2026 NHL Draft Thread

[HighNote]

Tankathon has us taking

11) Gus
15) Command
16) Suvanto
29) Rogowsky

That would be a nice haul. I’m 100% taking BPA on all 4 picks

Yeah, we're not making all 4 picks.

 

[Mike Liut]

Yeah, we're not making all 4 picks.

Anything is possible. We made all 3 a few years ago when we didn’t think so. I’m ok either way. 4 BPA’s, move up, or trade for nhl ready players. Just make good decisions

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Yeah, we're not making all 4 picks.

Correct, we'll be making 5

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Who knows where we actually pick come Friday, but if we are still at 11 and Gustafsson and Lawrence still available, what way is everyone leaning?

Gus. Top 4d over middle 6c. Especially with other centers in Lawrence tier likely still on board at 15 but a big dropoff after top 6 defenders.

 

[Falco Lombardi]

I wonder how our scouts feel about the defensemen at the top of this draft. Are we especially enamored with say a Verhoeff for example to consider trading up?

Probably need to be near the top 5 if you want Bjorck (or I guess Malhotra)

I’m just looking at what I would expect after today’s moves. I just can’t imagine they take all 4 picks. It’s certainly going to be an interesting 48 hours.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Liking big swings, I'm surprised you don't like Cover? Sorry I thought I put in on Minnesota fans....

I like his stick handling and skating but that’s about it. Not a big fan of taking swings on kids that started hockey that late. You just can’t make up the development time sometimes. I think he’s pretty much forever going to be a step behind in terms of thinking the game. He has the skills but he still needs to learn the game and by the time he somewhat catches up, he’s going to have to level up because he’s aged out of his current situation and he’s going to find himself behind again.

Maybe I’m wrong but that’s how I see it. Wish him all the best though. Sounds like a great kid with a really cool story.

 

[LGB]

 

[bleedblue1223]

Not really sure who up there is willing to trade out of it. Toronto likely stays at 1. If they weren't top 2, I think they'd for sure be interested since they need quantity more than quality for prospects. San Jose has 2 and 9, so does acquiring more picks make sense? Vancouver I suppose could prefer quantity, but I doubt they'd move down. Buffalo probably has little reason to do it, unless they view them more as trade chips and want more trade chips as opposed to 1 piece.

If he somehow lands Stenberg or Malhotra without actively tanking, then that's one hell of a send off.

 

[ExJbeck]

I personally think Stenberg and Bjorck will be gone before pick 5. I don't see much purpose in moving up if we aren't getting one of those guys. Would rather wait to see who falls to 11 and pick there then.

Looking at getting three of these guys most likely at 11,15,16: Smits, Gustafsson, Rudolph, Belchetz, Cullen, Lawrence, Hemming, Klepov, Lin, Command, Suvanto, (?)

If it goes like this then 3-4 years from now the Kyrou could really pay dividends.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I personally think Stenberg and Bjorck will be gone before pick 5. I don't see much purpose in moving up if we aren't getting one of those guys. Would rather wait to see who falls to 11 and pick there then.

Looking at getting three of these guys most likely at 11,15,16: Smits, Gustafsson, Rudolph, Belchetz, Cullen, Lawrence, Hemming, Klepov, Lin, Command, Suvanto, (?)

If it goes like this then 3-4 years from now the Kyrou could really pay dividends.

I would tend to agree. As of 24 hours ago, I expected Bjorck to fall to the 8-10 range and us to either just miss out on him or maybe have the ability to trade up 2-3 spots to move up and get him. Not anymore though. With the moves that’ve now happened, I also expect him to go higher now. 6th to CGY at the latest unfortunately.

Still going to hope you and I are both wrong though as I really want Bjorck!

 

[ExJbeck]

I would tend to agree. As of 24 hours ago, I expected Bjorck to fall to the 8-10 range and us to either just miss out on him or maybe have the ability to trade up 2-3 spots to move up and get him. Not anymore though. With the moves that’ve now happened, I also expect him to go higher now. 6th to CGY at the latest unfortunately.

Still going to hope you and I are both wrong though as I really want Bjorck!

I'm not even sure Bjorck gets past Buffalo. They are same organization who choose Benson, Bjorck is a better version of him. I'm certain they see that and for that reason I believe Bjorck is the mold of player they like.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I'm not even sure Bjorck gets past Buffalo. They are same organization who choose Benson, Bjorck is a better version of him. I'm certain they see that and for that reason I believe Bjorck is the mold of player they like.

I could see that too. I bet they’d lean offense (unless they like one of the RDs a ton and are willing to wait a bit for that 18 yr old kid to grow into a top-4 role for them) and it’s now looking like the 3 other main forwards are most likely to go 1,2,3 off the board.

 

[DatDude44]

Is it bad that I love Adam Jiricek and lindstein enough on top of Broberg that I really don't care for any of the D outside of maybe Verhoeff(would prob require a trade up) or Gustafsson(at 15 not 11) for us? We've gotta be dead set on going after as much high end fwd talent as we can get right?

 

[LGB]

Is it bad that I love Adam Jiricek and lindstein enough on top of Broberg that I really don't care for any of the D outside of maybe Verhoeff(would prob require a trade up) or Gustafsson(at 15 not 11) for us? We've gotta be dead set on going after as much high end fwd talent as we can get right?

I would agree on Jiricek. I feel he will be a strong top 4 defender and our PP1 guy. Reduces need for an offensively inclined RHD.

 

[DatDude44]

I would agree on Jiricek. I feel he will be a strong top 4 defender and our PP1 guy. Reduces need for an offensively inclined RHD.

U don't believe in Theo "Forsling" Lindstein as much as I do eh. I get it, do think he'll be a very nice efficient 2nd pair puck mover. I'm alot more worried about mailloux's brain figuring it out than Lindstein. If we go D, i'd prefer a righty. But doesn't need to be a PP type.

 

[LGB]

U don't believe in Theo "Forsling" Lindstein as much as I do eh. I get it, do think he'll be a very nice efficient 2nd pair puck mover.

I like Lindstein. Don't have him on the same level as Jiricek though. Overall I agree that our biggest need is high end forward talent.

 

[DatDude44]

I like Lindstein. Don't have him on the same level as Jiricek though. Overall I agree that our biggest need is high end forward talent.

oh for sure. I'm with ya there, Jiricek could be a legit star for us. Lindstein I think will end up being very solid, but not a star by any means.

 

[Mike Liut]

Lindstein is trade bait after we draft Gus

 

[LogosBlue]

Is it bad that I love Adam Jiricek and lindstein enough on top of Broberg that I really don't care for any of the D outside of maybe Verhoeff(would prob require a trade up) or Gustafsson(at 15 not 11) for us? We've gotta be dead set on going after as much high end fwd talent as we can get right?

Yes. Centers with 2C upside & high ceiling / unique quality wingers. If we can move up to get Verhoeff or our last pick gets us Bleyl then a RD pick makes sense.

 

[ExJbeck]

Lindstein is trade bait after we draft Gus

He could be. I'm a believe that Gus could play NHL next season. He won't but that is a NHL defenseman already and he would be an excellent 2nd pair guy behind Broberg eventually. Hell maybe even a Gus - Jiricek combo would eventually be our 1st pair.

I will say I like Lindstein and the way he approaches the game. Doesn't try to do to much and I like that kind of reliability. I also think Ralph is a future 3rd pair guy. Fortunately even if we get Gus we don't have to trade Lindstein, but he might have decent value in a trade.

 

[LGB]

I've rethought Verhoeff and I think I was definitely too down on him because of the late season NCAA performances. Looking at what happened with Mailloux this year you have to think that it was just a bad stretch where his confidence was low and there will be major improvement. It's still all about the skating though. Is it going to significantly improve? If so, I'm in.

 

[ToastedRavioli]

Not to kick a dead horse but it really is crazy how much value we lost on our late run. If we end up trading up really high we might have to use 3 additional firsts (two of which are in the teens) just to get back to a spot we held post-Olympics. Brutal. I've been pretty pro trading up but all four is A LOT. I'm on the fence.

 

[ExJbeck]

Listen to Brad talk about Rudolph. He gives a very fair evaluation of him. I maybe the only person that actively wants to stay away from Rudolph here and I found this to be very interesting since a lot of people disagree. Given where they rank him at 10 they are still much higher on him then I am.

 

[ExJbeck]

Not to kick a dead horse but it really is crazy how much value we lost on our late run. If we end up trading up really high we might have to use 3 additional firsts (two of which are in the teens) just to get back to a spot we held post-Olympics. Brutal. I've been pretty pro trading up but all four is A LOT. I'm on the fence.

puck pedia would probably say we have close to a whole pick extra worth of value. I have maintained this since months ago this is the time to pay the piper to get elite talent and overpayment was probably going to be necessary. I'm fine with it to be honest because I think players like Bjorck or Stenberg will help in getting other players to consider coming to play for the Blues.

 

[ToastedRavioli]

puck pedia would probably say we have close to a whole pick extra worth of value. I have maintained this since months ago this is the time to pay the piper to get elite talent and overpayment was probably going to be necessary. I'm fine with it to be honest because I think players like Bjorck or Stenberg will help in getting other players to consider coming to play for the Blues.

Yeah, I'd personally feel happy doing 11 + 15 + 16 for 2 for sure. All four just feels steep but I'd still consider it honestly. We really need an elite talent.