2024 Blues Prospect Poll #7

[STL fan in MN]

Probably could’ve called that one 10 min after I posted it but Stenberg takes the 6th spot with 67/71 votes.

I’ll be a little surprised if there’s too many landslides going forward though.

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. ?

Click to read more...

 

[SirPaste]

This one is pretty tough for me, its between Pekarcik and Kessel for me. Kessel has already cracked the NHL and looks to be a servicable bottom pairing defenseman who filled in the top 4 in a pinch and did a pretty good job, nothing fancy but solid. I am not sure he has much more room to grow than that but I could be wrong. I ended up going Pekarcik because I think he has a higher ceiling and I do think he has a good chance of at least becoming a serviceable bottom six guy. It was really close for me though and really a coin flip.

 

[stl76]

This one is pretty tough for me, its between Pekarcik and Kessel for me. Kessel has already cracked the NHL and looks to be a servicable bottom pairing defenseman who filled in the top 4 in a pinch and did a pretty good job, nothing fancy but solid. I am not sure he has much more room to grow than that but I could be wrong. I ended up going Pekarcik because I think he has a higher ceiling and I do think he has a good chance of at least becoming a serviceable bottom six guy. It was really close for me though and really a coin flip.

Voted Kessel, been a fan of his a long time and think he has legit #4 upside still. I think there is a good case for voting Dean here as well.

I've heard a lot of people say the jump from juniors to the AHL is extremely hard so I’m willing to give the benefit of the doubt to young players who struggle a bit at first making that jump. The way Dean came on strong to end the season gives me a lot of hope he can be a useful NHLer in the future.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I see this as the Dean/Kessel/Pekarcik tier.

Kessel’s a little ahead of the other two but then again, he should be. He’s 2 1/2 years older than Dean and more than 5 years older than Pekarcik. But he’s big, plays solid D and is a righty. All that has value.

Dean had a rough start to his pro career but ended the season well. His projection hasn’t changed IMO - likely 3C for a good chunk of his career. Decent skill, hard worker, usually on the right side of the puck.

Pekarcik probably has the highest potential of the 3 but is also a lot harder to project. Heck, we still don’t even know where he’ll be playing this season. He’s still quite raw. I really like his vision though. He was an excellent distributor in Dubuque, pretty easily leading the league in assists per game. But only 9 goals on the whole season. The boy needs to shoot more!

 

[joe galiba]

I went with Kessel as he is already here, but I think Pekar has a chance to wind up better

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I have an irrational expectation that Zach Dean is going to end up having a great career higher than he's projected to have. I felt the same way about Kessel most recently, and then he started proving me right. If you ask me to articulate why, I'll point out that I have no freaking idea why and I'm not a scout. Its just some vague impression from what little I see of prospects.

 

[Beauterham]

Went with Pekarcik. Agree that this is a Pekarcik/Dean/Kessel(/Zherenko?)-tier, however took the guy with the highest ceiling although Kessel and Dean's floor is probably higher.

 

[ezcreepin]

If nothing else, Kessel has proved to be a top 6 defenseman and a right hand shot, which is incredibly invaluable right now. We saw him fill in the top 4 and even if his numbers say the opposite, the eye test said he looked perfectly fine in that role for the limited time. I'm hoping he can take that next step and solidify himself as a good top 4 guy either this year or next, but I think he's clearly the better "prospect" since he's here already and isn't looking out of place. In saying that, I really like a lot of our prospects and I think each tier has lots of guys really close to each other.

 

[Memento]

I have a five-player tier on this one.

Voted Susuyev. High-risk, high-reward. Has been in the KHL since he was seventeen, and I think he breaks out. Quite frankly, I could see him as a top-six wing with offensive skill, and that carries more value than the others.

Would probably vote Kessel next. Bottom pairing right-handed defenseman, but with maybe a little more. And it helps that he’s already there.

Then it’s Pekarcik. Really dominated the USHL. Fantastic passer. Needs to shoot more. Could see him make a huge jump as a middle-six wing.

After that, it’s Dean. Bottom-six center, maybe middle-six if everything goes just right. He’s really close to making it as well.

Finally? Buchinger. I still have immense faith in him as a powerplay quarterback offensive defenseman. Don’t know if his defense will ever be NHL caliber, but I see him having a potentially long career as a bottom pairing offensive defenseman, at the very least.

 

[BlueBleeder]

Pekarcik for me. I think he has the highest ceiling (possibly of all the prospects).

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

I'm very torn on this one. It's obviously between Dean, Kessel, and Pekarcik.

Kessel has arrived and should be a solid piece for years to come in the bottom 4. Pekarcik has the highest ceiling but the biggest mountain to climb to get there. Dean should be a regular contributor but is difficult to judge after his Jekyll & Hyde 2023-24 season.

I could put these three in any order depending on when you ask me. Today, I lean toward Zach Dean building on the end of this last season and establishing himself as a solid, two-way 3C.

 

[Celtic Note]

I have an irrational expectation that Zach Dean is going to end up having a great career higher than he's projected to have. I felt the same way about Kessel most recently, and then he started proving me right. If you ask me to articulate why, I'll point out that I have no freaking idea why and I'm not a scout. Its just some vague impression from what little I see of prospects.

Loving the honesty.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I read blood spatters. They clue me into whom I should select.

 

[greybush314]

Honestly I missed Kessel on the list. He should be much higher than this as he's already shown capable of being a top 4 NHL defenseman

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

Honestly I missed Kessel on the list. He should be much higher than this as he's already shown capable of being a top 4 NHL defenseman

I voted for Kessel several times last year before wherever he ended up getting ranked. It made me extra excited when he started breaking out.

And the year before that I was robbed of the opportunity to do so with Hugh McGing! (I mean, I voted for him, and then the ranking cut off before his turn. The guy made it into a few games! I'm sooooo bitter! And I'm never going to let this forum forget that injustice.)

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I voted for Kessel several times last year before wherever he ended up getting ranked. It made me extra excited when he started breaking out.

And the year before that I was robbed of the opportunity to do so with Hugh McGing! (I mean, I voted for him, and then the ranking cut off before his turn. The guy made it into a few games! I'm sooooo bitter! And I'm never going to let this forum forget that injustice.)

Sorry, but not really.

—

Next:
Dean
Pekarcik
P Fischer

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Went with Kessel. While the offense might not be there, I think he’ll be a top4 capable defensive minded guy.

Crazy to see how this year’s list compares to the 2021 prospect list had Brown, Robertsson, and Alexandrov as 5, 6, 7 respectively.

 

[Blanick]

To me this is where it gets really hard. I could make a case for all of Dean, Pekarcik, Kessel and Zherenko.

Kessel is the safest bet as he has already shown he can play at NHL level.
Dean has the 1st round pedigree but seems like he might need a longer marinating period.
Zherenko numbers took a bit of hit last year but nobody can deny his talent, was hoping he would be a little closer as he his the same age as Hofer.
Pekarcik has in my opinion the highest ceiling of the four listed but I do wonder if he fails to fully realize his ceiling (top6 role) can he shift his game enough to be an effective bottom sixer.

I am going Kessel here because I have worry that the other 3 might never become full time contributors at the NHL level, something that Kessel has already done. Also believe that Kessel should officially graduate after this summer no matter what this season brings.

 

[Vladys Gumption]

I went with Pekarcik because I think he had the highest upside here. But Kessel made me think long and hard about it.

 

[Mike Liut]

I agree with many of you guys, it’s between Dean, Pekarcik and Kessel. Kessel has proved the most being in the nhl already. Dean looked decent in his stint and I think the best is yet to come for him. But, I think Pekarcik has the highest ceiling. I really like his game. He looks like a more skilled Toro. I’m going with Pekarcik here.

 

[TK 421]

I really liked that Lukas Fischer pick initially and then he battled Dvo in prospect camp and I was sold.

This kid has the dog in him, ignore at your own peril. He can skate, he can battle, he can carry pucks up or make a strong outlet. But mostly I like the way he wants to just destroy whoever he's covering and I like that he just averaged ridiculous amounts of ice time at a young age for Sarnia. They had serious injuries and he had to log something like 28 minutes a game during certain stretches.

When I'm making my selections I'm not weighting proximity to the NHL at all, it's purely on pro projectable traits and who I think will have the largest overall impact once the dust settles hence a pick like Lukas Fischer who's several years out compared to other guys and may not currently exhibit a game that looks very impactful.

 

[HighNote]

The deeper you go into a prospect pool, the less and less likely it is that those prospects make the NHL (obviously). So this is about the point in the poll where I start transitioning from favoring potential over everything else to favoring NHL-likelihood over everything else.

That means Kessel for me. He's probably already there. I think he's going to solidify his spot on the 3rd pairing this season.

 

[BlueDream]

Honestly I missed Kessel on the list. He should be much higher than this as he's already shown capable of being a top 4 NHL defenseman

No he really hasn’t.

I like Kessel but he’s the new shiny toy in Blues fanland that is getting overrated. He looked solid as a 3rd pairing guy but he has only played 41 NHL games. He has a LONG way to go before solidifying himself as a legitimate top 4 guy.

I mean I guess on the Blues it’s easy to look like a top 4 guy since our defense sucks, but on an actual contending team, some of you are forgetting what actual top 4 defensemen look like.

Anyways, I think the answer to this poll is clearly Dean. He can be a bottom of the lineup player just as easily as Kessel, but I think Dean’s ceiling is higher and he has a better chance of being a top 9 guy than Kessel has of being top 4. Hoping both happen obviously, just feel like some people need to pump the breaks on Kessel a bit.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

The deeper you go into a prospect pool, the less and less likely it is that those prospects make the NHL (obviously). So this is about the point in the poll where I start transitioning from favoring potential over everything else to favoring NHL-likelihood over everything else.

That means Kessel for me. He's probably already there. I think he's going to solidify his spot on the 3rd pairing this season.

That's not a bad definition.

 

[Goodman68]

Add Kos, it's weird that it's not among the options.