Pre-Game Talk: 2025 NHL Draft Thread

[Davimir Tarablad]

Evan Passmore too is a good player. Just smart reads and solid.

Very fitting name to have for this franchise.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Feel like this draft really falls off when you get to around 20. Even moreso than last year. Unless we win the lottery, the level of player we will get at 10 is about the same as we will at 19. Might as well make the playoffs!

 

[Blanick]

Feel like this draft really falls off when you get to around 20. Even moreso than last year. Unless we win the lottery, the level of player we will get at 10 is about the same as we will at 19. Might as well make the playoffs!

Personally I feel like it falls off well before 20. I think there are maybe about 11-12 guys that would have been first rounders in last years draft out of this class. This class just isn't deep. Which is why I am in favor of using our 1st rounder + to make a trade for previously drafted RHD to round out our prospects.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

I think we need a center out of this draft, but I would trade for 2026 and 2027 picks. We are not a playoff team. Dump some fodder for either previous drafted players or next two years picks. Lefties can play the right side. We need a 2A center

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Personally I feel like it falls off well before 20. I think there are maybe about 11-12 guys that would have been first rounders in last years draft out of this class. This class just isn't deep. Which is why I am in favor of using our 1st rounder + to make a trade for previously drafted RHD to round out our prospects.

I think we largely agree. To me it drops off after 4, again after about 9, and then around 20 it falls off a cliff. That 10-19 tier feels about equivalent to where I had guys 20-47 last year and 21-30 the year before.

I didn't love last year at the top (after Celebrini who I loved), but the depth last year of what i considered 1st round talent felt quite strong. This year much, much less.

 

[Blanick]

I think we largely agree. To me it drops off after 4, again after about 9, and then around 20it falls off a cliff. That 10-19 tier feels about equivalent to where I had guys 20-47 last year and 21-30 the year before.

I didn't love last year at the top (after Celebrini who I loved), but the depth last year of what i considered 1st round talent felt quite strong. This year much, much less.

Yeah I felt like "first round talent" bled into about half the second round last year. This year there are only a handful of players I love and expect them to go extremely early. Schaefer, Misa, Hagens, Martone and Desnoyers make up my current top 5.

Guys I could see being there where the Blues would draft, Hensler, Mrtka, Bear, Cootes, I would put as late 1st or early 2nd rounders in last years draft. Doesn't mean a whole lot given the Blues success of taking picks in the teens/20s and churning out full time NHLers.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Here is my post-WJC Top 32:

1. Schaefer
2. Misa
3. Hagens - I see a top line winger
4. McQueen
5. Desnoyers
6. O'Brien
7. Frondell
8. Martone
9. Hensler
10. Bear
11. Carbonneau
12. Reid
13. Smith
14. Aitcheson
15. Spence

Guys I like not sure where to put them. Arvid Drott, Eddie Genborg, Brady Martin, Eric Nilsson, David Bedkowski, Aron Dahlqvist, Kristian Epperson, David Granberg, Gustav Hillstrom, Mason Moe, Hayden P, Julius Sumpf, Bill Zonnon

I think Mrtka is just a giraffe. What separates him from Simon Wang and Jason Rombach? Martone is overrated. Hagens is the best American and I think a bit overrated. Watch out for the Swedes at the U18s. Being a little underrated again due to their medal drought. 4-7 are interchangeable.

Every time I watch Pekarcik and Desnoyers play, there’s this guy Sumpf winning faceoffs, flying around catching guys from behind stealing pucks, throwing his weight around, scoring goals, setting up goals….who is this guy? Who owns his rights? Same with the U20s. Julius Sumpf a D+2. I think he is being overlooked bad.

 

[PocketNines]

Mrtka is a giraffe, perfect word for him. A 6'6" giraffe with bad puck skills who will absolutely, absolutely lose the puck to Stancl in a board battle. We just cannot have that.

I need to watch more Jackson Smith to see about his offense

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Mrtka is a giraffe, perfect word for him. A 6'6" giraffe with bad puck skills who will absolutely, absolutely lose the puck to Stancl in a board battle. We just cannot have that.

I need to watch more Jackson Smith to see about his offense

May be watching for a while. He’s just a physical mobile top 4 defender. It may come it may not but I see a top 4 or better. Reid and Aitcheson are in that category too. After that I spread guys out to a top six or better guy where Fiddler, Boumedienne, Tretheway, Bedkowski, Laurila, Passmore, and Rombach go.

Laurila is kind of interesting. He’s Fargos leading scorer. He was known as a defensive defenseman for the USNTP team last year. September 2006 birthday. North Dakota recruit.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

I think we largely agree. To me it drops off after 4, again after about 9, and then around 20 it falls off a cliff. That 10-19 tier feels about equivalent to where I had guys 20-47 last year and 21-30 the year before.

I didn't love last year at the top (after Celebrini who I loved), but the depth last year of what i considered 1st round talent felt quite strong. This year much, much less.

I’m struggling this year to find 20 guys that seem like legit top 4 or top 6 guys. Bad year unless your a goalie.

 

[Stealth JD]

I’m struggling this year to find 20 guys that seem like legit top 4 or top 6 guys. Bad year unless your a goalie.

But it's a GOOD year to trade away your pick around #15 for a legitimate NHL player. I'm hoping Army deals his 1st in '25 for a long-term member of the next core. (like K'Andre)

 

[Majorityof1]

But it's a GOOD year to trade away your pick around #15 for a legitimate NHL player. I'm hoping Army deals his 1st in '25 for a long-term member of the next core. (like K'Andre)

I don't get this logic. Do you think we are the only teams who see it as a weaker draft? If a player projected to go 15th OA this year is half as valuable as the 15th OA last year, then the 15OA pick will be half as valuable. We'll have to add more to a trade than we would have in a strong draft year.

 

[Stealth JD]

I don't get this logic. Do you think we are the only teams who see it as a weaker draft? If a player projected to go 15th OA this year is half as valuable as the 15th OA last year, then the 15OA pick will be half as valuable. We'll have to add more to a trade than we would have in a strong draft year.

Past precedent can play a role in what guys are valued at. If a player was traded for a mid-first in recent years, comparable players may also be seen as costing an equivalent amount, even if the quality of the guy available at that pick isn’t.

Plus, some teams may love certain guys more than other teams. There is no consensus when it comes to the draft. Other teams may see a draft pick as a last chance to cut bait on a guy while he’s still highly valued across the league, or as a way to reallocate salary to the next wave of guys needing to be paid. There are many reasons why a GM may be willing to move a player for a pick and for another to not want to wait the 3-5 years for the pick to materialize in a player.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

I don't get this logic. Do you think we are the only teams who see it as a weaker draft? If a player projected to go 15th OA this year is half as valuable as the 15th OA last year, then the 15OA pick will be half as valuable. We'll have to add more to a trade than we would have in a strong draft year.

That will probably be the negative selling point of a trade offer which is why I would hold onto the pick. I agree.

 

[Majorityof1]

Past precedent can play a role in what guys are valued at. If a player was traded for a mid-first in recent years, comparable players may also be seen as costing an equivalent amount, even if the quality of the guy available at that pick isn’t.

Plus, some teams may love certain guys more than other teams. There is no consensus when it comes to the draft. Other teams may see a draft pick as a last chance to cut bait on a guy while he’s still highly valued across the league, or as a way to reallocate salary to the next wave of guys needing to be paid. There are many reasons why a GM may be willing to move a player for a pick and for another to not want to wait the 3-5 years for the pick to materialize in a player.

Past precedent plays some part but it is filtered through the len's of the current situation. Teams aren't going to say, "hey a mid-1st got a top 4 D in the strongest draft in recent memory, I'll give up a top 4 D in the weakest one." No. They may use it as a starting point but then they are going to start asking for more.

As for the some teams may value a player more and be willing to oat mire, that us always tge case. That mid-first in a strong sraft year may get you more than that top 4 D if the other team really likes a guy projected to land there.

My point is that the strength of the draft shouldn't determine if you trade a draft choice. The determining factor is if you can get more value by trading it than keeping it. That happens in strong and weak draft years. Because in a strong draft year, teams may be more aggressive in shopping impact players for picks than they are in a weak draft year.

 

[PocketNines]

Yeah I felt like "first round talent" bled into about half the second round last year. This year there are only a handful of players I love and expect them to go extremely early. Schaefer, Misa, Hagens, Martone and Desnoyers make up my current top 5.

Guys I could see being there where the Blues would draft, Hensler, Mrtka, Bear, Cootes, I would put as late 1st or early 2nd rounders in last years draft. Doesn't mean a whole lot given the Blues success of taking picks in the teens/20s and churning out full time NHLers.

I mean Cootes is projected late 1st early 2d and he would be a weak pick if we want a center. so I would expect him to be available in the mid first for sure.

We don't want Mrtka either, you need to be real smooth with the puck to be a top pair NHL defender, and he does not have the puck skills and we don't need bottom 4 D at all

 

[Blanick]

I mean Cootes is projected late 1st early 2d and he would be a weak pick if we want a center. so I would expect him to be available in the mid first for sure.

We don't want Mrtka either, you need to be real smooth with the puck to be a top pair NHL defender, and he does not have the puck skills and we don't need bottom 4 D at all

My long term view of Cootes would that of a bottom six matchup center. I just like the pace he plays with, a guy that drags his team into the fight. I know picks like him are considered low ceiling/high floor safe picks but if the Blues go forward we need players like that too. We already have a bunch of high ceiling guys that are going to get a crack at top6 roles.

Mrtka to me is the definition of very green, pure potential. With his size and skating ability he could end up with a very high ceiling. However, there is a chance he never reaches that and busts hard. He is lottery ticket but not a shitty one with a 5,000 jackpot, one of the multi million dollar ones. If he hits, could be a game changer.

 

[kimzey59]

I think we need a center out of this draft, but I would trade for 2026 and 2027 picks. We are not a playoff team. Dump some fodder for either previous drafted players or next two years picks. Lefties can play the right side. We need a 2A center

1- Dvorsky, Dean, Stancl, Peterson,

Definitely not Crosby/Malkin in the same pipeline, but also not devoid of talent. I'm not sure I'd consider C any more of a need than anything else right now; though I admit that positional value and transition ability makes the C position extremely valuable(far more so than either wing position).


2- Lefties "can" play the right side but it does place some limits on them just in terms of the physics of the game. It is FAR better to have some natural righties to balance things out(that's one of the main reasons we kept going back to Perron).

JMO, but the biggest weakness in our system right now is the general lack of right shooting players. Snuggles and Jiricek are the only righties in our system that look like they might make an impact at the NHL level. We could definitely use a few more, especially on defense(Thomas and Kyrou lessen the need up front, but don't eliminate it).