Jay Boumeester isn't a bad defenseman. His stats never seem to look that hot, but that could be a case of "lookit what teams he's played for!"

GP G A P +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG GTG SOG PCT 2012 - Jay Bouwmeester 32 6 9 15 -7 16 1 0 0 54





Hm. Six goals this year. None of the Blues' defensemen have more than two. Also, he's a lefty, which is the Blues' weak defensive side. He also has a year left on his contract with a $6,600,000 cap hit. Yeesh.

Calgary Flames general manager and garage sale enthusiast Jay Feaster is reportedly shopping Bouwmeester, and the Blues are reportedly one of a laundry list of teams who would like to acquire his services. It wouldn't be a bad pick-up, and considering what Feaster wanted for Jarome Iginla was WAY less than I had assumed, perhaps J-Bo can be had for a prospect, a second rounder, and a bag of pucks.

The things is, once the Blues get Bouwmeester, they have to pay him a lot of money in what should be the first year of some hefty new contracts for current players. Kevin Shattenkirk and Alex Pietrangelo are both in their final years of their RFA entry level deals, and will command a paycheck that the Blues will presumably pay. Between those two contracts and Bouwmeester, that's a lot of money to spend on a defense that has the ability to be great but the tendency to be erratic.

Plus, the Blues will have to figure out deals for Patrik Berglund and Chris Stewart, both of whom have stepped it up (generally) this season and will probably get a bit of a raise. Oh, and Andy McDonald is a UFA after this season, and the Blues will have to get something done on him if they want the li'l guy to hang around.

The sad reality is, you have to spend money to make money, and to win. The Blues're on a budget, and what they have now isn't cutting it. Can they afford to throw huge money around? Not really, but if they keep being an above average team in a middle sized, Middle America market, they'll never be able to drop cash on anyone needed to get a Cup. It's a vicious cycle, and one that probably isn't going to be broken with Bouwmeester.