Pre-Game Talk: 2024 Draft Thread

[Mike Liut]

we have been remarkably healthy. our team isn't as good as it's record. i think we got real shot at 6-7 range,

January’s schedule is brutal. It should temper any playoff hope that’s left.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Guy to watch in WJCs. Stian Solberg with Norway. Smashmouth defenseman with skill. Some scouts have above Brandsegg-Nygard as best Norwegian prospect. 6’2” good skater and hell to play against.

he had rough game against swiss, but he was really good throughout tourney and he's logged a lot of heavy minutes. lot of what he has you can't teach and what he doesn't, you can. Huge upside, but real range of options. my questions is why is he still playing in norway? he apparently had options to play in sweden. why did he pass them up for inferior league? there could be any number of good and logical reasons, but i want to know what drives him and how good does he want to be before investing 1st on him.

 

[HighNote]

January’s schedule is brutal. It should temper any playoff hope that’s left.

13 games. 7 games against teams currently in the top 11 in the league (VAN x2, CAR, FLA, NYR, BOS, PHI, and LAK). 2 against 15th (WSH), and 3 games against teams behind us in the standings (SEA, CGY, and CBJ). Although, Seattle will most likely have passed us by the time we play them on the 26th. We're only ahead of them at the moment because we have less games played, we're tied in points.

5-8 jumps out at me for our January record.

 

[execwrite1]

Based on these rankings there will be a potential #1 D-man available.

​

 

[MissouriMook]

Based on these rankings there will be a potential #1 D-man available.

​

Yakemchuck seems to be the “Bluesiest” defenseman that figures to be available where we’re likely to be picking solely based on his size. Anyone have any insight on his game?

 

[kimzey59]

Yakemchuck seems to be the “Bluesiest” defenseman that figures to be available where we’re likely to be picking solely based on his size. Anyone have any insight on his game?

1- Think Shattenkirk.
Really good offensive skills; terrible defensively.

2-Strongly disagree that he's even remotely "Bluesy".
His hockey sense, especially in the defensive zone, is extremely lacking.
The "Bluesiest" guy is Jiricek.

Although, if we do end up inside the top 10 you'd have to think Dickinson jumps to the top of our list.

 

[MissouriMook]

1- Think Shattenkirk.
Really good offensive skills; terrible defensively.

2-Strongly disagree that he's even remotely "Bluesy".
His hockey sense, especially in the defensive zone, is extremely lacking.
The "Bluesiest" guy is Jiricek.

Although, if we do end up inside the top 10 you'd have to think Dickinson jumps to the top of our list.

I think you missed my point, but thanks for the insight on his game. I literally said “based solely on his size” in my OP. He’s barely 18 and is already 6’3” and 190 pounds. He appears to already have a frame like Petro, but could conceivably grow into an Edmundson or Parayko type frame.

I agree that we shouldn’t be going anywhere near a defenseman who isn’t at least “good” in his own zone or any player lacking hockey sense at all in the first two rounds.

 

[kimzey59]

I think you missed my point, but thanks for the insight on his game. I literally said “based solely on his size” in my OP. He’s barely 18 and is already 6’3” and 190 pounds. He appears to already have a frame like Petro, but could conceivably grow into an Edmundson or Parayko type frame.

I agree that we shouldn’t be going anywhere near a defenseman who isn’t at least “good” in his own zone or any player lacking hockey sense at all in the first two rounds.

I didn't miss your point.
I ignored it.
Because it hasn't been accurate for a good while now.
If anything, the recent trend from the Blues has been undersized D men. Lindstein, Perunovich, Dunn, Buchinger, Loof, Tucker...

There might have been an argument that we focused too much on size at one point, but that hasn't been the case for a while now. If anything, the Blues are more likely to reach for an undersized guy with good hockey sense than they are to go after size.

Stop living in the past.

 

[MissouriMook]

I didn't miss your point.
I ignored it.
Because it hasn't been accurate for a good while now.
If anything, the recent trend from the Blues has been undersized D men. Lindstein, Perunovich, Dunn, Buchinger, Loof, Tucker...

There might have been an argument that we focused too much on size at one point, but that hasn't been the case for a while now. If anything, the Blues are more likely to reach for an undersized guy with good hockey sense than they are to go after size.

Stop living in the past.

 

[542365]

I didn't miss your point.
I ignored it.
Because it hasn't been accurate for a good while now.
If anything, the recent trend from the Blues has been undersized D men. Lindstein, Perunovich, Dunn, Buchinger, Loof, Tucker...

There might have been an argument that we focused too much on size at one point, but that hasn't been the case for a while now. If anything, the Blues are more likely to reach for an undersized guy with good hockey sense than they are to go after size.

Stop living in the past.

Perunovich is the only Dman they’ve drafted whose under six foot since 2011.

 

[kimzey59]

Perunovich is the only Dman they’ve drafted whose under six foot since 2011.

The average NHL D man is 6'2" 205lbs.
Guys who are 6' and 6'1 may not be critically undersized, but they are below average height.
And those are the types we seem to be targeting lately.

Since we drafted Parayko in 2012, we've drafted exactly 3 D men that were over 6'3": Niko Mikkola, Tyson Galloway and Noah Beck. We've drafted 21 D men in that span.

The trend of the Blues is to draft guys who are right around average sized(with a slight shade towards the under). But we absolutely are not size hunting as was the implication. You might have been able to make a case for it around 2010(Jackson, Gauthier, Ponich, Edmundson, Haakanpaa, EJ in a short stretch of years); but it absolutely is not the case at the moment.

 

[Blueswin]

You wonder if someone like

Adam Jiricek​

is available if the Blues will take a chance on him.

 

[Mike Liut]

13 games. 7 games against teams currently in the top 11 in the league (VAN x2, CAR, FLA, NYR, BOS, PHI, and LAK). 2 against 15th (WSH), and 3 games against teams behind us in the standings (SEA, CGY, and CBJ). Although, Seattle will most likely have passed us by the time we play them on the 26th. We're only ahead of them at the moment because we have less games played, we're tied in points.

5-8 jumps out at me for our January record.

I’m going with 4-9

The average NHL D man is 6'2" 205lbs.
Guys who are 6' and 6'1 may not be critically undersized, but they are below average height.
And those are the types we seem to be targeting lately.

Since we drafted Parayko in 2012, we've drafted exactly 3 D men that were over 6'3": Niko Mikkola, Tyson Galloway and Noah Beck. We've drafted 21 D men in that span.

The trend of the Blues is to draft guys who are right around average sized(with a slight shade towards the under). But we absolutely are not size hunting as was the implication. You might have been able to make a case for it around 2010(Jackson, Gauthier, Ponich, Edmundson, Haakanpaa, EJ in a short stretch of years); but it absolutely is not the case at the moment.

I think we need to change our approach when drafting D. Start going for more size

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Makar, Fox, Hughes, Morrissey, Josi, McDonough, McAvoy, Toews, Karlsson, Giordano, Keith, Subban, Lidstrom, MacInnis, Niedermayer, All of these defensemen are under 6'2, multiple of them have won or been nominated for the Norris, and all have been considered top pairing defenseman at some point in their career. You don't need to be 6'2 or taller to be a top flight NHL defenseman.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Makar, Fox, Hughes, Morrissey, Josi, McDonough, McAvoy, Toews, Karlsson, Giordano, Keith, Subban, Lidstrom, MacInnis, Niedermayer, All of these defensemen are under 6'2, multiple of them have won or been nominated for the Norris, and all have been considered top pairing defenseman at some point in their career. You don't need to be 6'2 or taller to be a top flight NHL defenseman.

don't disagree, but if it was obvious one of those above guys was gonna be a stud they were taken high in the draft. worry with smaller guys is if they aren't great but merely good how valuable are they? bigger guys can be edmundson or even eric johnson, who are valuable guys. so you gotta really love smaller defenseman to take him high.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

don't disagree, but if it was obvious one of those above guys was gonna be a stud they were taken high in the draft. worry with smaller guys is if they aren't great but merely good how valuable are they? bigger guys can be edmundson or even eric johnson, who are valuable guys. so you gotta really love smaller defenseman to take him high.

There are a ton of Valuable defensemen across the league that are 6' or 6'1. That's all I was saying. Writing players off or skipping over them because they are under 6'2 is silly.

 

[ezcreepin]

The average NHL D man is 6'2" 205lbs.
Guys who are 6' and 6'1 may not be critically undersized, but they are below average height.
And those are the types we seem to be targeting lately.

Since we drafted Parayko in 2012, we've drafted exactly 3 D men that were over 6'3": Niko Mikkola, Tyson Galloway and Noah Beck. We've drafted 21 D men in that span.

The trend of the Blues is to draft guys who are right around average sized(with a slight shade towards the under). But we absolutely are not size hunting as was the implication. You might have been able to make a case for it around 2010(Jackson, Gauthier, Ponich, Edmundson, Haakanpaa, EJ in a short stretch of years); but it absolutely is not the case at the moment.

I think at this point it's probably safe to say the Blues are over compensating and the Bluesiest thing they could do is draft a "puck moving defenseman" aka high transition/offensive defenseman. Not that there's anything wrong with drafting those guys, but there have been good players available of the stable defense variety that they've passed on.

 

[ezcreepin]

Whether or not his stats are a bit inflated, the Blues need to keep an eye on Nikita Artamonov. Apparently he plays with pace and solid defensive awareness, isn't overly powerful but plays the body, and is scoring at an insane rate. He's projected to go in the late first by most scouting outlets, but I think the Blues should take a flyer on him if they have the picks.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

1- Think Shattenkirk.
Really good offensive skills; terrible defensively.

2-Strongly disagree that he's even remotely "Bluesy".
His hockey sense, especially in the defensive zone, is extremely lacking.
The "Bluesiest" guy is Jiricek.

Although, if we do end up inside the top 10 you'd have to think Dickinson jumps to the top of our list.

Do you think any of Yakemchuks faults have anything to do with being on a lousy team where he has to drive the offense? Better team, will he dial it down and settle into his position?

 

[execwrite1]

Still old school here - get me a Plager brother. (grandson)

 

[kimzey59]

Do you think any of Yakemchuks faults have anything to do with being on a lousy team where he has to drive the offense? Better team, will he dial it down and settle into his position?

Some of it, maybe.
Most of it is just his playing style. He's legitimately good at jumping into the play offensively. He's got the speed and skills to make an impact in the offensive zone. But he's one of those players who look lost when they lose the puck. Maybe he wouldn't be as much of a liability if he had forwards who could slide into coverage when he decides to freewheel, but he's absolutely a freewheeler and that is always going to be part of his game. Honestly, he isn't going to make in the NHL if he doesn't try to make those kinds of plays because he just doesn't have the defensive game to make it otherwise. And I'm not sure he's good enough at that style to be a real Elite player. Yakemchuk is a guy I am more than happy to steer clear of. I think he's going to be a disappointment for whatever team takes him.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Still old school here - get me a Plager brother. (grandson)

Will Skahan

 

[Mike Liut]

We are 2 games out of the 5 spot

 

[execwrite1]

We are 2 games out of the 5 spot

Need a timely five-game losing streak right about now.

 

[execwrite1]

Will Skahan

SOLD - late first, early second?


Will Skahan is a 6-foot-4, 212-pound defenceman and 2024 NHL Draft prospect who plays for the USNTDP U18 squad. He's every bit as punishing and intimidating as his profile would suggest, but that's not where the story ends with this player.