Prospect Info: Blues 2024-2025 Prospect Thread

[PocketNines]

This is a beyond silly comparison. And he’s wrong. He’s comparing it to Bedard’s 16 yr old season, not his 17 yr old season. It’s an embarrassing comparison.

I have been watching Mrsic and my jaw dropped open when I saw 16 yo Bedard, that is not doing this kid any favors.

Mrsic is really active engaged and effective in the offensive zone. Really good at reading off his teammates, they have good chemistry and passing and he is the driver. He's fast, he generates chances. But it can't be oversold. This is way way oversold. Bedard should be compared to Gavin McKenna.

The one thing which stands out I think will translate is his ability to shift and get off a shot, which is going to be valuable in an era of smart shot blocking defenders. He has a snipe of a release and is very confident with the puck on his stick.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Solid Dvorsky article. DeFranks is much better than…I’m blanking on his name. The Rams writer the PD put on the Blues beat so he’d have a job after JR left for the Athletic.

Dvorsky is doing what he should - developing, working in his weaknesses, slowly getting better. I agree with the premise of the coaching staff - don’t send him up until he’s fully ready to stick in the NHL. He’s doing well but still has a ton of developing he can do in the AHL.

The little I’ve seen of the T-birds this season, Dvorsky, Sylvegard, Kaskimaki, Alexandrov and Johannesson have stood out the most to me. Ellis has passed Zherenko on the depth chart. He’s looked good. Not sure what to make of Zherenko. He was locked in the first part of last season, got injured and hasn’t been close to the same goalie since. Not sure I ever heard what that injury was. No idea if it’s still impacting him but his play for about a year now has taken a noticeable dip.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I have been watching Mrsic and my jaw dropped open when I saw 16 yo Bedard, that is not doing this kid any favors.

Mrsic is really active engaged and effective in the offensive zone. Really good at reading off his teammates, they have good chemistry and passing and he is the driver. He's fast, he generates chances. But it can't be oversold. This is way way oversold. Bedard should be compared to Gavin McKenna.

The one thing which stands out I think will translate is his ability to shift and get off a shot, which is going to be valuable in an era of smart shot blocking defenders. He has a snipe of a release and is very confident with the puck on his stick.

Yeah, not trying to discredit Mrsic. He’s having a good 18 yr old season. Looking good for a 4th rd pick. But the Bedard comp just isn’t fair to him. Tons of 18 yr olds pace to 100 pt or better seasons these days.

Mrsic looked the most raw/not ready of any player wearing a Blues jersey in the preseason game I saw in Des Moines. He looked tiny and lucky to escape the game alive. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have an NHL future. But he’s far away. Absolutely has some skill, shiftiness and a good shot. He’s one to keep an eye on this season and next as perhaps we might have something if he’s able to bulk up and round out his game before he turns pro at age 20.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Solid Dvorsky article. DeFranks is much better than…I’m blanking on his name. The Rams writer the PD put on the Blues beat so he’d have a job after JR left for the Athletic.

Dvorsky is doing what he should - developing, working in his weaknesses, slowly getting better. I agree with the premise of the coaching staff - don’t send him up until he’s fully ready to stick in the NHL. He’s doing well but still has a ton of developing he can do in the AHL.

The little I’ve seen of the T-birds this season, Dvorsky, Sylvegard, Kaskimaki, Alexandrov and Johannesson have stood out the most to me. Ellis has passed Zherenko on the depth chart. He’s looked good. Not sure what to make of Zherenko. He was locked in the first part of last season, got injured and hasn’t been close to the same goalie since. Not sure I ever heard what that injury was. No idea if it’s still impacting him but his play for about a year now has taken a noticeable dip.

Wasn't it Jeff something?

 

[PocketNines]

Yeah, not trying to discredit Mrsic. He’s having a good 18 yr old season. Looking good for a 4th rd pick. But the Bedard comp just isn’t fair to him. Tons of 18 yr olds pace to 100 pt or better seasons these days.

Mrsic looked the most raw/not ready of any player wearing a Blues jersey in the preseason game I saw in Des Moines. He looked tiny and lucky to escape the game alive. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have an NHL future. But he’s far away. Absolutely has some skill, shiftiness and a good shot. He’s one to keep an eye on this season and next as perhaps we might have something if he’s able to bulk up and round out his game before he turns pro at age 20.

Agree, although I don't perceive him as undersized for junior. He's like 6' so a normal filling out should be sufficient

 

[SirPaste]

Wasn't it Jeff something?

Jim Thomas, he was a football guy thrown into a hockey job after JR left the Post Dispatch and Rams went to LA. He was a good writer just didn't know much about hockey

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Jim Thomas, he was a football guy thrown into a hockey job after JR left the Post Dispatch and Rams went to LA. He was a good writer just didn't know much about hockey

Jim Jeff, same thing.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

Jim Thomas, he was a football guy thrown into a hockey job after JR left the Post Dispatch and Rams went to LA. He was a good writer just didn't know much about hockey

Same with Tom Timmerman, who made it super clear almost every day that he’d rather be covering soccer. At least Jim was trying, he just was out of his element. TT actively hated covering hockey, and turned in a bare-minimum effort. DeFranks has been so much better, it’s been nice to have coverage from someone who cares again.

 

[SirPaste]

Same with Tom Timmerman, who made it super clear almost every day that he’d rather be covering soccer. At least Jim was trying, he just was out of his element. TT actively hated covering hockey, and turned in a bare-minimum effort. DeFranks has been so much better, it’s been nice to have coverage from someone who cares again.

I agree, I think DeFranks is great.

 

[joe galiba]

Jim Jeff, same thing.

3 letters vs 4 letters, so I am calling this out

 

[STL fan in MN]

Agree, although I don't perceive him as undersized for junior. He's like 6' so a normal filling out should be sufficient

He’s listed at 6’0” but I seriously doubt he is. My son and I were on the glass for warmups (thanks Parayko and Holloway for giving him warmup pucks) and Mrsic looked so much shorter than the pros also listed at 6’0”.

But yeah, he’s 18. He’s going to get bigger. Perhaps not taller but he should be 20ish lbs heavier by the time he’s 22-23. But he appears to be pretty slightly built too. Going to need to fill out like Bolduc has. It’s absolutely possible but it’s an area of concern is all I’m saying.

He has skill give given his deficiencies and size, I can see why he slipped to the 4th round. But these are the types I love to take a swing on in that range of the draft. Go for talent. Go for the home run. I don’t see a lot of value if picking the guy that maybe turns into a 4th liner after you spend 5-7 years developing him. You can get that sort of player cheap, sometimes even for free on the waiver wire. I mean, heck, M.Joseph is more than a 4th liner and we got him AND an asset for nothing.

That sort of cost/benefit analysis should be built into draft selections more IMO.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Right, a home run is a Hoffman type, a likely outcome is a AHL/Euro top 6 type. You hope you can get a 3rd line scoring winger out of him.

And stats at this level mean nothing in the likelihood of him making it. It's going to be about adding size and then once he hits AHL level, it's going to be about can he still produce at the pro level, and then it's about transitioning to the NHL. Alexandrov is sort of an example. In his D+1 season, he was the only player on his junior team at over ppg, and his scoring rates had a pretty good increase over his draft year. He figured the AHL out after a season, but so far hasn't been able to break through at the NHL level.

I don't really get too excited about those types, unless they look like a top pick in some camps. It's just such a long process for those guys to get NHL ready, and stat watching doesn't really indicate anything for them.

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

Solid Dvorsky article. DeFranks is much better than…I’m blanking on his name. The Rams writer the PD put on the Blues beat so he’d have a job after JR left for the Athletic.

Dvorsky is doing what he should - developing, working in his weaknesses, slowly getting better. I agree with the premise of the coaching staff - don’t send him up until he’s fully ready to stick in the NHL. He’s doing well but still has a ton of developing he can do in the AHL.

The little I’ve seen of the T-birds this season, Dvorsky, Sylvegard, Kaskimaki, Alexandrov and Johannesson have stood out the most to me. Ellis has passed Zherenko on the depth chart. He’s looked good. Not sure what to make of Zherenko. He was locked in the first part of last season, got injured and hasn’t been close to the same goalie since. Not sure I ever heard what that injury was. No idea if it’s still impacting him but his play for about a year now has taken a noticeable dip.

High ankle sprain for Zherenko. That's a tough one to bounce back from for goalies.

I can speak from personal experience.

I agree, I think DeFranks is great.

DeFranks has been a breath of fresh air because the Blues coverage, especially when it comes to prospects, has been very lacking the last several years.