Pre-Game Talk: 2025 NHL Draft Thread

[PocketNines]

loved Pronger
loved Macinnis
loved Petro
are enjoying the leveled up Broberg, let's see where it goes
liked Dunn but he was a lesser Shattenkirk
liked Shattenkirk (he got spun like a top by Shark 4th liners in the 2016 run)
did not ever like Krug
Wideman was whatever during an unimportant roster era we just liked that one shootout attempt
Colaiacovo was the weakest link on that team

 

[Majorityof1]

I went back 20+ years to illustrate a point.
We loved Chopper. We hated Housley.

There have been plenty others over the years.
We love Broberg.
We loved Petro.
Krug was winning a lot of us over until his body fell apart.
We loved Shattenkirk.
We loved Dennis Wideman.
Heck; we liked Colaiacovo.

There have been plenty of non-physical "offensive" defensemen that Blues fans have loved. The difference is that we can see the effort from those guy while we don't see it from a guy like Perunovich.

Another thing to consider is that Blues fans largely aren't stat watchers. Especially with regards to advanced stats. Effort is judged by the eye test for most of them; but when you're showing up as a -30 it's a little hard to overlook.

As for Kyrou; other than one troll who is mostly just being mocked, most of us freely acknowledge that Kyrou has come a long way in terms of his defensive play. His track record isn't great so it's going to take an extended run to wash himself completely clean of it(which hasn't happened yet), but he's absolutely made big strides and we acknowledge and respect that for the most part. Conversely; even on the same team, we love Bobby Tommy. And he's not even remotely a "physical" player either. What separates them is the visible difference in effort. We see Thomas trying to outwork people. We've only recently started seeing that from Kyrou and it's still inconsistent.

Blues fans relate to "hustle" and "effort". It's not about being physical.

Petro was routinely called captain creampuff and he is one if the most consistent defensive D. Broberg has been here a week and we got him in dramatic fashion. Give it time. We soured on Shattenkirk. Zero people wanted to keep him and we were drooling over potential returns long before he left.

Maybe it's just certain posters, but there seems to be a strong preference for straight ahead guys who play physical to flashier players in this fan base. Look at Neighbours, big strong kid who is horrendous defensively and is never called out because he is tough.

 

[Mike Liut]

Malcolm Spence Would be a good pick too. Looks like a Landeskog clone to me​

 

[AyeBah]

Lets keep losing and get Schaefer thanks

 

[kimzey59]

Malcolm Spence Would be a good pick too. Looks like a Landeskog clone to me​

Any of Jimmy Hagens, Michael Misa or Ivan Ryabkin would give us a big time playmaking center to take the pressure away from Thomas.

Roger McQueen is a Getzlaf type center. Lord knows we could use that.

Porter Martone and Malcolm Spence are huge PF, goal scoring type wingers(Landeskog types). Again; Lord knows we could use that.

Anton Frondell can play any position on the ice(probably better suited at wing in the NHL due to his skating) and has game breaking goal scoring ability. He'd be an amazing option to pair with Dvorsky.

Schaefer could be the dominant offensive Dman we've been looking for.

Logan Hensler is a potential top pairing RHD(much more defensively focused than Schaefer but he's got all the tools you expect in a top pairing RHD; very Jake Sanderson like).

Any one of those 9 would be an amazing pick for us and a hot streak by any of them could radically shift the current rankings. But we'll have to be in the top 9 to get any of them.

 

[Blanick]

Any of Jimmy Hagens, Michael Misa or Ivan Ryabkin would give us a big time playmaking center to take the pressure away from Thomas.

Roger McQueen is a Getzlaf type center. Lord knows we could use that.

Porter Martone and Malcolm Spence are huge PF, goal scoring type wingers(Landeskog types). Again; Lord knows we could use that.

Anton Frondell can play any position on the ice(probably better suited at wing in the NHL due to his skating) and has game breaking goal scoring ability. He'd be an amazing option to pair with Dvorsky.

Schaefer could be the dominant offensive Dman we've been looking for.

Logan Hensler is a potential top pairing RHD(much more defensively focused than Schaefer but he's got all the tools you expect in a top pairing RHD; very Jake Sanderson like).

Any one of those 9 would be an amazing pick for us and a hot streak by any of them could radically shift the current rankings. But we'll have to be in the top 9 to get any of them.

Pretty good breakdown. I have to say that I am very weary of taking Hagens especially #1. When I watch him all I see is skating and puck skills, of which he is elite. He uses these to bully lesser talented players. However, I seriously question his hockey IQ and two way game are at that level. I do think he will be a successful NHL player but not a first overall talent.

Porter Martone would be my number one target. I love the aggressiveness and intent he plays with. He is a straight line player that goes to the area you need to go to. Reminds me of a much more skilled David Backes. The type of guy you can slap a C on.

 

[PocketNines]

Neighbours made several eye popping defensive plays in the Tampa win immediately following a general discussion of how weak he is defensively, yet this actuality is ghosted. Perhaps it is instead that he is 22 and few people that age are defensive stalwarts. His IQ for doing little plays is pretty good. I see a player busily working on cracking the code to improvement and improving. There is not a lot of help around this kid at the moment.

Neighbours is like other players on the team. Some skills, some weaknesses. I don't think he will indulge himself like the arrogant Kyrou, who bestowed upon himself years of lazy space to slowly think about maybe improving. I laugh when they leave Kyrou off that Cup team too. He played that year. He brutally cost the team in the LA loss that should have been a win the game before the 11 game streak started and he never saw the ice again that season, but that is because back then Berube could easily brush Kyrou's weak bullshit to the side without being questioned. Kyrou played 16 games for the Blues and they ghosted him off the "who was on the team in 2019" last night

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Neighbours made several eye popping defensive plays in the Tampa win immediately following a general discussion of how weak he is defensively, yet this actuality is ghosted. Perhaps it is instead that he is 22 and few people that age are defensive stalwarts. His IQ for doing little plays is pretty good. I see a player busily working on cracking the code to improvement and improving. There is not a lot of help around this kid at the moment.

Neighbours is like other players on the team. Some skills, some weaknesses. I don't think he will indulge himself like the arrogant Kyrou, who bestowed upon himself years of lazy space to slowly think about maybe improving. I laugh when they leave Kyrou off that Cup team too. He played that year. He brutally cost the team in the LA loss that should have been a win the game before the 11 game streak started and he never saw the ice again that season, but that is because back then Berube could easily brush Kyrou's weak bullshit to the side without being questioned. Kyrou played 16 games for the Blues and they ghosted him off the "who was on the team in 2019" last night

To earn the status of getting your name engraved on the Stanley Cup, players must play at least 40 games through the regular season or one in the Cup final.


Kyrou did neither. He wasn't ghosted off the cup, he did not have anywhere close to the games played needed to be on the cup.

 

[PocketNines]

To earn the status of getting your name engraved on the Stanley Cup, players must play at least 40 games through the regular season or one in the Cup final.


Kyrou did neither. He wasn't ghosted off the cup, he did not have anywhere close to the games played needed to be on the cup.

I wasn't talking about what's needed to qualify on the Cup. I am just saying he was on the team in 2019 which he was. I will never forget the look in his eyes when he skated from the penalty box to the bench in LA, we had perfect low down seats

and to clarify I meant the graphic they put up on the broadcast last night of Blues and Bruins players from that season still on the teams. (obviously kyrou didn't play against the Bruins, he was benched for the season after that second period LA mistake)

 

[STL fan in MN]

Kyrou had a knee injury and didn’t finish out the 2018-19 season. If he had been healthy, he easily would’ve been one of the Black Aces and given the Sunny and Barbs suspensions in the Final, there’s a very good chance Kyrou would’ve gotten into a game had he been healthy and available for selection. So in a way, his injury kept his name off the Cup.

Or his injury prevented him from playing, causing many bad turnovers and losing us the Cup.

Depends on your perspective I guess.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I wasn't talking about what's needed to qualify on the Cup. I am just saying he was on the team in 2019 which he was. I will never forget the look in his eyes when he skated from the penalty box to the bench in LA, we had perfect low down seats

and to clarify I meant the graphic they put up on the broadcast last night of Blues and Bruins players from that season still on the teams. (obviously kyrou didn't play against the Bruins, he was benched for the season after that second period LA mistake)

He was a 20 year old callup and wasn't NHL ready. Tons of 20 year old players make shit plays in the NHL when they aren't ready. Look at the shit plays everyone's golden boy Neighbours made when he was in the NHL the first two years when he wasn't ready.

 

[Majorityof1]

Roflmao. What a joke.

Neigbours is only 22 and immune from criticism.
Also let me go on an unhinged diatribe about a mistake Kyrou made at 20.

No, there is not bias against flashier players vs tough players. Y'all need to learn to argue better. Proving my point for me left and right.

 

[PocketNines]

"unhinged diatribe" is such good faith, it drips like snot

"immune from criticism" gee why do I allege that people make stupid bad faith arguments around here gee

such an embarrassment

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

It’s the usual suspects where the discussion invariably becomes about the poster(s) and not the position. It gets exhausting following those conversations, wanting to engage initially in the exchange of ideas, but wanting to avoid getting sucked into the personal comments.

I guess when the team is struggling, patience gets shorter across the board.

 

[Dr Robot]

It’s the usual suspects where the discussion invariably becomes about the poster(s) and not the position. It gets exhausting following those conversations, wanting to engage initially in the exchange of ideas, but wanting to avoid getting sucked into the personal comments.

I guess when the team is struggling, patience gets shorter across the board.

I’d post more on our boards but this is certainly something that slows me down. There’s been a weird cloud of angst and hostility here for years.

 

[kimzey59]

Pretty good breakdown. I have to say that I am very weary of taking Hagens especially #1. When I watch him all I see is skating and puck skills, of which he is elite. He uses these to bully lesser talented players. However, I seriously question his hockey IQ and two way game are at that level. I do think he will be a successful NHL player but not a first overall talent.

Porter Martone would be my number one target. I love the aggressiveness and intent he plays with. He is a straight line player that goes to the area you need to go to. Reminds me of a much more skilled David Backes. The type of guy you can slap a C on.

I get the urge to grab a legit top line PF.
However; for me, I'm leaning towards the playmakers(specifically Ryabkin).

We have scorers coming along in Dvorsky and Snuggles(plus Kyrou, and Bolduc to a lesser extent).
We already have Holloway and Neighbours(and Buch to a lesser extent) providing some snarl in the top 9.

We don't have a single prospect that profiles as a set-up guy. Stenberg and Pekarcik are our best options right now, and they're both more of the "strip and dish" types than a real "find someone in traffic" type. Our passing is already horrendous, and it doesn't project to get any better. If we end up in the top 9, that's the area I'm looking to address. A good passer can turn a 20 goal scorer into a 30 goal scorer.