GDT: 2024 Blues Draft Day Thread

[kimzey59]

I respect Army wanting to put guys in a position to succeed. But paying a 2nd to do so? Would nobody take him if we retained another 50% and added a 4th instead? At this point the 2nd is worth so much more than $1.8M over two years.

I agree that the 2nd was a bit much, but exactly what do we need to accumulate picks for at this point?

It's a 2nd round pick in a year that Army intends to make the PO's. It's not like we're likely to get a high end prospect at that point.

 

[tfriede2]

I agree that the 2nd was a bit much, but exactly what do we need to accumulate picks for at this point?

It's a 2nd round pick in a year that Army intends to make the PO's. It's not like we're likely to get a high end prospect at that point.

Well, the idea is to use that 2nd on a player you can use for the playoffs, then. Now we don’t have that flexibility.

 

[Majorityof1]

I agree that the 2nd was a bit much, but exactly what do we need to accumulate picks for at this point?

It's a 2nd round pick in a year that Army intends to make the PO's. It's not like we're likely to get a high end prospect at that point.

You could use the 2nd in a trade for a player that will make you better. The Devils just traded Marino for a 2nd. A 2nd was part of (a small part but part of) the trade for Sergachev. We gave up assets and did not get better. What are we using the cap space for? To sign a 28+ year old player in free agency? How does that make sense? We gave up a high pick that could have been used to intelligently improve the team in a trade for a player in our window.

 

[blue zone]

How bad the Hayes trade is somewhat depends on considerations, but he likely spends quite a bit of the season sitting in the press box if he stays. He didn't fit. I think we all would have felt a bit better if we had traded the 2nd for Trevier and the 4th to see the back of Hayes....but that is still how the weekend shook out

 

[Celtic Note]

I really wonder if Army says f**k missing the playoffs again, and signs one of Stamkos/Duchene/Lindholm to be our 2C until Dvorsky is ready for that role in a few years.

Moving out a 2nd for a cap dump doesn’t make sense unless a bigger deal is coming.

So he will double down on aging contracts?

 

[blue zone]

So he will double down on aging contracts?

Depends on term. Two years would go a long way to getting into the playoffs and being competitive, until the youngsters step up.

 

[oPlaiD]

So he will double down on aging contracts?

It would be a poor plan, but at least making this trade because you wanted to use the cap space it provided means there's some kind of process behind this madness. Instead, we're left with... this...

 

[Celtic Note]

Depends on term. Two years would go a long way to getting into the playoffs and being competitive, until the youngsters step up.

Why do we need to get into the playoffs?

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

From JR:

Army on Hayes: "When I evaluated the year and where we are going forward, it didn't seem to be a proper fit for either side. I just felt, give him an opportunity and free up not cap space as much as it is a real dollar value. I felt for Kevin and us it was the right thing to do. This is just a situation where it wasn't working. I made a decision a year ago that I thought it could work for 3 years and as the year progressed it didn't look like it was working for either side. But when you put it down on paper, it wasn't a shining moment for myself."

Can't really argue, but that's some pretty harsh self-criticism from Army.

I appreciate the honest response instead of blathering and pretending it was all part of a master plan.

Maybe they can use the cap space in free agency in a way that takes the sting away a bit.

 

[Memento]

Overall draft grade for me is a C, and I’m feeling generous right now. I feel that we really reached on Ralph and (especially) Kos. (I was screaming for LSW at Ralph’s spot and one of either Pikkarainen or Luca Marrelli at Kos’s spot.) Would’ve preferred a European (Miroslav Satan) over Dorion with our seventh, since he honestly doesn’t look like he has any NHL upside. Mrsic and McIsaac were…somewhat okay where they were at, but I felt there were better options (Kiviharju sitting right there in the fourth round, and Misa in the fifth.) Would’ve much rather had Hage than Jiricek (felt the upside was higher with Hage with less risk than Jiricek) and Mustard over Fischer (I’ve got a horrible feeling that we’re going to see a lot of Mustard with the Blackhawks.) but they felt more underwhelming than outright terrible. The only picks I liked at the spots where they were at were Jecho and Korotky. That’s not a positive, especially compared to last year and the year before.

Overall, with the Hayes trade (even though I like Texier), this offseason seems to be starting out on the absolute wrong foot for me.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

I don't think you evaluate a draft for at least 5 years. What I will say is that our prospect pool got much bigger and can skate a lot faster. Nothing wrong with that. Now lets see how we refine and shape the raw tools that we drafted.

Or you can listen to the pundits that had a 5'9" Finn in their first round all year tell you that you are an idiot for not drafting him, when he isn't elite and players are a rarity that are that slight in the NHL.

 

[Majorityof1]

I appreciate the honest response instead of blathering and pretending it was all part of a master plan.

Maybe they can use the cap space in free agency in a way that takes the sting away a bit.

How could he have spun it to be part of the master plan? It was such a fail, there is not much you can say besides "oops, sorry". Spinning it as the master plan would be like scoring an own goal and saying "Well they say a 2 goal lead is the worst in hockey, so I made it a one goal lead. You are welcome". He's still blathering and obscuring. Why are we saving real money? Doesn't say. Were there options besides adding a 2nd (waivers, retention, etc), doesn't say. He's taking the heat he has to and obscuring the rest.

 

[Damian Frerker]

i’m ok with the draft. seems like we could of made a play for dickinson or bulium. not comfortable picking a guy with a knee injury already and a concussion. glad we have more size in our system. the hayes deal pissed me off. i’m ready for Steener to take over.

close to getting guys i wanted, Pelikinen and traff

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I don't think you evaluate a draft for at least 5 years. What I will say is that our prospect pool got much bigger and can skate a lot faster. Nothing wrong with that. Now lets see how we refine and shape the raw tools that we drafted.

Or you can listen to the pundits that had a 5'9" Finn in their first round all year tell you that you are an idiot for not drafting him, when he isn't elite and players are a rarity that are that slight in the NHL.

But I thought we were supposed to hate Finns.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

How could he have spun it to be part of the master plan? It was such a fail, there is not much you can say besides "oops, sorry". Spinning it as the master plan would be like scoring an own goal and saying "Well they say a 2 goal lead is the worst in hockey, so I made it a one goal lead. You are welcome". He's still blathering and obscuring. Why are we saving real money? Doesn't say. Were there options besides adding a 2nd (waivers, retention, etc), doesn't say. He's taking the heat he has to and obscuring the rest.

He didn’t have to say anything. How would the Edmonton front office present this trade?

Unrelated , if they do resign Buchnevich it doesn’t mean he won’t later be traded for worthwhile assets at some point. I like his professionalism and approach to his preparation. Reminds me of Steen. If the worst case scenario is that he is there to mentor our young players coming up, could be a lot worse.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

I'm giving the draft a meaningless B-. Initial thought was C+ because I do feel like they reached for some of these picks, but I can't express how much I'm pleased with the strategy of wanting to get bigger and more physical on the back end. I do think Jiricek will be seen as a value pick down the line and I'm not going to dwell on not trading up as it takes two to tango. I'm also very intrigued by Lucas Fischer and his NHL pedigree. There were a couple good value picks on Day 2 as well. I like the Texier trade. The Hayes trade was an absolute headscratcher. I'm still having a difficult time seeing how Buch fits in with the team long-term. I'm interested to see what transpires over the next few weeks.

 

[Memento]

I don't think you evaluate a draft for at least 5 years. What I will say is that our prospect pool got much bigger and can skate a lot faster. Nothing wrong with that. Now lets see how we refine and shape the raw tools that we drafted.

Or you can listen to the pundits that had a 5'9" Finn in their first round all year tell you that you are an idiot for not drafting him, when he isn't elite and players are a rarity that are that slight in the NHL.

If you’re talking about what I said (and I apologize if I’m just assuming), with a fourth round pick, I think it would’ve been worth the risk to draft Kiviharju. How many pure high school players not even in the USHL have panned out, especially unpolished ones like Ralph?

I fully understand that you can’t judge a draft immediately, but right now, the picks look underwhelming considering who was available.

 

[PJJJP]

We took a lot of risks with our first two picks. I would've have prefered different picks but hopefully they can prove me wrong

 

[Dr Robot]

I was fine with jiricek before the draft then i got my hopes up for Dick or Buium dropping and remembered why I never get my hopes up and feel sad. If i just Retcon the first 13 picks out of my brain and then convince myself we traded a second+Hayes for texier then I’m happy again. So I’m going to do that.

 

[greybush314]

Look at the Hayes trade as Hayes, 2nd, 4th for Texier. Texier will likely take Hayes spot. This probably opens the door for Dvorsky to make the team also.

 

[tfriede2]

Look at the Hayes trade as Hayes, 2nd, 4th for Texier. Texier will likely take Hayes spot. This probably opens the door for Dvorsky to make the team also.

That would be nice, but unfortunately it’s not what actually happened.

 

[joe galiba]

people keep complaining the the Blues didn’t move up for Dickinson or Buium, how does anyone here know the Blues had them rated higher than Jiricek?
if not for the knee would they have been rated higher by the talking head class?

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

If you’re talking about what I said (and I apologize if I’m just assuming), with a fourth round pick, I think it would’ve been worth the risk to draft Kiviharju. How many pure high school players not even in the USHL have panned out, especially unpolished ones like Ralph?

I fully understand that you can’t judge a draft immediately, but right now, the picks look underwhelming considering who was available.

Not referring to you at all. All good

We took a lot of risks with our first two picks. I would've have prefered different picks but hopefully they can prove me wrong

Ralph could be like a Parayko pick. Have to give it time

 

[Mike Liut]

This could be the greatest draft in Blues history, or the worst. No sense worrying about it. Wont know for 3-4 years how it went.

 

[Blueston]

people keep complaining the the Blues didn’t move up for Dickinson or Buium, how does anyone here know the Blues had them rated higher than Jiricek?
if not for the knee would they have been rated higher by the talking head class?

I think you misunderstand how this works. Random posters on the internet know far more about these prospects than any of these prospect gurus like Pronman or Peters and other guys who literally spend thousands of hours watching these prospects, but that's okay because guys like Pronman or Peters who cover every prospect in the world know much more about this year's draft class than the idiots who run the team we all root for that has a full team of scouts and analysts who dove deep into these guys to make the list to set up the picks that everyone here knows were worse than what we as fans would have done if we could use the few hours we spent watching internet highlights to make the picks.