Health, continued development could boost Blues playoff team

In the NHL salary cap, which is now essential to manage aggressive, a case is still possible for the St. Louis Blues could be 10 to 15 points best next season without making a single movement. By Rob Grabowski, US Presswire

St. Louis winger Chris Stewart has the potential to be a marker for 40 next season.

By Rob Grabowski, US Presswire

St. Louis winger Chris Stewart has the potential to be a marker for 40 next season.

This theory assumes that the Blues will have better health next season and that his impressive group of young players will continue to improve. David Backes, Alex Pietrangelo, Patrik Berglund, Chris Stewart, Jaroslav Halak and T.J. Trips among others are all 26 years. Middle age Blues is around 25 ".We regret that we are not in the playoffs because I think we're better than some teams in the playoffs, "said Blues President John Davidson. "We are not there and that is our fault. We had problems because we had long-term injuries to some of our best players. "In 2010-11, only eight of NHL playoff teams overcame the Blues, who were 10th in the League in scoring and 10th on the power play percentage. "Our goals-against got better, but it wasn't good enough, "said Davidson."Our road record (15-20-6) wasn't good enough. But if you look at our win-loss record when we were healthy was very good ".Pietrangelo development allowed the Blues deal Erik Johnson to purchase Stewart, which adds considerable can potentially offensive team. In addition, the Blues landed Kevin Shattenkirk, which theoretically could outscore Johnson for the next 10 years. "It is not a great man, but he is very evasive in his own zone, very clever, "said Davidson."There is no doubt that he can give you a lot of minutes ".It is not unthinkable that power forward Stewart could be a man of 40-goal season. "Stewart is a great man with great hands, said Davidson. "It is faster with disc than without it. He has the ability to score on tight. We are very excited about it. Its potential is what he wants it to be. It could be a great player. It's up to him. "Davidson thought Backes should have been a Selke candidate. "Every game he played against the best players and he had 30 goals, 30 assists, and he was plus-32, "said Davidson. "There's something there."The two variables important for movement of Blues front are what happens with the sale of the team and what happens with David Perron, who missed 72 games with a concussion suffered in a beating by Joe Thornton. Perron apparently is still suffering from symptoms, although he is hoping to be back for training camp.The Blues has approximately $ 32 million committed for the next season with keys restricted free agents Trips, Berglund and Roman Polak still to sign. "Now, we're in a flexible position, "said Davidson. "Because we don't know who will own our team, we don't know yet what we can do this summer. But if you find you can add, let's add. We look forward to add because we're not far from being a very good team in my opinion. "For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ. To report corrections and clarifications, contact standards Editor Brent Jones. For consideration of publication in the newspaper, send comments to letters@usatoday.com. Include name, phone number, city and State for verification. To view our corrections, go to corrections usatoday.com. We've updated the guidelines of the conversation. Changes include a brief review of the moderation process and an explanation of how to use the "report abuse" button. Read more.