Just some quick thoughts after letting this draft sit for a bit. I am only going to do the first 3 rounds, as I feel like anything after that becomes more of a crapshoot. The top 100 you can find a lot of scouting reports and maybe even video on. You might see them at Worlds or World Jrs. Once you get out of that top 100 it becomes much harder to find valuable info.
#16: Adam Jiricek: I was happier than most with this pick when we made it and the more I think about it the more I like it. We desperately needed a RHD with top pairing upside and with Jiricek we got that, yes their are concerns about his injuries but as I have stated before I trust the Blues medical staff. Looking back the only player I would have considered taking over Jiricek here would have been Solberg who has the safer floor but not as high of a ceiling.
#48: Colin Ralph: My initial reaction to this was, "Who?" As someone who did quite a bit of research on this draft Ralph was not on my radar at all especially in the 2nd round. Given how many quality defenseman were still available early in the round I was hoping one of Elick, Badinka, Freij, Kleber or Brunicke were going to fall to us but that didn't happen. After getting a little more info I am getting a little more comfortable with the pick and I see middle pairing Joel Edmundson esq potential there. Despite that I feel like Pulkkinen or Wallenius might have been the better pick here but only time will tell.
#56: Lukas Fischer: Right before this pick was made I said out loud, "give me Lukas Fischer," and then we drafted him. Given who was left got exactly who I wanted at this spot. This kid is a stay at home minute eater, serious Bouwmeester vibes. He is also one of the younger players in the draft, born a few months later he may have been a late 1st rounder next year.
#81: Ondrej Kos: Not necessarily the guy I would have taken here. Hell I could make an argument that our later 3rd pick and this one could be swapped. Kos to me seems like player with a high floor but limited ceiling. To me his development track leads to a long term replacement to someone like Sunny. His game has many of the same qualities, relentless on pucks, defensively responsible, limited offensive capabilities. Long term project, its a maybe.
#95: Adam Jecho: Given where we got him this was one hell of pick. I had him projected to go mid 2nd round. Blues need to pair him with skating coach and we could find ourselves with a 3rd line possession monster in a few year. Very raw but for a late 3rd round pick this was a homerun, looking over the rest of the picks in the 3rd I don't think there is single player I would have taken over him, including our earlier 3rd. Tons of potential.
Overall I give the Blues draft a B. I really wish we could we could have maybe moved up from 48 into the earlier part of the 2nd round and grabbed a Freij, Elick or Kleber but maybe nobody was willing to move down.
Also I will say the Hayes trade kind of put a wet blanket over the top of day 2. It sucked but I am excited to see what the Blues do with this capspace. Also keep in mind that if we have another middling year or worse we are likely to sell at the deadline adding more picks making the loss of the 2nd a little more palatable.
