By Jeff Quirin
NHL Hot Stove Associate Editor

The St. Louis Blues have a group of highly skilled of young defensemen with a prosperous future ahead of them. Last season’s growing pains showed that a stronger established veteran presence is needed. Steps were taken to remedy the situation Saturday evening with the signing of Kent Huskins to a one year, $1 million contract.

Kent Huskins (BridgetDS/Flickr)

The 32 year old Almonte, Ontario native broke in to the NHL with the Anaheim Ducks during the 2006-07 campaign. He spent another two years in southern California before migrating north to play for the San Jose Sharks. In 50 games with the Sharks last season he registered two goals and eight points along with a plus-8 rating. For his career Huskins has appeared in 274 games, tallied 11 goals and 60 points.

Per the Blues official release, General Manager Doug Armstrong said, “Kent brings size and leadership to our defensive corps and we are looking forward to him joining the Blues.”

Looking purely at his games played total, some may question why Huskins brings experience and leadership. Though the totals may seem small, Huskins has been around the block. Appearing in 408 regular season games and 45 playoff games over the course of five seasons in the AHL. Do not forget his 47 NHL playoff games as well. Including a 21 game run to the Stanley Cup victory with the Ducks in 2007 and 15 game run with the Sharks to the Western Conference finals in 2010. He would join Barrett Jackman as the only member of the Blues defense to make multiple appearances in the playoffs.

Expectations are straight forward for the latest addition to the Blues. He will fill a depth role that insulates the development of Ian Cole, Nikita Nikitin and Kevin Shattenkirk. Providing a potential partner for Shattenkirk as well as a mentor to Cole and Nikitin.

Based on the numbers at CapGeek, the Blues payroll following this signing, in terms of salary, sits at $42,079,167. In cap hits they’re at $45,654,166. Roughly $7 million below the projected $49 million budget and $2.6 million below the cap floor. After the Ryan Reaves agrees to a deal there will be on opening remaining at forward to cover the gap to $48.3 million.

In an offseason that has seen the Boston Bruins select Tyler Seguin second overall and acquire goal-scoring winger Nathan Horton it’s hard to believe the team is still somewhat in turmoil.

Dealing with cap trouble is something that Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli has been dealing with the entire offseason. He does have many pieces he can move, but not a lot of options coming back his way. There is the $4 million dollar owed to Michael Ryder for this season, the three-year, $5 million per for Tim Thomas, not to mention the Marc Savard trade rumors.

According to CapGeek.com the Bruins only have $12,229 remaining in cap space, which does not bode well for signing Seguin to his rookie contract. The Edmonton Oilers signed top pick Taylor Hall to a three-year at $900k per year and with bonuses Hall could reach just over $3 million a season.

Clearly it is a must to get Seguin signed, but if they cannot work something out there is always the option of him going back to Plymouth. All indications from summer camp are that the rook will be in Bruins black and gold this coming season. This kid is going to be a stud, his hockey sense is tops and he makes the players around him better. Reports are that his agent Ian Pulvor is confident that a deal will be made by training camp in September.

Like most, the Savard trade rumors took me by surprise, but in all actuality the depth the Bruins have at centre is deep. Teams that are reportedly interested in acquiring the 33-year-old’s services are the Toronto Maple Leafs and Los Angeles Kings. If the Bruins decide to keep Savvy they could always look at moving someone to the wing. Seguin will probably start off on the wing then get moved to centre eventually.

The question is whether or not Patrice Bergeron or David Krejci would be willing to move off their natural position. Bergeron has tremendous faceoff abilities finishing fifth in the NHL with a %58 winning percentage while Krejci was 50.7%.

Personally if a decision had to be made I would move Krejci to the wing. It may take time for him to adjust, but he could still work his playmaking magic patrolling the left or right wing.

The real question that has been buzzing in Boston is what to do with Ryder. There is the factor that he is a free agent to be at the end of the season and will be playing for a new contract could entice the Bruins to keep the winger who scored 18 goals last season. Waivers is another option if Chiarelli cannot find a trading partner, with his contract Ryder may find himself in the AHL for the season if he is not claimed.

With camp just on the horizon there are still many moves that need to be made in Beantown. The future is without a doubt a bright one, with the likes of Joe Colborne, Jordan Caron, Jared Knight and Brad Marchand getting ready to be full time NHL contributors, it is going to be interesting to see the moves made to create space for the soon-to-be Bears.

Are we there yet?

Brandon Macdonald
NHLHS Boston Bruins Correspondent
bmacdonald@nhlhotstove.com
Twitter @bMacdonald8