Blues rework lineup

After last season maricle run the Blues have made an early offseason splash aquiring defencemen Ed Jovonoski and LW Eric Cole and JR Dmitri Vorobiev in exchange for last seasons leading scorer Brad Richards and recently aquire Karel Rachunek. The move is a gamble for GM Foley who will have to try and get Cole signed to a long term contract. The move will give the Blues a clear cut top line D to lead the youngsters Hamhuis and Tytutin and have the experience and leadership to help develope these players into the stars they are destined to be. Not since the likes of Chris Pronger and Al macinnis petroled the blueline for the Blues have they had such a potent defence. With the team reaquiring defencemen Barrett Jackman and the emergence of Hamhuis Tytutin and Orpick the Blues should have a solid defence that will give Brodeur a security that he did not have last season.
Up front however there is a lack of scoring depth for the Blues. Perhaps the biggest move was the aquisition of Ales Hemsky and now Eric Cole who if he signs will give the Blues a solid top line of Handzuss Cole and Erat. With the move of Richards the Blues will now have to decide who will be there captains and assistants will be as the team has now traded all the players they named last season to lead the team. Speculation is that Handzuss has done a strong job as a leader in the room and is the frontrunner to wear the C. As for the assistance with a lack of good leadership who have played the minimum games required look for a guy like Hamhuis and Corbiel or perhaps even Erat to maybe wear the A this season. When asked if any decisions had been made on this subject GM Foley had these comments, "Our team has many great locker room leaders and a lack of leadership on the team has never been a problem. Dealing Richards who would have been the clear cut leader for the team will only make the decision harder. We feel that this deal however will help us in the long term and are happy to get the players involved. Both Cole and Jovanoski are solid top line players and I am looking forward to getting them into camp this season."