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Blues hunt for Kyle Wellwood runs into a roadblock

Kyle Wellwood

Vancouver Canucks’ Kyle Wellwood looks on during team practice in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Friday May 1, 2009. The Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks play Game 2 of their NHL Western Conference semi-final playoff series Saturday in Vancouver. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck)

AP

The St. Louis Blues have been on the hunt for help for a little while this season. With the team on the outside looking in at a spot in the playoffs and not looking to fall further back, they signed former Avalanche forward Marek Svatos out of Russia only to see him picked off of waivers by the Predators.

Blues GM Doug Armstrong’s eyes have turned to another KHL exiled player in former Leafs and Canucks centerman Kyle Wellwood. It was mentioned here recently that the Blues, indeed, have a contract in place for the forward but as of now, that hasn’t materialized. Why it hasn’t been taken care of is a matter of rules regarding his ability to sign a two-way deal. Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch spills the beans on what’s holding up Wellwood’s ability to sign with the Blues.

Wellwood has agreed to a one-year, two-way contract with the Blues, according to sources. However, he is not eligible to play in Peoria this season because the Blues missed the Dec. 15 deadline that would have allowed him to be paid a two-way contract. Therefore, if signed, Wellwood must either play with the Blues, or be paid an NHL salary if he is waived. A deal may still happen, but currently it’s being held up.

When you’re dealing with a guy who couldn’t crack the Phoenix Coyotes lineup during training camp, you want to be absolutely sure he can get it done in the NHL so you’re not wasting money on a guy that won’t pan out. Being able to send him to the minors would’ve been a nice luxury to have, but with that ability gone it makes it more of a financial gamble to bring him on board.

Of course, if the Blues do get him signed the possibility exists that they still wouldn’t end up with him as he’d have to go through waivers the same way Svatos did. The possibility of the Predators stealing away another player on waivers from St. Louis is almost too amusing to ponder. After all, they’re divisional foes and a move like that works two-fold in that it helps themselves out and screws over the Blues. The Predators have a dearth of centers with Cal O’Reilly, Matt Lombardi, and Nick Spaling out with injuries and a guy like Wellwood would fit right in at center for the injury-laden Preds.

We’re still a little bit of time away from seeing that go down, but for now it’s up to the Blues to figure out if it’s worth the risk for them to go for it.