St. Louis Blues Sign 2009 1st-round pick David Rundblad

Posted by Nathan Fournier, The World of Junior Hockey

Press Release June 11, 2010

St. Louis Blues President John Davidson announced Thursday the club has signed defenseman David Rundblad (RUHND-blahd), who was the Blues first selection in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

“By signing David and adding him to the fold, we continue to keep our blueline depth strong,” said Davidson. “We have been impressed with the progress he’s made since we drafted him last year and are looking forward to watching his development towards the NHL.”

Rundblad, 19, has spent the past three seasons with Skelleftea HC of the Swedish Elite League (SEL).

In 2009-10, the Lycksele, Sweden native played in 47 games for Skelleftea posting 13 points on a goal and 12 assists to go along with 14 penalty minutes. In total, the 6’2”, 189-pound defenseman has made 98 appearances for the Swedish side accumulating 23 points including a goal, 22 assists and 24 penalty minutes.

In addition, Rundblad represented Sweden in both the 2009 and 2010 IIHF World Junior Championships, helping the team capture the Silver Medal in 2009 and Bronze in 2010. At the 2009 Championship, he posted a goal and an assist to go along with a plus-3 rating in six games while in 2010 he increased production to a goal, four assists and a plus-9 mark in six appearances.

St. Louis Blues Showed Interest in Ilya Kovalchuk Before Trade

Jeremy Rutherford of St. Louis Today.com wrote in his February 2, 2010 morning skate that Blues President John Davidson had "legitimate interest" in trading for winger Ilya Kovalchuk before he was traded to New Jersey. Davidson is on record by stating, "We [The Blues] had been working at it for the better part of the week...We had great conversations with Atlanta. We talked to them about various thoughts and ideas and put (a trade proposal) together. It never came to fruition.”

Davidson further stated that, “When you make a deal like that, if it’s really a magnitude coming out of your bank account, you’ve got to try to make sure that he signs...And that (permission to discuss a contract extension before a trade) was never given to any team that was in the battle trying to get him. So we just couldn’t afford to go the extra mile.”

The St. Louis President reiterated that if the Blues were able at the tim eto succesfully negotiate an extension with Ilya Kovalchuk, they would have been more likely to match Atlanta's trade demands.