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It may be 90 degrees outside and hockey may be the furthest thing from many people's minds, but it's the moves that are made at this time of year that win Stanley Cup's. With that in mind Blues GM Larry Pleau is setting his sights on the free agency period that begins in the NHL on Saturday. There is one free agent in particular that Pleau and about a half-dozen other teams are interested in. His name is Mike Van Ryn and he is a talented young defenseman who was drafted in the first round by the New Jersey Devils two years ago. A loophole in the NHL's Collective Bargaining Agreement allowed Van Ryn tobecome an unrestricted free agent at the tender age of 21. The Blues are believed to bevery interested in the young blueliner.
"We as an organization like him and we feel he has a great deal of potential," Pleau said. "He seems to be able to handle both ends of the rink, he's a good skater, he has a good shot from the point. I think he could be a top four defenseman on your team."
A kid like this would be just what the Blues need. They have a boatload of young forwards (Marty Reasoner, Jochen Hecht, Michal Handzus, Lubos Bartecko, and Ladislav Nagy to name a few), but they are not as deep in the organization in young defenseman. Van Ryn could be a nice complement to 1999 number one pick Barret Jackman as well as Bryce Salvador, Jaroslav Obsut, and Peter Smrek. Only time will tell if the Blues will win the bidding war, but don't be surprised if they do. Van Ryn would likely be drawn to the Blues because they are very close to winning a Cup, and because with the Blues lack of depth on defense he would have a chance step in and earn a spot immediately.
As for the veteran free agents, here is how Pleau sizes up this year's crop: "There are not a lot of glaring names that pop at out you, but I think if you are looking for specifics there are players that can help different teams and a different role on a hockey team that your looking for. I'm not sure that it's going to be open the candy store and sell out right away. I think that teams will be looking at what's on the market and looking at their specific needs in certain areas and say 'maybe this player can fill a role for two or three years.' I know that's what we'll be doing."
Pleau is well aware of his needs on defense and says he will try and upgrade the Blues via free agency.
"We will be looking into the defensive market," he said. "But we'll be conscious of the length of the contract and the dollars of the contract. We don't want to tie ourselves into a position where your stuck with contract money for an extra two or three years."
Among the names out there come Saturday that may be of interest to the Blues are Lyle Odelein, Mathieu Schneider, Brad Werenka, and Sean Hill.
Fans shouldn't fret. Pleau and his staff HAVE a plan and will begin to implement that plan in the next few days. They emerged out of the expansion draft virtually unscathed losing just Scott Pellerin, a forward who didn't fit into their plans next year, and backup goalie Jamie McLennan, who can easily be replaced perhaps even by young Brent Johnson if the Blues think he is ready.
The Blues may not play any actual games until October, but for Larry Pleau the games are about to begin.
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