Prospect Info: 2024 Blues Prospect Poll #11

[STL fan in MN]

Springfield starter Vadim Zherenko rounds out the top-10.

1. Dalibor Dvorsky (89.8%)
2. Jimmy Snuggerud (48.8%)
3. Theo Lindstein (73.1%)
4. Adam Jiricek (41.2%)
5. Zack Bolduc (65.2%)
6. Otto Stenberg (94.4%)
7. Juraj Pekarcik (35.5%)
8. Matt Kessel (58.8%)
9. Zach Dean (77.9%)
10. Vadim Zherenko (40.0%)
11. ?

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[Beauterham]

Went with Lukas Fischer again.

Probably will go Buchinger > P. Fischer next.

For (a lot) later in the poll: do we see Samuel Johannesson as a prospect?

 

[STL fan in MN]

Went with Lukas Fischer again.

Probably will go Buchinger > P. Fischer next.

For (a lot) later in the poll: do we see Samuel Johannesson as a prospect?

I think we settled on yes to Johannesson since he’s 23 and no to Sylvegard since he’s 25. But if enough wanted to include Sylvegard, I’d be fine with that too. He just turned 25 in May.

Secondary question, we normally only take this to 20 but given our prospect pool is a little deeper now, I’d be ok going to 25. Thoughts?

 

[Beauterham]

I think we settled on yes to Johannesson since he’s 23 and no to Sylvegard since he’s 25. But if enough wanted to include Sylvegard, I’d be fine with that too. He just turned 25 in May.

Secondary question, we normally only take this to 20 but given our prospect pool is a little deeper now, I’d be ok going to 25. Thoughts?

25 would be fine with me.

I already mentioned it in another topic, but it feels like in the past we only had 10 players that had 'potential' NHL-upside, it feels like we have 20 now.

 

[Memento]

Susuyev is my choice, yet again. And yeah, our prospect pool is definitely deeper than it was last year. Twenty-five sounds more appropriate (although given my interest in prospects, I'd easily go as far back as needed, haha).

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Buchinger

 

[Meatwagon]

With all of the tree defensemen drafted lately, we need Buchingers skill set more than ever. He’s my pick here.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Buchinger

After his playoff performance in juniors, I really think he has some potential to be an offensive catalyst and decent defender. Made a lot of smart passes and ended a plus prospect in terms of helping his team on the playoff run. Stood out along with Luchanko

 

[LetsGoBooze]

The amount of people not voting Colin is making me Ralph.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

After his playoff performance in juniors, I really think he has some potential to be an offensive catalyst and decent defender. Made a lot of smart passes and ended a plus. Stood out along with Luchanko

Top 10 points/per game wise among defensemen in the OHL this and last year. Of all the high skilled players with points around or more than Buchinger had last season he was a -8 and the Closest to him was a -13 up to -17 on Guelph

 

[Blueswin]

St. Louis Blues' Top 10 Prospects for 2024-25 Season - The Hockey Writers St Louis Blues Latest News, Analysis & More

Despite having just one top-10 pick in that span, the Blues have done a great job at finding high-upside prospects with their selections.

thehockeywriters.com

 

[Memento]

The amount of people not voting Colin is making me Ralph.

After Max Gardiner and Sam Kurker, high schoolers scare me, especially since Ralph is already an older eighteen who was already physically developed. And I don't think he has the offensive IQ that Buchinger, Koromyslov, or even Lukas Fischer have. And he's super raw because of where he played.

Ralph scares me as a prospect. I want him to succeed badly, but I don't even know what he'd turn into at the next level even if he succeeds, and the bust potential is so high for high schoolers not even in the USHL.

 

[Memento]

St. Louis Blues' Top 10 Prospects for 2024-25 Season - The Hockey Writers St Louis Blues Latest News, Analysis & More

Despite having just one top-10 pick in that span, the Blues have done a great job at finding high-upside prospects with their selections.

thehockeywriters.com

I disagree with every bit of their rankings. I'm sorry, Kos belongs nowhere near the top ten, and I wouldn't put Jecho or Ralph in the top ten either. Lukas Fischer and Juraj Pekarcik (I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say that Kessel graduated in their poll) are glaring omissions. And I'd rank everyone else in the top six differently.

Are these guys professional scouts?

 

[LGB]

I’m intrigued by Ralph. 6’5 227 lb defender that can skate? Headed to a good college program. Definitely could see him as a quality defensive defender in a few years.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I’m intrigued by Ralph. 6’5 227 lb defender that can skate? Headed to a good college program. Definitely could see him as a quality defensive defender in a few years.

@Memento strongly disagrees.

 

[LGB]

@Memento strongly disagrees.

I'm sure she's seen more of him than me, but I'm trusting the Blues scouting staff on this one. I have seen a shift by shift video of Ralph at Shattuck and it was fairly vanilla, can't teach size though.

 

[Memento]

I'm sure she's seen more of him than me, but I'm trusting the Blues scouting staff on this one. I have seen a shift by shift video of Ralph at Shattuck and it was fairly vanilla, can't teach size though.

I trust the scouting staff more than I trust myself; they've more than earned the benefit of the doubt. I can see why he's tempting, but I'm risk-averse in the second round.

 

[542365]

Went Buchinger again.

 

[stl76]

I’m intrigued by Ralph. 6’5 227 lb defender that can skate? Headed to a good college program. Definitely could see him as a quality defensive defender in a few years.

I wonder how far he will fall in these polls. Personally, it’s close between him and Lukas Fischer for me…ended up going Fischer here but the ceiling/potential for Ralph is higher than anyone else left on the board IMO.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

It’s time for Lööf to separate from the pack. He’s got experience in NA now, so, imo, it would behoove him to apply his grit. He’s always said in interviews that he likes to be physical and strives to be a two-way player. He’s going for the complete game, so it might take a couple more seasons for him to percolate. We need to hang onto Lööf and all he needs to do is incrementally demonstrate improvement in his two-way game or he needs to figure out a specific role due to potential weaknesses.

This will be a defining season for him.

 

[Spear]

I’m intrigued by Ralph. 6’5 227 lb defender that can skate? Headed to a good college program. Definitely could see him as a quality defensive defender in a few years.

I have high hopes for the kid. Can't wait for the Wreck-it Ralph era to begin!

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I have high hopes for the kid. Can't wait for the Wreck-it Ralph era to begin!

Can you imagine Ralph and Burns becoming good D-men for the Blues? Burns has Edmundson vibes.

P Fischer has Parayko vibes all over him. I need to watch more footage, but I liked him immediately when he was drafted.

Stancl is the weird one. He intrigues me, but he could totally flake out.

I’m also pretty high on Buchinger. In fact, I’m gonna flip him and Stancl in my rankings.

 

[Spear]

Can you imagine Ralph and Burns becoming good D-men for the Blues? Burns has Edmundson vibes.

P Fischer has Parayko vibes all over him. I need to watch more footage, but I liked him immediately when he was drafted.

Stancl is the weird one. He intrigues me, but he could totally flake out.

I’m also pretty high on Buchinger. In fact, I’m gonna flip him and Stancl in my rankings.

I'm patiently waiting for some serious 'sandpaper and grit' with our D corp.

 

[STL fan in MN]

The amount of people not voting Colin is making me Ralph.

It is a little odd considering about a month ago, clearly the professional scouts from the Blues valued him over Fischer.

That said, I’m also going to vote for Fischer here. We might be wrong. It very likely could just be that there’s solid video on OHL players and hardly any when you play for SSM.

I do like Ralph’s combo of skating and size but I do want to see how he does in the USHL before I truly think we have something.

We did the same thing a year ago when we pretty universally valued Pekarcik over Burns even though Burns was picked sooner. And clearly that preference remains a year later.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

The amount of people not voting Colin is making me Ralph.

I have him right behind Fischer, who I think looked great despite being about the only quality D on poor Sarnia team.

The physical package for Ralph is tantalizing, just hard to get a full grasp of a high schoolers. That said, if he can put it all together, dude can be an absolute force.