Kevin Shattenkirk staying in St. Louis, agrees to deal with Blues

The St. Louis Blues and defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk have agreed to a four-year deal. Shattenkirk will earn $17 million over the four years of his new contract. He was drafted by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2007 NHL draft, he was picked in the first round and picked 14th overall. He would play in 46 games for the Avalanche, before being traded to the St. Louis Blues with forward Chris Stewart, a second round pick for defenseman Erik Johnson, center Jay McClement, and a first round pick.

The deal helped the Blues a lot, giving them a better defenseman than Erik Johnson was. Shattenkirk would end up playing in 26 for the Blues, scoring 2 goals, and getting 15 assists. All of that was in his rookie season in 2010-2011. So far for his career, he's played 201 games, 23 goals, 86 assists, 109 points, and he's a plus 18. Also, since coming into the NHL in 2010, Shattenkirk ranks fourth among American-born defensemen currently playing in points. As for goals and assists he ranks fifth.

The deal was big on the Blues to do list in the offseason, now they need to get defenseman Alex Pietrangelo singed, and forward Chris Stewart. 

I'm glad to see Kevin Shattenkirk staying a Blue, as I'm sure lots of other people are glad also. I give kudos to the Blues management for getting Shattenkirk signed, now for some of the other core players to hopefully be signed, as in the two I mentioned  above Pietrangelo and Stewart.  

Patrik Berglund re-signs with Blues

The St. Louis Blues and center Patrik Berglund have agreed to a one-year contract. The deal is worth $3.25 million. Berglund 25, was drafted in the 2006 NHL draft by the Blues in the 1st round, he was picked 25th overall. In his five seasons in the NHL, two of them he's scored 20 goals, 19 goals in one, 17 last year season, and his lowest was 13 goals (which was in his 2nd NHL season). He scored his first NHL goal on October 13th, 2008 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. While, he's shown some flashes that he can be good he really hasn't shown it yet that he's worth a long-term deal. He's had one season, which was his 3rd NHL season, when he got 52 points, in his rookie season he was able to get 47 points. For his career, so far Berglund has played 358 games, 92 goals, 96 assists, 188 points, and is a plus 13.

This one-year contract for Berglund is pretty much, show us you're worth a long-term deal. I know it sometimes takes awhile for players from Sweden to fully come into their own in the NHL. So, maybe that's the case with Berglund. Hopefully, he's able to show the Blues that he's worth a long-term deal. As for myself, I like the deal. It's a win-win type for both sides.

ALONG COMES AUSTIN, SIGNS WITH RAMS

Rookie wide receiver Tavon Austin has agreed to a five-year contract with the St. Louis Rams. He'll earn $12,751 million over the five years, and gets a $7,653 million signing bonus. Austin, 22 was picked 8th overall by the Rams in the NFL Draft back in April, when the Rams traded up from no.16 to 8th with the Buffalo Bills to draft Austin. He spent his college football career playing for the West Virginia Mountaineers, he served as both the punt returner and kick returner in his time at the West Virginia. Austin never missed a game in his college career.

While at West Virginia, Austin played in 52 games, catching 288 passes, 3,413 yards, and 29 touchdowns. He also rushed for 1,033 yards and 6 touchdowns. Last season for the Mountaineers, he had 1,289 yards and 12 touchdowns. Before going to West Virginia, in high school Austin played running back. Austin is only 5'9, but with the speed has he should be able to develop into a nice weapon for the Rams offense. He'll be the Rams kick returner for sure.

Out of all of the Rams draft picks only Austin and linebacker Alec Ogletree out of Georgia, were the only two to get five-year contracts, the rest of the Rams draft picks all got four-year contracts (that includes Austin's teammate at West Virginia wide receiver Stedman Bailey). 

I can't wait until Austin returns a kick for a touchdown during the NFL season, he should be fun for Rams fans to watch.