Prospect Info: Blues 2024-2025 Prospect Thread

[LetsGoBooze]

Please let this be that game-changing prospect that the Blues never seem to luck into.

I consider Parayko one.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

I consider Parayko one.

I'm thinking more along the lines of a Kaprisov. Someone in the conversation of being one of the best in his league at his position.

We could desperately use a break like that.

 

[BlueMed]

I'm thinking more along the lines of a Kaprisov. Someone in the conversation of being one of the best in his league at his position.

We could desperately use a break like that.

We did get that break drafting Tarasenko at 16 thanks for the russian factor. But yes, I do agree. It would be nice to find a hidden gem. Maybe Korotky is that guy or the Blues can take Ivan Ryabkin if his character aligns with our values.

 

[barriers]

 

[ScratchCatFever]

I'm thinking more along the lines of a Kaprisov. Someone in the conversation of being one of the best in his league at his position.

We could desperately use a break like that.

I second this. We need guys mike Mrsic, Pekarcik, Robertsson or (insert name of future 3rd round pick here) to develop into a Guentzel/Point type of player if our model is to remain a perennially competitive franchise rather than accumulate high end prospects through multiple years of futility.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

I connected with one of the Brantford Bulldogs media guys last week. I asked him if there was an update on Jiricek after he missed another game on Monday. He said it's nothing serious and they're playing it safe.

So there you have it. I've expanded my hockey network to the Brantford Bulldogs (OHL) and Malmo Redhawks (SHL), (who currently have no Blues prospects after Stenberg left).

I'm basically Elliotte Friedman.

 

[stl76]

I connected with one of the Brantford Bulldogs media guys last week. I asked him if there was an update on Jiricek after he missed another game on Monday. He said it's nothing serious and they're playing it safe.

So there you have it. I've expanded my hockey network to the Brantford Bulldogs (OHL) and Malmo Redhawks (SHL), (who currently have no Blues prospects after Stenberg left).

I'm basically Elliotte Friedman.

Truly doing gods work here

 

[LGB]

Lindstein shift by shift video. About what I'd expect. Solid game outside of one chaotic shift in the first period.

 

[Bluesnatic27]

Lindstein shift by shift video. About what I'd expect. Solid game outside of one chaotic shift in the first period.

His instincts and passes are super impressive. He’s such a fluid skater but his ability to find passing lanes without hesitation is another reason I see such high potential. This is not Gunnarsson, plane and simple.

Still, if he just skated with the puck more and chose to press more frequently, with reckless abandon as well, he could be so much more. I absolutely love what I see out of Lindstein when I watch him play. I would just love him more if he took Pietrangelo’s patience and aggression, the sky is the limit with him.

 

[BlueBleeder]

Lindstein will probably end up similar to Parayko, solid player but leaves you wanting a little bit more because you know the potential is there.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

His instincts and passes are super impressive. He’s such a fluid skater but his ability to find passing lanes without hesitation is another reason I see such high potential. This is not Gunnarsson, plane and simple.

Still, if he just skated with the puck more and chose to press more frequently, with reckless abandon as well, he could be so much more. I absolutely love what I see out of Lindstein when I watch him play. I would just love him more if he took Pietrangelo’s patience and aggression, the sky is the limit with him.

Agree. He’s not a Gunnarsson comp. He’s poised, but a little timid. I think, as he matures and gains more confidence, he will top out as a solid #3.

If he can take control of himself, then the sky is the limit.

Lindstein will probably end up similar to Parayko, solid player but leaves you wanting a little bit more because you know the potential is there.

I was thinking the same thing. He will leave us wanting more because we see the potential.

 

[Mike Liut]

Lindstein shift by shift video. About what I'd expect. Solid game outside of one chaotic shift in the first period.

He looks good out there. Not undersized or overmatched physically. Skates well, makes good decisions with the puck.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

He looks good out there. Not undersized or overmatched physically. Skates well, makes good decisions with the puck.

Lindstein is so consistent. Game in and game out he quietly does his job, and most nights he does it very effectively. He'll likely never be a star, but he seems like the kind of defender you can have as your #2 LD for a decade and not have to worry about it.

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

 

[Brian39]

Let’s assume they did call him up, and he played well. What do you do next?

We aren’t that far off from approaching a Bishop situation.

I'm hoping that we can convince him to sign a 2 year deal by offering him a 1 way contract. Barring an NHL cup of coffee this year, his career earnings at the end of this year will be about $575k and that is pretty front-loaded because $277k of it was paid as signing bonuses (the last of which was paid in July of 2023). His AHL salary this year is $85k and would probably be roughly that amount on any 1 year deal he'd sign to try and get himself to UFA for the summer of 2026. Signing a 2 year deal worth $1.55M-$2M of guaranteed money would be a life changing amount of money for him. It wouldn't set him up for life, but it would dramatically change his lifestyle and investment portfolio.

If I were the Blues, I'd try to get him an NHL cup of coffee this year to get an NHL paycheck or two into his pockets as a reward for his play the last couple seasons. Each day on an NHL roster would be worth about $4k extra on the paycheck for him vs a day in the AHL. Just having him here for 5 days or so to play in our last game of the year would be worth about $20k, which is a hell of an end-of-year bonus for a guy making $85k. $20k is pretty damn cheap by the standards of an NHL payroll, but it would buy some good will before you tell him that the only way he's getting a raise next year is by signing a 2 year deal to push UFA back to 2027.

All in all, putting a bit of extra cash in his pockets this year and then giving him a guaranteed $775k for 2025/26 and 2026/27 is a pretty fair was to handle a 24 year old with no NHL experience and less than 50 games of AHL experience. He might choose to bet on himself and sign the QO to speed up his potential path to the NHL, but I think that the team would have been more than fair in their negotiations.

 

[Brian39]

Alexandrov continues to rip up the AHL. 14 goals, 28 points and an absurd +20 in 25 games this year. He was such a disappointment in the NHL last season, but I'd like to see him get some NHL games down the stretch to see if he can hang. We have a glaring hole at 3C and the odds seem pretty good that we will be moving Faksa out in the next few weeks. What I've seen from Dvorsky in the AHL post-WJC hasn't convinced me that he needs NHL minutes this year, so at this point my preference would be to give Alexandrov a chance to prove that he's a better player than he was last year.

I'm not confident that he seizes that opportunity, but I'm also not 100% sure that he can't be an effective bottom 6 center in the NHL. I'd like to see him in one more run of NHL games before he leaves North America and these next 2 months very well could be the last chance to see that. I'd wager that he could make similar (or better) money in the KHL and his chances of cracking the Blues NHL roster next year seem slim if he can't do it this year.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Alexandrov continues to rip up the AHL. 14 goals, 28 points and an absurd +20 in 25 games this year. He was such a disappointment in the NHL last season, but I'd like to see him get some NHL games down the stretch to see if he can hang. We have a glaring hole at 3C and the odds seem pretty good that we will be moving Faksa out in the next few weeks. What I've seen from Dvorsky in the AHL post-WJC hasn't convinced me that he needs NHL minutes this year, so at this point my preference would be to give Alexandrov a chance to prove that he's a better player than he was last year.

I'm not confident that he seizes that opportunity, but I'm also not 100% sure that he can't be an effective bottom 6 center in the NHL. I'd like to see him in one more run of NHL games before he leaves North America and these next 2 months very well could be the last chance to see that. I'd wager that he could make similar (or better) money in the KHL and his chances of cracking the Blues NHL roster next year seem slim if he can't do it this year.

There is zero reason to think he can be 3rd line center for Blues. Aside from him never showing anything in NHL even while putting up roughly ppg in A last couple years, he isn't playing center in Springfield.

 

[BleedBlue14]

There is zero reason to think he can be 3rd line center for Blues. Aside from him never showing anything in NHL even while putting up roughly ppg in A last couple years, he isn't playing center in Springfield.

I don't disagree, but we have virtually nothing to lose by doing so aside from hurting Springfields chances of being a better team. Sure you have to weigh that but the growth we're looking for in Springfield is individual which sure winning can help.

I would gladly take the opportunity to give Alexandrov one more shot in the NHL on the backhalf of this season to see if he sticks, as opposed to having Sunny e the 3rd line center. Worst case scenario it doesn't work out and he looks for opportunities elsewhere.

Downside risk in my opinion with it is that you're potentially giving Dvorsky/Stenberg lesser linemattes but it really looks like Alexandrov has been playing with McGing and Luff anyways.

Just judging by their lineup last night

Alexandrov - McGing - Luff
MacEachern - Dvorsky - Bolduc
Stenberg - Peca - Andonovski
Kaskimaki - Dickinson - Peterson

You can pretty easily rotate a few guys up the lineup there and not lose too much. They're going to have to do so anyways with Bolduc coming up, but having Stenberg/Kaskimaki or both jump up the lineup wouldn't hurt. I think they're rolling 4 lines pretty well right now anyways. May be beneficial to get the younger guys a bit more minutes and move that to 3. I'm basing this purely off of what i'm reading, and not watching the games by the way. But there's enough pieces there that need ice time I don't think that risk is all too much.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

I don't disagree, but we have virtually nothing to lose by doing so aside from hurting Springfields chances of being a better team. Sure you have to weigh that but the growth we're looking for in Springfield is individual which sure winning can help.

I would gladly take the opportunity to give Alexandrov one more shot in the NHL on the backhalf of this season to see if he sticks, as opposed to having Sunny e the 3rd line center. Worst case scenario it doesn't work out and he looks for opportunities elsewhere.

Downside risk in my opinion with it is that you're potentially giving Dvorsky/Stenberg lesser linemattes but it really looks like Alexandrov has been playing with McGing and Luff anyways.

Just judging by their lineup last night

Alexandrov - McGing - Luff
MacEachern - Dvorsky - Bolduc
Stenberg - Peca - Andonovski
Kaskimaki - Dickinson - Peterson

You can pretty easily rotate a few guys up the lineup there and not lose too much. They're going to have to do so anyways with Bolduc coming up, but having Stenberg/Kaskimaki or both jump up the lineup wouldn't hurt. I think they're rolling 4 lines pretty well right now anyways. May be beneficial to get the younger guys a bit more minutes and move that to 3. I'm basing this purely off of what i'm reading, and not watching the games by the way. But there's enough pieces there that need ice time I don't think that risk is all too much.

I am not opposed to giving him another shot, but he's not a center. He is bad at faceoffs and hasn't shown other center skills, which is likely why we are playing him at wing in Springfield.

 

[BleedBlue14]

I am not opposed to giving him another shot, but he's not a center. He is bad at faceoffs and hasn't shown other center skills, which is likely why we are playing him at wing in Springfield.

I mean Sunny is at a tick below 45% on the draw. We aren't likely to find a good scenario in house right now if we are adamant that Dvorsky isn't ready for the NHL.

I definitely get where you're coming from but we really are extremely slim on options. I don't have a lot of faith that it will work out well, but at this point I don't think we're in a situation where we should care too much. We are getting very little in terms of secondary scoring, and we're getting pretty spotty primary scoring as well. If Alexandrov is truly horrible in terms of on the dot and becoming a liability, i'm not necessarily opposed to them trying Joseph out at center again. I think he at least has some redeeming qualities that wont slow the pace down.

I love Sunny but I can't see any line he's going to be on be anything more than a possession and forecheck line. I'm all for them keeping him and playing him as well, but in a morel limited situation or 4th line role. I think I value the ability to allow Bolduc or whatever winger is thrown onto the 3rd line to have at least the opportunity to create scoring chances.

 

[Brian39]

There is zero reason to think he can be 3rd line center for Blues. Aside from him never showing anything in NHL even while putting up roughly ppg in A last couple years, he isn't playing center in Springfield.

I am not opposed to giving him another shot, but he's not a center. He is bad at faceoffs and hasn't shown other center skills, which is likely why we are playing him at wing in Springfield.

I don't disagree with any of this, but in a few weeks I expect that Faksa will be gone and we will have just 2 players on the NHL roster who are competent at faceoffs and have shown other center skills. We'll have a 3C and 4C spot to fill and Sunny has overwhelmingly demonstrated that he isn't well suited for the 3C. I hope/assume that he slides down to 4C once Faksa is gone so we can experiment with the 3C role.

I think that Dvorsky, Dean, Dickinson, Stenberg are best suited in the AHL right now from a developmental standpoint. I'm confident that Peca and McGing are not (and shouldn't be) in the team's medium-to-long term plan, so I don't have a desire to give them an NHL audition at 3C. I don't have a desire to see any of the other centers (or potential centers) from Springfield plugged into an NHL 3C role right now.

I'm also confident that Alexandrov isn't (and shouldn't be) in the team's medium-to-long term plans at wing. We simply have too much talent at wing for him to be able to grab a spot there. He's clearly behind Kyrou, Buch, Neighbours, Holloway, Snuggy, Bolduc, and Stenberg in organizational importance to snag a top 9 wing spot. We also have Texier, Torpo, Joseph, and Walker under contract at wing for next year too. If he has any spot in our plans moving forward, it is as a bottom 6 center.

I don't think he's capable of filling that role. But I'd like to get 10ish NHL games where he cements that opinion before we see him walk away forever. Because I don't see anyone older who I'm more confident in and I'd rather keep the younger guys in the AHL for now.

 

[bleedblue1223]

He's certainly earned a 1 last opportunity with us. I'd much rather call him up than acquire the equivalent of Vrana, Kapanen, or Blais. Either he produces and maybe we have something or he flops and helps our draft position.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

I don't disagree with any of this, but in a few weeks I expect that Faksa will be gone and we will have just 2 players on the NHL roster who are competent at faceoffs and have shown other center skills. We'll have a 3C and 4C spot to fill and Sunny has overwhelmingly demonstrated that he isn't well suited for the 3C. I hope/assume that he slides down to 4C once Faksa is gone so we can experiment with the 3C role.

I think that Dvorsky, Dean, Dickinson, Stenberg are best suited in the AHL right now from a developmental standpoint. I'm confident that Peca and McGing are not (and shouldn't be) in the team's medium-to-long term plan, so I don't have a desire to give them an NHL audition at 3C. I don't have a desire to see any of the other centers (or potential centers) from Springfield plugged into an NHL 3C role right now.

I'm also confident that Alexandrov isn't (and shouldn't be) in the team's medium-to-long term plans at wing. We simply have too much talent at wing for him to be able to grab a spot there. He's clearly behind Kyrou, Buch, Neighbours, Holloway, Snuggy, Bolduc, and Stenberg in organizational importance to snag a top 9 wing spot. We also have Texier, Torpo, Joseph, and Walker under contract at wing for next year too. If he has any spot in our plans moving forward, it is as a bottom 6 center.

I don't think he's capable of filling that role. But I'd like to get 10ish NHL games where he cements that opinion before we see him walk away forever. Because I don't see anyone older who I'm more confident in and I'd rather keep the younger guys in the AHL for now.

Selfishly as a T birds regular, I don’t want anyone really brought up. I can think of a couple teams that could miss a few players in the playoffs for us we could trade for…(fleece the Griffins! (Detroit)).