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More Blues trade news: St. Louis acquires T.J. Hensick from Colorado

T. J. Hensick

Colorado Avalanche center T. J. Hensick skates off the ice as the Nashville Predators, background, celebrate their 3-2 win in an NHL hockey game in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, Oct. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

AP

In what has been one of the busiest days in ages for the St. Louis Blues, the team traded Julian Talbot for disgruntled Colorado Avalanche forward T.J. Hensick. The Avs were busy in their own right today, signing Kevin Porter, Ray Macias and Phillipe Dupuis. (Source: The Denver Post)

Hensick was, at one point, thought to be a fairly promising prospect for the Avs. He made the big club at 22, playing 31 games during the 07-08 season (11 points) and 61 games in 08-09 for 21 points. Unfortunately, amid a rush of great play from other young players such as Matt Duchene, Hensick found himself demoted to the AHL and only played in seven contests last season.

Much like headline-grabbing acquisition Jaroslav Halak, Hensick is a restricted free agent. There were actually some rumors about Hensick going to the Swedish Elite League, and he’s (again) not under contract for the 2010-11 season, so both players are yet to be sure-things to play in St. Louis.

Either way, it’s obvious that Hensick and the Avalanche were at an impasse. Perhaps Hensick (derisively referred to as “The Little Ball of Meh”) will be able to reinvigorate his career in St. Louis. He might essentially replace traded prospect Lars Eller with the franchise, and at 24, he’s far from a lost cause.

It’s been a busy day for the Blues. We’ll see how productive it was once they sign one or two of those players to contracts (not to mention once the season starts in October).