Prospect Info: Blues 2024-2025 Prospect Thread

[STL fan in MN]

Philly obviously asked for more from us than Minnesota and Armstrong didn't think that was worth the difference between him and Jiricek who the scouting dept was VERY high on. Jiricek has a very high ceiling if he can overcome his issues but there is reason to be nervous

Philly might have been nervous about Luchanko going before our spot too

Yep.

Let’s say the Blues offered their 2nd to move from 16 to 12. Or even their 2nd and 3rd. Minnesota likely caught wind of it and offered a 3rd just to move up 1 spot. Which offer would you take if you were Philly? The Minny offer was less but it guaranteed them their guy in Luchanko (which I think they were really smart to pick). With the STL offer, they risk a team in the 13-15 spot taking Luchanko.

So if Philly wanted Luchanko and Minny wanted Buium, why didn’t Philly just take Luchanko at 12 and Minny take Buium at 13? Because STL offered Philly a deal and Minny offered enough to get Philly to turn it down. By considering the STL offer, Philly still got their guy and a bonus 3rd for essentially nothing.

 

[PocketNines]

Yep.

Let’s say the Blues offered their 2nd to move from 16 to 12. Or even their 2nd and 3rd. Minnesota likely caught wind of it and offered a 3rd just to move up 1 spot. Which offer would you take if you were Philly? The Minny offer was less but it guaranteed them their guy in Luchanko (which I think they were really smart to pick). With the STL offer, they risk a team in the 13-15 spot taking Luchanko.

So if Philly wanted Luchanko and Minny wanted Buium, why didn’t Philly just take Luchanko at 12 and Minny take Buium at 13? Because STL offered Philly a deal and Minny offered enough to get Philly to turn it down. By considering the STL offer, Philly still got their guy and a bonus 3rd for essentially nothing.

Minnesota took care of us like we were a wheelchair and they were Briere's son

 

[STL fan in MN]

Minnesota took care of us like we were a wheelchair and they were Briere's son

Well that’s one way to put it.

I don’t think too highly of Guerin but that was a smart move on his part. Or whoever at his table came up with it.

 

[PocketNines]

Well that’s one way to put it.

I don’t think too highly of Guerin but that was a smart move on his part. Or whoever at his table came up with it.

Just remembering that a GM's son pushed someone's wheelchair down some stairs at a bar

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

Lindstein heating up in the SHL.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1849503025125106038

 

[Bluesnatic27]

Lindstein heating up in the SHL.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1849503025125106038

He really needs to become a more assertive player in the offensive zone. I love his potential because I see the skillset to become a top pairing player. Yet, he plays the game like someone will kill his dog if he makes a mistake. He will still find a nice home in the NHL if he continues what he’s been doing. But I can see him become so much more if he only took the risks to do so.

 

[shpongle falls]

Nice to see Theo off to a good start can’t wait till he’s with the Blues, him and Brobie as the top two left d should be fun to watch in the future.

 

[Frenzy31]

The lack of offense is more of TLs playing in a men's league and against men. (Yes, not top league, but... ) He had to focus on keeping his game simple. The WJC was NOT and adoration. He has skill and elite passing. It is just so much easier when you are used to playing a game that is faster..... He is finally settling and I think his offensive numbers will pop.

 

[TK 421]

Lukas Fischer out 4 weeks with a separated shoulder. Threw a nice hit on the last shift of a recent game and couldn't use the arm afterwards. Bummer news.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Lukas Fischer out 4 weeks with a separated shoulder. Threw a nice hit on the last shift of a recent game and couldn't use the arm afterwards. Bummer news.

That’s a tough one. Watching him play, he is someone whose game will clean up with lots of ice time. A lot of things we saw in preseason mistakes, risk, etc. woodwork themselves out overtime. Hopefully, he could get on the ice sooner rather than later.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Just secured a couple tickets for the Gophers home opener this Friday. First time at Mariucci. Looking forward to seeing Snuggy in person.

So that was a fun game to attend. 7-1 Gophers win over cross town rival St. Thomas. Looked at the box score this morning and was surprised to see Snuggy credited with 3 assists. He was only credited with one during the game. I specifically recall Renzel’s 2nd goal being announced as unassisted yet this morning Snuggy has credit for an assist.

Here it is. Not sure what Snuggy did there to get an assist but ok. Maybe it bounced off his skate in the scrum to Rinzel? Idk.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1849970823576146080

Nice stat line with 3 assists but he wasn’t impressive. One partial break but the defender pretty easily caught him. Got credited for the hit of the game. It was a nice check in the corner. But he was constantly behind the play. Last guy into the offensive zone, last guy back into the defensive zone. He’s only a threat when Minnesota has sustained pressure and he can get in the zone and someone can feed him the puck.

Good shot but tunnel vision. Gets puck, flings it towards net no matter what angle he’s at. Teammate open for a backdoor tap in? He won’t see it.

He’s got one elite skill but also a lot lacking. His acceleration is just very lacking at the NCAA level.

Rinzel was the most impressive. Very good d-man that skates quite well. Wood and Kurth were also impressive. Wood’s snipe from a bad angle was very nice. Oliver Moore is ok. Speedy but not super effective.

Non-Snuggy observations:
The figure skating cheerleading is a nice unique touch. Surprised they did jumps. Just single toeloops but you still use the toepick for that so they left little divots in the ice. The bane to any hockey player’s existence.

We sat next to the family of freshman Gopher Augie Falloon. They went absolutely nuts when he scored his first NCAA goal. Was cool to see.

The rink is super nice but the PA system sucks. Barely understand a word the PA announcer said.

 

[TheOrganist]

Seems like the Snuggles hype train has derailed the last 12-14 months….

 

[Bluesnatic27]

I’m getting more concerned with Snuggie the more I hear about him.

He was so impressive his freshman year with his Buchnevich-like ability to make his teammates better. I’m hoping he goes back to becoming the reason players like Cooley could have space and less him trying to become some trigger man. His shot is elite but his best game has always been as the support for his lines.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

I was shocked to see Snuggerud return to college this season. Once he returned from WJC he looked much less engaged which to me signaled that he was done with college hockey and ready to move on with his pro career.

He decides to return this season but in the games I've seen, it's been the same thing. He's playing like he's bored and doesn't want to be there. So again, if that's the case, why go back?

I'm not too worried because I think he can flip that switch, and I know he's better than how he's playing right now, but it still makes me wonder why he returned if he wasn't fired up to actually do so.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

I’m getting more concerned with Snuggie the more I hear about him.

He was so impressive his freshman year with his Buchnevich-like ability to make his teammates better. I’m hoping he goes back to becoming the reason players like Cooley could have space and less him trying to become some trigger man. His shot is elite but his best game has always been as the support for his lines.

Wouldn't surprise me if he is dealt. Realistically we have a lot of pretty good winger prospects and with Kyrou and Buchy both signed longterm, makes sense to deal guy like him to address other organizational needs.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I wonder what level of player we could get for a package consisting of Snuggerud and Buchinger. I think both are poised to be top 6 and top 4 level players. But with the depth of our top 6 winger prospects and Lindstein and Broberg looking like our top 2 LHD I think both players can be used to upgrade other parts of the lineup.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

Wouldn't surprise me if he is dealt. Realistically we have a lot of pretty good winger prospects and with Kyrou and Buchy both signed longterm, makes sense to deal guy like him to address other organizational needs.

For a team that struggles scoring, trading a guy with the scoring ability of Snuggerud would be a mistake we would come to regret pretty quickly, I think.

1. Don't count on guys to break out before they're 23, especially college guys. If they do, great. But I wouldn't make too many drastic evaluations before they reach that D+5 season.
2. I haven't watched any Minny games, but we don't know what Snuggerud is working on / through right now. Is he focusing on a 200-foot game? Does his team need him to be defense first? Is he nursing an injury? All sorts of things could be going on that don't show up on the scoresheet.
3. He is over PPG in college hockey. That's not a guy you give up on. The goals will come. It's a weaker team than they had last year or the year before, so more attention is on him than before. That's a good thing. It's better he work out how to succeed in that scenario in college hockey than struggle at it in the NHL.

Snuggerud is very much in our long term plans, and there is no reason to change those plans based on 6 games.

 

[bleedblue1223]

We are no where deep enough to move someone like Snuggerud. And even if he is someone that benefits from better linemates like Cooley, which was always the expectation, that's fine. His shot is his asset, playing with a guy like Thomas down the road has potential for a great partnership.

It's also silly to care about effort in a massive blowout win. Let me know how he performs in the meaningful games against quality opponents.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

For a team that struggles scoring, trading a guy with the scoring ability of Snuggerud would be a mistake we would come to regret pretty quickly, I think.

1. Don't count on guys to break out before they're 23, especially college guys. If they do, great. But I wouldn't make too many drastic evaluations before they reach that D+5 season.
2. I haven't watched any Minny games, but we don't know what Snuggerud is working on / through right now. Is he focusing on a 200-foot game? Does his team need him to be defense first? Is he nursing an injury? All sorts of things could be going on that don't show up on the scoresheet.
3. He is over PPG in college hockey. That's not a guy you give up on. The goals will come. It's a weaker team than they had last year or the year before, so more attention is on him than before. That's a good thing. It's better he work out how to succeed in that scenario in college hockey than struggle at it in the NHL.

Snuggerud is very much in our long term plans, and there is no reason to change those plans based on 6 games.

I don't suggest he is going to be dealt bc of how he is playing. I say it because we have Buchy, Kyrou, Bolduc, Neighbours, Snuggy, Holloway, Texier, and Stenberg, along with guys like Robertsson, Pekarcik, Kaskimaki, etc... Some of those guys are playing center now, but if we think all are best at wing (and other than DH who jury is still out on, I think they are) we don't need all of them. Snuggy presumably has value, which we will need to pay if we are looking to add guy like Jiricek or Zegras or whomever.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

I don't suggest he is going to be dealt bc of how he is playing. I say it because we have Buchy, Kyrou, Bolduc, Neighbours, Snuggy, Holloway, Texier, and Stenberg, along with guys like Robertsson, Pekarcik, Kaskimaki, etc... Some of those guys are playing center now, but if we think all are best at wing (and other than DH who jury is still out on, I think they are) we don't need all of them. Snuggy presumably has value, which we will need to pay if we are looking to add guy like Jiricek or Zegras or whomever.

I get your point: deal from a point of strength. The strength of our prospect pool is in wingers and LHD. It makes sense from that perspective. I just don't think that if you are going to trade from those strengths, you deal from the top of the deck. We don't have that luxury, imo. Of the guys who aren't currently in the NHL, it's Dvorsky, Snuggerud, and then a BIG gap between the rest. One day we'll have to trade in 4 quarters for a dollar, but I don't think this season is that time. Let things shake out a bit more, let guys reveal who they can be for the team.

 

[PocketNines]

Snuggles is trending toward the bottom of our top 10 as a prospect, no doubt about it ...

 

[Majorityof1]

I get your point: deal from a point of strength. The strength of our prospect pool is in wingers and LHD. It makes sense from that perspective. I just don't think that if you are going to trade from those strengths, you deal from the top of the deck. We don't have that luxury, imo. Of the guys who aren't currently in the NHL, it's Dvorsky, Snuggerud, and then a BIG gap between the rest. One day we'll have to trade in 4 quarters for a dollar, but I don't think this season is that time. Let things shake out a bit more, let guys reveal who they can be for the team.

Stenburg is a lot closer to Snuggerud than you are giving him credit for. Lindstein if we are counting D is ahead of him on our prospects. They are having success against men. Snuggerud is only ppg due to a 3 assist game where StL fan in MN just said he was surprised he had any, and couldn't see what he did on one of them on the replay. Snuggerud is struggling in college as a Junior. That is a red flag. Stenburg is getting reps on the top line in the SHL. Its not a BIG gap in Snuggerud's favor.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

I don’t speak French but I think Pekarcik just got his third assist of the game. Very impressive as is Caleb Desnoyers. He will be a player.

 

[aceoutdoor]

The overwhelming reason Snuggerud went back to college this year is to win the college championship for his family's honor. I don't think he cares much about padding his stats etc and likely is bored and dying to go pro after the NCAA playoffs end. Watch him, during those playoffs for the real Snuggy.

 

[Majorityof1]

The overwhelming reason Snuggerud went back to college this year is to win the college championship for his family's honor. I don't think he cares much about padding his stats etc and likely is bored and dying to go pro after the NCAA playoffs end. Watch him, during those playoffs for the real Snuggy.

Great, just what we need. A player who only tries when it "matters". Its harder than you think to float through 30 games and turn it on when it counts. If he is dogging it because its the regular season and only cares about the playoffs, I want him gone STAT. I don't care how good he is when he turns it on, I don't want that attitude on my team.