Schwartz to Return to Colorado College
Sources confirmed late last week that former St. Louis Blues first rounder Jaden Schwartz will return to Colorado College for his sophomore season.
Despite missing several games with an injury he sustained at the World Junior Championship, Schwartz led CC in scoring with 47 points in just 30 games.
He led the USHL in scoring the previous season totaling 83 points in 60 games playing for Tri-City.
There were some rumblings back around the NCAA tournament that Schwartz was considering leaving school and playing next season in the WHL where Tri-City holds his rights. Under this scenario he would have attended NHL training camp with the Blues and likely see some exhibition action.
Gardiner Leaves Minnesota…
Max Gardiner, a third round pick of the Blues in 2010, has decided to leave the University of Minnesota and will play next season for Jim Montgomery and the Dubuque Fighting Saints in the USHL. Going to the WHL was also an option as Tri-City did their best attempt to recruit the younger brother of Toronto prospect Jake Gardiner.
The 6-3, 200 pound winger bounced in and out of the lineup for Minnesota during his freshman season. It’s hard to get better if you’re not playing and Gardiner made the decision to leave school. He will enroll in a Dubuque junior college where he will earn his two-year degree before picking a program to attend the following year. Look for Gardiner to stay in the WCHA with North Dakota being a decent option. Several WCHA schools have already been in contact.
Dubuque is a good option for Gardiner as the team just won the Clark Cup for the first time in 26 years. Captain and St. Louis native T.J. Schlueter scored two goals in the series clinching win over Green Bay. Goaltender Matt Morris was named playoff MVP.
Barriball Buying in….
Nice to see former Minnesota Golden Gopher Captain Jay Barriball has bought in to the Blues off season program as he’ll spend a good chunk of the summer training in St.Louis.
Contract Status…
There’s been no talk between the Blues and enforcer Cam Janssen on a contract extension.
The Blues have made a two-year offer to forward Patrik Berglund. The two sides have agreed on the term but have yet to settle on a number. Look for Berglund to eventually sign a two-year contract that pays him between $2.1-$2.5 million per year.
More to come,
Andy Strickland
Strickland.andy@gmail.com
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I can't imaging why not. I wonder what the hold up is.......
I think Jaden made the right choice. He wants to be near family and can you blame him? Colorado is a good school for developing NHL talent. I also think Max made the right choice. Minnesota has some HUGE issues in the last three or so years. There's too much in the politics and fear of letting NHL talent get too much ice time. Like they think they curb their development and keep them around. Barriball was probably an exception as his injuries and size would have kept him from the NHL longer and probably will keep him away longer than it should.
I think the Blues will be making a mistake only signing Berglund to two years. I think they need to consider locking one of their young stars up to a longer term as to free future cap space up. I understand the theory but it has a very likely potential of biting us in the butt down the road.
It looks like especially for Berglund that he has figured something out about his game and is going to take it to the next level. As he has found a few more since the last couple of months of the season. I'd like to see him continue to use his body and reach to get off his quick wristers. To go along with that I'd like him to work on his skating particularly keeping his feet moving while making plays.
I'm personally starting to sour on the college choice for these young players. They play only on weekends and amass maybe 45 games in an entire season as opposed to juniors which more closely resembles a professional season.
I look at the level of skill Pietrangelo brought to the Blues straight out of juniors and I wish Schwartz would have made that choice. He's already shown he can dominate at the college level. He needs to play to the rigors and lengths of an NHL season. flag this comment
I'm fine with the Blues pretending he doesn't even exist at this point. He gets here when he gets here. flag this comment