out of their seats. DJ King did that a few years ago with all that ‘King Kong’ stuff a few years ago, but Cam is an entertainer. You get your money’s worth [with Cam] and at the end of the day that’s what it’s all about.”

Random notes and quotes:

-On Alex Pietrangelo: “Pietrangelo will have to prove [that he’s ready] in camp. They won’t hesitate one bit to put him in the minors, same for Ian Cole. Cole could be better than Pietrangelo in camp for all we know. It’s a big year for Pietrangelo to step it up and to really show some dividends for being that guy. I think he’ll have that opportunity under Davis Payne. ”

-Don’t expect any free agent signings from the Blues this off-season. “Any offseason upgrade to their roster will come via trade,” said Strickland. As for players that they could acquire via trade, Strickland didn’t name any specific players but said that if something “falls into the Blues lap,” they’ll take it. He also noted that any deal the Blues make, will be a “hockey trade, dollar-for-dollar” and will not be for a player who is publicly on the trading block.

I am going to start doing regular interviews with Ol’ Dirty Strick (ODS) once the season starts. I will post a recap of the interview here on HockeyIndependent and will have a full transcript of the interview (and maybe even a podcast of the audio) on Hank’s Sports Blog.

If you have questions that you’d like me to ask ODS about the Blues, shoot me an email at haenchenb9@gmail.com (subject line: Question for ODS). Also, I need a title for this little feature so if you have any suggestions, email them to me (haenchenb9@gmail.com; subject line: Title Ideas).

Thanks for reading!

Check out the full interview here.