Steen Should be Top-Priority

Its hard to find a bright spot on a team that is currently ranked 21st in goals scored.  Alex Steen is the exception.

The St. Louis forward was not expected to be an offensive force when he was acquired from Toronto on November 24 with Carlo Colaiacovo for Lee Stempniak. Spanning over his two final seasons with the Maple Leafs, Steen played in 86 games and scored just 17 goals, including a minuscule two goals in his final twenty games.  It was even reported that Toronto head coach Ron Wilson was the only member of the Maple Leafs management team to not even say goodbye to Steen the day of the trade.  Steen came to St. Louis looking like another disappointing forward, since his 24th overall selection in 2002 built him up as the gun the Maple Leafs were looking for.  He may have faltered with his former team, but he seemed to fit in with the Blues after just a few weeks.

December 8, 2008, the Blues hosted the Nashville Predators at home.  After never really seeing any consistency in Steen's play, the Winnipeg native exploded with a strong game for the Blues.  He netted a big power-play goal late in the second period, then made a very nifty play on an odd-man rush to get the puck to B.J. Crombeen for the game-winning goal in the third.  This just wasn't a good game for the newly-acquired forward; it showed Blues management that all he needed was a change of scenery.

Steen finished 2008-09 with just six more goals than he scored with Toronto, but displayed excellent penalty-killing skills and tremendous speed.  But the real surprise is what he has done this year.  With 24 goals on the season, Steen has powered his way from the checking line with Jay McClement to the top lines with Andy McDonald or T.J. Oshie.  His booming shot on the power-play has been nothing but pleasant to a sub-par power-play (17% for 20th in the league).  His team-leading 24 goals comes with third line minutes as well; he ranks 15th on the team in average-time-played-per-game, and has the seventh-most time played amongst strictly forwards.  Just imagine if this guy got top-line minutes and was playing with a major NHL goal-scorer.  This thought may lead to the key for the Blues to be more of a playoff-contender next season.

Hockey Buzz's Andy Strickland eluded to this in a recent article as well.

“It is a major concern though that Alex Steen is the Blues leading goal scorer,” Strickland wrote last week.  “How nice would it have been if this guy had his 20 plus snipes and a few others had performed to their abilities as well? “

The problem is that Steen becomes a restricted free-agent on July 1.  This must be a top-priority for the Blues this summer.  They have plenty of players they will consider for a contract-extension (Paul Kariya, David Perron, Erik Johnson, Carlo Colaiacovo and Chris Mason), but Steen has to be brought back to prove that he is the real deal.  His current deal has him listed at $1.70 million, but he will be asking for a raise after his performance in 2009-10.  His asking price should be anywhere between $2.30 - $2.80 million, which is about his league-value and that is reasonable for the play he has given the Blues. 

Other players like D.J. King, Cam Janssen, Brad Winchester and Matt D'Agostini will all be free-agents come July as well, so with the money that could be freed up by not signing most of them, the Blues could afford a raise for Steen and have plenty left over for the other players that have to be re-signed or for players that could be brought in from free-agency.  Its time to unload the third and fourth line talent as it is and let the young players from Peoria show their skills anyway.

If the Blues plan on building from what they have and adding pieces here and there, Steen should be on the Blues' minds for the next few months.  His play this season has earned him at least a one-year contract extension.  If he is passed up, it may be a crucial error on the Blues' management.