Prospect Info: Blues 2024-2025 Prospect Thread

Bye Bye Blueston

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Seems like the scouting staff was universally high on Jiricek and they were more concerned about someone snagging him then trading up to get Buium.
It certainly seems like it was Buffalo they were afraid of taking Jiricek. The other takeaway for me was it feels like Army was saying that if this breaks the wrong way, a winger would be our top guy and he wanted to deviate from list to draft guy at higher value position, presumably either Emery or a center like Hage or Boisvert.
 

bleedblue1223

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It certainly seems like it was Buffalo they were afraid of taking Jiricek. The other takeaway for me was it feels like Army was saying that if this breaks the wrong way, a winger would be our top guy and he wanted to deviate from list to draft guy at higher value position, presumably either Emery or a center like Hage or Boisvert.
Yeah, it's kind of funny how that part said the quiet part out loud. Teams absolutely factor need with best player available. Which is perfectly fine, just goes against what they all say publicly.
 
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Celtic Note

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I don’t take much from the video from the stand point of player evaluation. There wasn’t much depth of analysis other than guys were big, which doesn’t mean very much.

What I did take away from it was Army was stressed about potentially missing out on one of our tiers and that there was a pretty dramatic falloff from that tier. This is the second year we lucked out in that regard. He looked a lot more frantic this year (based on what they chose to show) than in past drafts. It also seemed like he was focused more on need more than ever.

He also seems to value Walt’s opinion very highly.
 
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Renard

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We don't read much about Leo Loof.

I was interested in him when he was drafted. He's was in the minors
last season, and didn't score much, as expected. But is that a fatal flaw for a defenseman?
 

bleedblue1223

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Edmundson didn't score much in his first AHL season. It's tough to get a read on defense first players in the minors unless you watch them or they play on an AHL team that provides good reports and updates to fans. We don't really have that.
 

Bye Bye Blueston

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We don't read much about Leo Loof.

I was interested in him when he was drafted. He's was in the minors
last season, and didn't score much, as expected. But is that a fatal flaw for a defenseman?
This will be key year for him. Last year his play was fine as he acclimated to NA style game. If he is going to be more than JAG, this would be time to show it. If he is gonna be legit nhl guy, I’d like to see him show he can handle top 4 minutes and excel. I think that is within his reach.
 

STL fan in MN

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We don't read much about Leo Loof.

I was interested in him when he was drafted. He's was in the minors
last season, and didn't score much, as expected. But is that a fatal flaw for a defenseman?
No, not scoring much is far from a fatal flaw for a d-man. But being a black hole offensively doesn’t help…and that’s far from Lööf’s only deficiency. He’s also not overly good defensively and takes himself out of a lot of plays.

He’s going to really need to take a step this season or he’s going to get lost in the shuffle.
 
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execwrite1

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St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced today the Blues have signed defenseman Quinton Burns to a three-year entry-level contract.
Burns was drafted by the Blues in the third round, No. 74 overall, of the 2023 NHL Draft.
Burns, 19, has spent the past three seasons with the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs.
In 2023-24, the 6-foot-1, 185-pound defenseman appeared in 58 regular-season games, recording 35 points (six goals, 29 assists) and 120 penalty minutes. His 120 penalty minutes led Kingston and shared sixth overall in the OHL.
Overall, the Smiths Falls, Ontario, native has appeared in 154 regular-season games with Kingston, posting 68 points (eight goals, 60 assists) and 285 penalty minutes.
Burns also appeared in three games with Team Canada at the 2023 U-18 World Junior Championship, where he earned a bronze medal.
 

MortiestOfMortys

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We don't read much about Leo Loof.

I was interested in him when he was drafted. He's was in the minors
last season, and didn't score much, as expected. But is that a fatal flaw for a defenseman?
I think people forget how physical he was in that WJC he played in. It might take him a bit to re-learn how to play that way on NA ice and against NA pros. But he’s still got that fire. I think there is still a shot he makes the NHL roster at some point, but if he does I’m not sure how long he’ll be able to hold that spot for. Lindstein and Broberg should be locks for the top 4 LHD spots well into the future, which means there’s really only 1 spot left to claim on those future rosters. Loof has the age advantage in that he’s much closer to being ready today than any of the guys we’ve drafted recently. But when guys like Ralph, Fischer, Burns, and/or Koromyslov are ready, I don’t think his upside is close to theirs, and each of them are at least as physical as he is without sacrificing offense to get there. And that’s not even accounting for a late breakout from Perunovich, who would bring something different to that 3rd LHD spot entirely. So really, I see a path, but not a very stable one. The best case scenario is he claims a spot for a few years while the younger prospects mature, and then we can flip him for something else.
 

Bye Bye Blueston

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I think people forget how physical he was in that WJC he played in. It might take him a bit to re-learn how to play that way on NA ice and against NA pros. But he’s still got that fire. I think there is still a shot he makes the NHL roster at some point, but if he does I’m not sure how long he’ll be able to hold that spot for. Lindstein and Broberg should be locks for the top 4 LHD spots well into the future, which means there’s really only 1 spot left to claim on those future rosters. Loof has the age advantage in that he’s much closer to being ready today than any of the guys we’ve drafted recently. But when guys like Ralph, Fischer, Burns, and/or Koromyslov are ready, I don’t think his upside is close to theirs, and each of them are at least as physical as he is without sacrificing offense to get there. And that’s not even accounting for a late breakout from Perunovich, who would bring something different to that 3rd LHD spot entirely. So really, I see a path, but not a very stable one. The best case scenario is he claims a spot for a few years while the younger prospects mature, and then we can flip him for something else.
I still go back to one of our reporters asking Army if he thought Loof was going to be top 4d for us down the road and Army basically said, "Hell no!". Loof if he shows significant improvement has a chance to carve out a bit of an NHL career in the vein of Petteri Lindbohm- decent size and some feistiness and a sliver of skill, but ultimately not much of an NHL defenseman.
 
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Blanick

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Broberg, Lindstein, Ralph, Fischer, Burns, Koromyslov, Mayich, Gaudet, Buchinger, Loof

LHD looks pretty solid. Only need three to hit.

Definitely a solid core on the left side. I would like to add some more names on the right side and still think getting another RHD prospect with top4 potential would be ideal. Need someone alongside Jiricek to push Parayko down the lineup as he ages. I'll be honest the player I am most excited about is Lindstein though. I went from not knowing who he was when we drafted him to his biggest fan. From his performance at the WJC, to my viewings at prospect camp, his progress has been exceptional. I love the fact that he gets overlooked by many experts cause I see top pairing potential in him.
 

Majorityof1

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Broberg, Lindstein, Ralph, Fischer, Burns, Koromyslov, Mayich, Gaudet, Buchinger, Loof

LHD looks pretty solid. Only need three to hit.

What does hitting mean? If they are an NHL, 3rd pairing or 7th D is that hitting? 3 of those doesn't help. We need at least one to hit top pair and another to be top 4.

Broberg and Lindstein have a pretty good chance to hit top 4. They have the potential to hit top pair. But the smart money would still be on them maxing out as a #3 or 4. The rest are just guys. They may be NHLers some day, some could reach a #4. But they aren't sniffing top pair. We still are missing elite talent and quantity of LHD prospects isn't going to make up for it. As you say, there are only 3 slots on the LD.
 
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ChicagoBlues

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Broberg, Lindstein, Ralph, Fischer, Burns, Koromyslov, Mayich, Gaudet, Buchinger, Loof

LHD looks pretty solid. Only need three to hit.
I think Broberg and Lindstein have a step on everyone else in that list. For me, everyone else is kind of in the same blob. I just want these guys to separate themselves by figuring out how to apply their skill set to the NHL.

I'm not too concerned with their age, but what potential role they can play on D.

I kinda put Ralph and Burns in a physical category.
Buchinger and Gaudet are in the offensive category.
Loof and Fischer are two-way.
Koromsyslov and Mayich idk.
I think Mayich is kinda on the tough side, right?

Am I close?

I want to know who has the best potential to fill their ideal NHL role, whether a #5 or #4-5 tweener, a #7 or even a top-pair guy etc.......

I know I keep saying this, but these guys need to step out and separate. And teams need guys to fill roles, even on defense.
 
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MortiestOfMortys

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I still go back to one of our reporters asking Army if he thought Loof was going to be top 4d for us down the road and Army basically said, "Hell no!". Loof if he shows significant improvement has a chance to carve out a bit of an NHL career in the vein of Petteri Lindbohm- decent size and some feistiness and a sliver of skill, but ultimately not much of an NHL defenseman.
Yep, I think Lindbohm is a good comp for Loof. Not even in terms of play style, but in terms of what the upside of his career looks like. A few cups of coffee, maybe a bit more if the injury bug bites or we trade off a few guys, but probably not much more than that.
 
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