Andy Strickland of True Hockey: The St. Louis Blues have traded former 1st overall pick Erik Johnson, Jay McClement, and a conditional 1st round pick to the Colorado Avalanche for Chris Stewart, Kevin Shattenkirk, and a conditional 2nd round pick.
“Kevin Shattenkirk has unbelievable vision and passing ability. Has a chance to develop into one of the top offensive D-men in the league. Chris Stewart tells me he already is one of the best offensive defenseman in the NHL. His ability to read plays is similar to what we see from Alex Pietrangelo.”
“For one reason or another Johnson hasn’t progressed the way he or the organization had hoped this season. Johnson had fit in nicely with the St. Louis sports scene and was instantly made a star before he ever put a Blues jersey on. The expectations were through the roof and it became obvious the pressure was mounting. Missing an entire ear with an ACL injury two years ago certainly was tough to overcome.”
Bob McKenzie via twitter: The condition on the 1st round pick that Colorado receives is that if it’s a top 10 in 2011, it will become a 2012 1st round pick. The condition on the 2nd round pick that St. Louis receives is that if the 1st round pick rolls over to the 2012, so does the 2nd round pick.