The St. Louis Blues practised Monday in Hazelwood, Mo., ahead of their game Tuesday night against the visiting Edmonton Oilers.

TSN’s Paul Hollingsworth was on hand to talk to Blues defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk, who has been the subject of intense trade speculation all season and currently occupies top spot on TSN’s Top 40 Trade Bait board.

Shattenkirk on distraction of trade deadline day fast approaching:

“It's a little distracting obviously, but guys around here have been helping me out. It's been a good group in this locker room. We've had a lot of stuff go on in this locker room that we've had to worry about. So that's helped distract me from it.”

On following the rumours and possible trade destinations:

“I don't know if you really can stay away from it, to be honest. Especially nowadays with social media and everything. It's always around you. It's not something you can hide from but that's part of this season. I knew that once this time of year came around it was going to be a hot topic.”

On how he will handle the moment when and if a trade comes:

“I think you don't know until the moment comes. There's been a lot of chatter this year about it, so in a way you kind of become numb to the whole thing. But I think once the actual moment comes, there are a lot of guys in here that I call close friends and I call all of them my friends, so once it actually happens, if it does, that's a moment you can't actually prepare for until it's there.”

On a big part of him being a member of the Blues:

“Yeah. And I'm still here. That's the beauty of it. We obviously still don't know what's going to happen. This team has a real good chance to get into the playoffs and do some damage. So, if that's what happens and after March 1 I'm here, I'm more than happy to be a part of this team"

Blues forward Paul Stastny on the possible trade of Shattenkirk:

“I think he's done a good job all year. The unfortunate part for him is it hasn't been just the last couple of days, it has been all summer, I guess around the draft and leading up. Anytime you play in a big market people always ask about it. It's just the nature of business sometimes. He's done a good job of not focusing on it. …When he's at the rink and on the ice and when he’s at practice and when he's working out and when he's around us I know he's just focused on hockey.”

Stastny on what kind of teammate Shattenkirk is and has been:

“One of the best teammates I've had and one of my best friends off the ice. He does good individually but never cares about that. Always been a team-first guy.”

Head coach Mike Yeo on how Shattenkirk and has handled all of the trade chatter:

“He's handled it exceptionally well. I can't imagine because every day if you're online, if you turn on any media outlet, you’re well aware that he’s the number one talked about player as far as potential trades. There's no way that he could turn a blind eye to that and not pay attention to that. What he's been able to do is, he comes to the rink he knows this group, he wants to help this group and he's focused on his game. That's a tough thing to do and I give him an awful lot of credit for it.”