Prospect Info: Blues 2024-2025 Prospect Thread

[jjniner]

I really feel with money coming off the books and cap going up that we will land a top six via free agency in 26 or 27 to compliment our future lines

 

[PocketNines]

I never said anyone shouldn't post or that they "should be shot," but very dramatic indeed. Very dramatic.

I just said it seemed like a waste of time and I've seen it year after year and it's always so internally illogical

 

[bleedblue1223]

The tough part with projecting future lines/pairs, is there is just a ton of unknown information. Future draft picks, future NHL level moves, and then what prospects either exceed expectations or bust. The goal is, hopefully the scouts do there job to build a foundation of a team where the GM can then make the moves to finish it off.

 

[ezcreepin]

The fun in guessing the lineup 5 years from now is seeing the depth of your prospect pool. We all know that it's not going to happen that way, but you get a sense of how good your prospects are and where you believe the team should be drafting. Our forward group is stacked if you looked at the potential of these players. Dvorsky, Stenberg, Bolduc, Snuggerud, Pekarcik, and that's not even getting into some of the wildcards we have at forward. I think it's safe to say that 3 of those players I listed will be definite NHL players (one already showed he can be), so that already gives you 6 players up front either in the system or on the roster who will fill it out. Defense is shakier because there are a lot of "boom/bust" prospects and the potential isn't necessarily high for a lot of them. Lindstein seems the easiest to project right now, you hope Jiricek will reach his top 4 potential, and then Lukas Fischer seems like the only other guy you might be able to say yea he's an NHL defenseman.

I was hoping that by now Loof would breakout as a defensive stalwart on the big club, Buchinger still has another year before I'd like to see him, Gaudet MIGHT be able to become another Kessel like player, but after that the potential is pretty mid. If you want to do a grading of the potential for guys like Mayich, Paul Fischer, Ralph, Burns, etc I'd give them like an even 5/10. Granted I don't know much about them and the more defensive players seem like that might stick better than the more offensive players, but we don't have any other highly offensive defenseman other than possible Buchinger. Ralph seems like a massive project, but his skating is good and scouting seemed to be high on him. Burns seems like a guy who could be a bottom pair guy, P Fischer and Mayich I don't know enough about, Lukas Fischer seems like a equal combo of higher ceiling, higher floor (good 3rd pairing, great 2nd pairing). Koromyslov is the wildcard as lots of people rave about him but I haven't seen enough video to know for sure if he will come over and will be able to carve a role on the team. It would be nice to finally hit hard on one of these defensive prospects soon, so maybe this is the year(?)

 

[bleedblue1223]

I do think we'll need another defensive heavy draft next season, maybe not to this degree, but something that leans more defense in the first few rounds. I'd like to be able to add another 2-way top 4 potential prospect, ideally a 1st rounder that has legitimate top pair upside, and then a primarily offensive guy in the 2nd or 3rd, but if the 1st rounder is good enough, that player could fill both roles.

Part of prospect depth is having enough at each position to cover for those prospects that fail to develop. Part of the reason why I'm really not on board with trading Snuggerud, just because we have Bolduc and Dvorsky that also have a similar shooting profile. Together they provide us the depth to provide the future NHL roster some level of decent scoring, and in a best case scenario, scoring will become a huge strength and we can trade from it if we have to.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

With Lindstein, Buchinger, and Jiricek in the fold, are we at a point where we can go back to picking BPA in next year’s draft, or should we keep focusing on D (esp RHD)?

 

[Thallis]

With Lindstein, Buchinger, and Jiricek in the fold, are we at a point where we can go back to picking BPA in next year’s draft, or should we keep focusing on D (esp RHD)?

I don't consider Buchinger a major piece on the back end. Lindstein and Jiricek are fine, but really we need to be taking big swings on talent. I think we should still show a D preference

 

[bleedblue1223]

I'd want another 1st round D. If forward us genuinely BPA, take them, but defense should win any tie-breaker.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

I don't consider Buchinger a major piece on the back end. Lindstein and Jiricek are fine, but really we need to be taking big swings on talent. I think we should still show a D preference

I think Buchinger has a lot of potential

 

[Linkens Mastery]

I think Buchinger has a lot of potentialView attachment 893558

He does have a ton of potential, he easily has the highest potential offensively of all of our defenseman while not being a complete liability defensively. Tho, he's not going to get a ton of fan fair until he breaks into the NHL. But I do expect him to start getting his feet wet in NHL action next year (this year if injuries go crazy)

 

[Thallis]

I think Buchinger has a lot of potentialView attachment 893558

NHLe is heavily biased towards point production, which is Buchinger's biggest strength in Junior. I take these with really big grains of salt.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

I only watched three Guelph games last season but in each game Buchinger stood out. I think the offense will translate but my questions are how the defense holds up when he's not playing against kids because he makes some questionable decisions and gets away with a lot.

 

[Frenzy31]

I only watched three Guelph games last season but in each game Buchinger stood out. I think the offense will translate but my questions are how the defense holds up when he's not playing against kids because he makes some questionable decisions and gets away with a lot.

He will learn to simplify it the way Kessel has or he won't make a successful transition. I don't expect him to put up much production for the first few months of the AHL as he starts to get used to the speed of the game. Kessels game when he broke into the AHL and also when he broke into the NHL. As he slowly got used to the speed, you saw him take more and more risks. (NOT STUPID rick, just passing the puck out of the dzone instead of dumping the puck out - kind of stuff).

I would want the player to work on pushing the envelope a bit. You want the kid to develop elite skills and the only way to do that is to take risk during games. Yes, they may cost you a game or a few games, but at the Jr/college level you are still developing. You grow from mistakes, but you don't grow by making the simple play every time in Junior and college.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I only watched three Guelph games last season but in each game Buchinger stood out. I think the offense will translate but my questions are how the defense holds up when he's not playing against kids because he makes some questionable decisions and gets away with a lot.

Yeah, his D game is quite raw still from what I’ve seen. I’ll be interested to see how well he adapts to the AHL.

I probably have him ranked a bit lower than some as I question if his D will be good enough for them to even trust playing him but he absolutely has strong offensive instincts.

As to the original question, always BPA for me. Tiebreaker goes to D but always BPA early on in the draft. Can lean a bit more to positional need later in the draft.

 

[simon IC]

With Lindstein, Buchinger, and Jiricek in the fold, are we at a point where we can go back to picking BPA in next year’s draft, or should we keep focusing on D (esp RHD)?

I think BPA is always the best way to go, and I kind of thought the organization had that policy. Maybe I missed something.

 

[LetsGoBooze]

If they tier players like most teams, essentially making BPA a tie between a few players, I wholeheartedly agree we need to prioritize D. Not only is our prospect pool lacking elite D prospects, but in general D usually take longer to develop. We really need to get more options baking in the system ASAP if we want them to hit the roster while Thomas/Kyrou are still effective.

 

[Brian39]

I always try top temper expectations/excitement for mid-late round picks for years after the draft. It is so easy to see 19 year olds showing you something and get fooled, only for the harsh reality of pro development to set in during their early 20s.

With that said, it is getting harder and harder to do that with our last 3 draft classes. I honestly won't be surprised if we found 5+ actual NHL contributors in the 2nd through 7th rounds of these three drafts, which would be a hell of a good job considering the only top 50 pick of the bunch was 48th overall. Combine that with a 2-3 real hits from our five 1st round selections and you're talking about a hell of a lot of young/cheap contributors joining the NHL ranks through the 2020s.

We focus a ton about the lack of high picks and what that means for compiling high, high end talent. And that is certainly an important part of building a winner. But I am pretty impressed and excited about the depth we've built into a prospect pool that was fairly shallow not that long ago.

 

[Brian39]

If they tier players like most teams, essentially making BPA a tie between a few players, I wholeheartedly agree we need to prioritize D. Not only is our prospect pool lacking elite D prospects, but in general D usually take longer to develop. We really need to get more options baking in the system ASAP if we want them to hit the roster while Thomas/Kyrou are still effective.

Not for nothing, but we have used two 1sts, two 2nds, two 3rds and five 4th-7th round picks on D in the last 3 drafts, including picking D with our first 3 selections at the most recent draft. All in all, that's 11 of our 24 total picks in those 3 drafts and 6 of our 13 picks in the top 100 that were used on D.

That's about 45% of our picks on a position that makes up 40% of your skaters on the ice at 5 on 5 and just 33% of the skaters you dress. We neglected D early in the draft for a few years, but I have seen this conscious prioritization of D at the draft since taking Dvorsky at 10th overall (which is a draft slot where you absolutely have to take BPA).

We've added a large amount of D prospects to the oven recently.

 

[Frenzy31]

I don't consider Buchinger a major piece on the back end. Lindstein and Jiricek are fine, but really we need to be taking big swings on talent. I think we should still show a D preference

I agree. Unless we make a move via trade, D is still the weakest part of the prospect pool. Especially when you consider taking into account fowards develop faster and our top young talent in the NHL are forwards.

 

[Frenzy31]

Not for nothing, but we have used two 1sts, two 2nds, two 3rds and five 4th-7th round picks on D in the last 3 drafts, including picking D with our first 3 selections at the most recent draft. All in all, that's 11 of our 24 total picks in those 3 drafts and 6 of our 13 picks in the top 100 that were used on D.

That's about 45% of our picks on a position that makes up 40% of your skaters on the ice at 5 on 5 and just 33% of the skaters you dress. We neglected D early in the draft for a few years, but I have seen this conscious prioritization of D at the draft since taking Dvorsky at 10th overall (which is a draft slot where you absolutely have to take BPA).

We've added a large amount of D prospects to the oven recently.

But 1 of the first and both 2nds were this year. Later picks.... just don't usually have the hit rate.

We haven't seen any development yet of the 3 of the 4 1st/2nd rounders- and therefore, it doesn't seem like D has near as much depth. Now, we could see someone take the next step - I know some are excited about Burns, but I really am interested in Fischer and his improvement this year.

I think BPA - but if we are dealing with a tier of players - then I think you can look a team need.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Yeah, I’m really excited to see how some of our D prospects develop this year.

How does Lindstien do back in the SHL? Does he take another step? Shine in the WJC again?

Jiricek - how’s he look back from injury? Heck, I’m interested to hear it confirmed exactly where he’ll be playing. How does he progress?

L. Fischer/P. Fischer/Ralph - do they take steps? Do any make the US WJC team (all 3 were invited to the summer showcase at the end of the month but I think Paul is the only one with good odds of making the team).

How does Buchinger adapt to pro hockey? It’d be a boon if he can be another Dunn. What about Gaudet? Can he advance to the AHL and be a solid contributor or is it back to the ECHL for him?

Burns is a good defensive d-man. Does he start to get some recognition in his last year if Jrs? Unlikely but outside chance of making Canada’s WJC team.

Koromyslov hopefully finds his way back to the KHL this season and takes a step and shows he might be a contributor in N.A. Mayich was quietly solid last season. One more season of Jrs for him.

Can Loof become more of an impact player in Springfield and show he could be an option?

Johannnnessssson - how well does he adapt to N.A. ice? Is he a legit call up option?

We have A LOT of D prospects in the pipeline. What we need is a bit more quality and less quantity though. But maybe a couple of these guys elevate themselves to say at least the Kessel level and it’d be great if a couple join Lindstein and Jiricek in the top tier.

 

[Brian39]

But 1 of the first and both 2nds were this year. Later picks.... just don't usually have the hit rate.

We haven't seen any development yet of the 3 of the 4 1st/2nd rounders- and therefore, it doesn't seem like D has near as much depth. Now, we could see someone take the next step - I know some are excited about Burns, but I really am interested in Fischer and his improvement this year.

I think BPA - but if we are dealing with a tier of players - then I think you can look a team need.

I'm not saying that the D group in the prospect pool is as strong as the forward group. It's not.

But in a conversation about needing to start prioritizing D when you've got multiple guys remaining in year tier I think it is well worth noting that they already started doing that.

In the 3 drafts leading up to 2022 (2019-2021) we only selected a single D man in the first 4 rounds of the draft. We went 0/2 picking D in the 1st round, 0/1 in the 2nd round and 1/4 in the 3rd round in those 4 years. Obviously fewer picks overall, but a drastically lesser ratio than the last 3 drafts.

I do see a real decision to add more D talent into the pipeline and I don't think the D portion of the pool is as weak as we sometimes talk about it. Still weaker than the forward group, but there has been a good amount done to narrow the gap.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

We also haven’t taken a goalie in 4 drafts, which is unprecedented. Zherenko and Ellis have Springfield locked down, and I’m still high on both of them if Binner or Hofer ever get hurt or traded. Cranley does nothing for me. It’s been awhile since we haven’t had anyone else percolating in juniors or overseas. You’d have to imagine we want to restock that cupboard next draft.

 

[STL fan in MN]

We also haven’t taken a goalie in 4 drafts, which is unprecedented. Zherenko and Ellis have Springfield locked down, and I’m still high on both of them if Binner or Hofer ever get hurt or traded. Cranley does nothing for me. It’s been awhile since we haven’t had anyone else percolating in juniors or overseas. You’d have to imagine we want to restock that cupboard next draft.

I was a little surprised we didn’t take one late in the draft. Then again, this was a pretty weak year for goalies. Last year was pretty decent though.

 

[stl76]

At the risk of staying the obvious, I think a lot of the recent posts in this thread (in some ways this whole subforum) boil down to people wanting a top 10 picked stud blue chip sure fire #1D defense prospect in the pipeline. No more, no less.

We also haven’t taken a goalie in 4 drafts, which is unprecedented. Zherenko and Ellis have Springfield locked down, and I’m still high on both of them if Binner or Hofer ever get hurt or traded. Cranley does nothing for me. It’s been awhile since we haven’t had anyone else percolating in juniors or overseas. You’d have to imagine we want to restock that cupboard next draft.

Agreed, would be surprised if we go another year without drafting a goalie in rounds 3-5.