I'm not sure how I missed Marc Bergevin being named GM of the Montreal Canadiens.

Funny Uncle Bergie is now running the Habs? Does this mean he's going to have to move out of Mario Lemieux's basement?

One thing is for certain: the Canadiens will no longer have any problems putting the puck into a net. (Just don't ask whose net, Hab fans.)

On a related note, I hear Roman Turek is saving up his tips from drying cars at the Waterway to send Bergevin a sack of White Castles.

The NHLPA apparently refused to agree to the league's realignment plans, which has led to the league postponing the revamped schedules and formats until at least 2013-14.

Here's the link to the nhl.com story. Deputy Commish Bill Daly sounds pissed in his comments. I think the proposed realignment will happen; it makes too much sense not to. But reading between the lines, I think the players' union has decided to make realignment a bargaining chip in the upcoming CBA; they'll want to get something in exchange for their "concession" on the issue.

Would love to be wrong here. Time will tell.

Quoth the NHL:

The St. Louis Blues added depth on defense Monday by signing Danny Syvret to a one-year contract.

Okay, so the NHL sees this as a signing for the big-league club.  But with Ian Cole or Nikita Nikitin playing in Peoria, and Kent Huskins studying for the role of Healthy Scratch, Syvret will find it hard to break into the Blues' lineup.

At the AHL level, Syvret has been a decent offensive defenseman.  Again from the nhl.com story:

He spent most of the season with the AHL's Syracuse Crunch and Adirondack Phantoms, finishing with 10 goals and 40 points in 59 games.

Doug Armstrong has apparently replaced Nathan Oystrick with a guy who puts up better numbers.  That's got to be good news in the PEO.

According to the AP, Nikita Nikitin has inked a one-year deal.  The Blues never announce terms, so we'll have to wait for the rumor mill to give us the details.

Yahoo link

ST. LOUIS (AP)—The St. Louis Blues continue to take care of their own players, signing defenseman Nikita Nikitin(notes) to a one-year contract extension on Thursday. Terms were not disclosed.

Nikitin, 24, just completed his first NHL season, playing in 41 games for the Blues with one goal and eight assists. He was eligible to become a restricted free agent on July 1.

EDIT:  Per JR, the contract is a one-way deal for $600K.

Here's a graphical look at the ice time of each Blues defenseman through the first 12 games.  Things have gotten a little confusing with the injuries to three starters, but it's still worth a look:

(click the chart for a better view)

Alex Pietrangelo continues to play like a defensive savant, far ahead of the typical NHL learning curve.  (Remember, kids: he's played exactly 29 NHL games at a position where most top players need 100 or so games to really establish themselves.)

It's no surprise that the three season-opening defensemen continue to lead the team in ice time.  The Blues shifted to a seven-defenseman lineup for the weekend games on the East Coast, and wet-behind-the-ears rookies Ian Cole and Nikita Nikitin did nothing to harm their future prospects.  Both of them took minutes from Tyson Strachan and Nathan Oystrick on Sunday night.

I expect that the seven-defenseman lineup will carry through the midweek back-to-back games.  We could see a return to a six-man unit Saturday night at Phoenix.