Prospect Info: Blues 2024-2025 Prospect Thread

[LGB]

This is a really good start in the KHL for a guy who just turned 19. Hopefully he can keep it up.

 

[TruBlueFan1970]

what are you guys opinion of the handling of Bolduc? personally, I don’t get it. You’re not gonna get much production from him playing with Sunny. when he moves up the lineupI thought he did pretty well but instead of demoting the player I think should be demoted in Buchnevich they always drop Bolduc. Hard to get any consistency from him when every mistake you make is a demotion or scratch.. or is it just the blues trying to win meaningless games? That will affect our draft position. Thanks guys love the discussions

I think the general consensus is that people would rather him not get bounced around the lineup and/or scratched so much like you say. It's difficult to get into any kind of rhythm when you're constantly in and out of the lineup or with 4th line caliber linemates. I'd like to see Bolduc with Thomas for more than a game or so, like pair them together for a month.

And right on cue, unless it’s not accurate, he gets recalled and is in the press box tonight in favor of Texier. I don’t like his handling this year either. Buch has been an atrocity this year and should get 3rd line minutes the rest of the season and see what Bolduc can do in the top 6. Army/Monty don’t seem to have a cohesive plan right now, and I’m a fan of both.

 

[Renard]

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.

Alexandrov appears to be intimidated by playing in the NHL. He seems to have ability.

 

[TruBlueFan1970]

Alexandrov appears to be intimidated by playing in the NHL. He seems to have ability.

I hope that once we trade Faksa, he gets another look. If he doesn’t, it will speak volumes as to what the Blues brass think of him. I’d like to see him and Bolduc over Texier and Joseph at this stage. Neither of the latter two have made much of an impression this season.

 

[BlueMed]

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.

Our fanbase didn't feel insecure about Parayko until Pietrangelo left, by the way. In fact, he was the perfect #2. If Broberg can take that extra step and develop into a nice 1D, then Lindstein won't leave anyone wanting more.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

what are you guys opinion of the handling of Bolduc? personally, I don’t get it. You’re not gonna get much production from him playing with Sunny. when he moves up the lineupI thought he did pretty well but instead of demoting the player I think should be demoted in Buchnevich they always drop Bolduc. Hard to get any consistency from him when every mistake you make is a demotion or scratch.. or is it just the blues trying to win meaningless games? That will affect our draft position. Thanks guys love the discussions

I think Bolduc as a lot of things he can work on in his game, learning how to be an NHL player. It doesn't bother me if he isn't being optimized right now. I view this season for him a lot like Perron's first year. He's not starting every game. I suspect there is a lot of teaching from the pressbox and details in practice that he's working on that aren't obvious to us.

I want to see the Blues sell at the deadline, and then get a few of the young guys even bigger roles/minutes, including a couple call-ups. Bolduc would benefit from that, too. But its better for them to come up into an atmosphere of high effort and competition for a playoff spot (even though they predictably fell short this year). There is a big difference in my mind between being a team that fought for a spot the bulk of the season and missed, vs a team like Chicago that was never in the race...and the games could start feeling meaningless pretty early on.

 

[bleedblue1223]

KHL does a good job of tracking stats. Korotky is getting an increase in ice time and had 4 minutes of PP time today. He is also playing C.

His KHL contract runs through 5/31/27. It would really be a game-changer if he is a diamond in the 7th.

https://en.khl.ru/players/41566/

 

[LGB]

KHL does a good job of tracking stats. Korotky is getting an increase in ice time and had 4 minutes of PP time today. He is also playing C.

His KHL contract runs through 5/31/27. It would really be a game-changer if he is a diamond in the 7th.

https://en.khl.ru/players/41566/

I was inspired to watch as many clips as I could of him earlier today. Clips are clips, but I am definitely encouraged. Looks like a guy that could be an NHLer for sure.

 

[bleedblue1223]

I was inspired to watch as many clips as I could of him earlier today. Clips are clips, but I am definitely encouraged. Looks like a guy that could be an NHLer for sure.

Pretty much all the scouting reports at the draft like his game, but the concern is if his skating will transfer and be good enough for the NA game. If that develops, we might have something.

 

[StlBigFly]

what are you guys opinion of the handling of Bolduc? personally, I don’t get it. You’re not gonna get much production from him playing with Sunny. when he moves up the lineupI thought he did pretty well but instead of demoting the player I think should be demoted in Buchnevich they always drop Bolduc. Hard to get any consistency from him when every mistake you make is a demotion or scratch.. or is it just the blues trying to win meaningless games? That will affect our draft position. Thanks guys love the discussions

I think he’s undergoing conditioning. I don’t think it’s demotion as much as it is just pushing him further bit by bit. It’s a big hill to climb.

His icetime to start the year severely dropped as games went along. He was also recently sent to the ahl. Both indicate conditioning to me. It isn’t a ding on him I don’t feel, it’s just a man’s game. His brand is a bit physical and top 6 is positionally demanding, the guys you’re fighting for pucks are mostly established guys.

I think if it were purely disciplinary we would see him miss shifts at anytime he made a mistake but the overall trend I’ve always seen is that his icetime just ramps down as the game progresses.

I feel it’s probably normal. It’s nowhere near as severe as it was to start the season and that’s what you’d expect. For all I know this stuff is history and he’s going to be able to handle the role full time. You certainly have to think there is a huge conditioning barrier to competing at the highest level. It’s not reasonable I don’t think to expect 19-21 year olds to be able to handle it full time when the opposition is 27-31 and has been working out full time for a decade. Just isn’t how the body works. Lots of guys get injured during these years, lots of guys fail to build good habits. Probably best to climb the hill slowly, methodically.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I think he’s undergoing conditioning. I don’t think it’s demotion as much as it is just pushing him further bit by bit. It’s a big hill to climb.

His icetime to start the year severely dropped as games went along. He was also recently sent to the ahl. Both indicate conditioning to me. I believe he’s just going through the physical process that is necessary. It isn’t a ding on him I don’t feel, it’s just a man’s game. His brand is a bit physical and top 6 is positionally demanding.

I think if it were purely disciplinary we would see him miss shifts at anytime he made a mistake but the overall trend I’ve always seen is that his icetime just ramps down as the game progresses.

I feel it’s probably normal. It’s nowhere near as severe as it was to start the season and that’s what you’d expect. For all I know this stuff is history and he’s going to be able to handle the role full time. You certainly have to think there is a huge conditioning barrier to competing at the highest level. It’s not reasonable I don’t think to expect 19-21 year olds to be able to handle it full time when the opposition is 27-31 and has been working out full time for a decade. Just isn’t how the body works. Lots of guys get injured during these years, lots of guys fail to build good habits. Probably best to climb the hill slowly, methodically.

Both Bolduc and Dvorsky are going through similar obstacles. Both are experiencing the rude awakening of a higher level of hockey, moreso for Dvorsky, I think. Dvo has finally played against men for almost a full season now and is doing pretty well, but the conditioning is an issue.

Diet, conditioning, consistency rinse and repeat. The pro life.

 

[BlueMed]

KHL does a good job of tracking stats. Korotky is getting an increase in ice time and had 4 minutes of PP time today. He is also playing C.

His KHL contract runs through 5/31/27. It would really be a game-changer if he is a diamond in the 7th.

https://en.khl.ru/players/41566/

The fact that he's a 2024 draft pick playing in a league higher than the AHL currently is noteworthy to say the least.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Pekarcik with a 4 assist game. Future Blue Caleb Desnoyers with a Hattie!

 

[MissouriMook]

Pekarcik with 4 assists today (3 primary)
Stenberg with the opening goal for the T-Birds
Stancl has cooled off quite a bit. Just 3A in his last 6 and no goals in his last 7.

 

[Mike Liut]

Pekarcik with a 4 assist game. Future Blue Caleb Desnoyers with a Hattie!

Thomas - Desnoyers - Dvo down the middle looks good to me

 

[BlueMed]

Anyone else see this?

 

[Quaz]

Anyone else see this?

I think Buchinger injured himself in that fight and didn’t return to the game and isn’t playing today. Maybe he injured his hand beating down McGrorty.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Anyone else see this?

McDumbass can suck a dick.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Anyone else see this?

Buchinger's stock in Winnipeg is at an all time high now

 

[STL fan in MN]

The fact that he's a 2024 draft pick playing in a league higher than the AHL currently is noteworthy to say the least.

I wouldn’t rank the KHL above the AHL. At least not anymore. A lot of imports left since the war started and their league’s been watered down a bit ever since.

But yes, what Korotky is doing is impressive.

 

[Brian39]

And right on cue, unless it’s not accurate, he gets recalled and is in the press box tonight in favor of Texier. I don’t like his handling this year either. Buch has been an atrocity this year and should get 3rd line minutes the rest of the season and see what Bolduc can do in the top 6. Army/Monty don’t seem to have a cohesive plan right now, and I’m a fan of both.

Ludicrous. Buch hasn't been close to his ceiling. It is completely fair to say that he has had a very disappointing season given expectations and his contract. But this notion that he's been horrible has gotten way out of hand.

He's 4th on the team in points. He's on pace for 55 points in the season overall and he's on pace for 60 points since Montgomery took over. He has the 2nd hardest quality of competition on the team (right behind Thomas) and the gap between those two and the rest of the forward group is massive. Despite consistently going against the opposition's best line, he is +1 overall and +5 at 5 on 5. All of his underlying/possession/expected numbers are 49% to 54% (mostly in the 49% range).

We need more out of Buch, but it is nonsense to act like he should be demoted to the 3rd line. He hasn't been an $8M player, but he has easily been a top 6 player this season.

I like what Bolduc has done this year and I'd like to see him get more opportunity. But he absolutely under no circumstances should be getting Buch's deployment and be asked to go against top lines every night.

 

[bleedblue1223]

I'm more or less fine with how we've handled Bolduc this season. He's producing at a 30.75 point 82 game pace. Those are solid rookie numbers, but I don't think at any point it's felt like he's demanded top 6 minutes based on his production. It sucks that our other options for the 3rd line just aren't really offensive drivers. Age difference aside because Thomas was younger, but Bolduc would've benefitted from having a C like Bozak, instead of Sundqvist. Or when we mostly developed Schwartz on the 4th line in 12/13, still difference circumstances, but a young player can develop quite a bit with 3rd or 4th line mintues and not much production.

 

[Majorityof1]

I'm more or less fine with how we've handled Bolduc this season. He's producing at a 30.75 point 82 game pace. Those are solid rookie numbers, but I don't think at any point it's felt like he's demanded top 6 minutes based on his production. It sucks that our other options for the 3rd line just aren't really offensive drivers. Age difference aside because Thomas was younger, but Bolduc would've benefitted from having a C like Bozak, instead of Sundqvist. Or when we mostly developed Schwartz on the 4th line in 12/13, still difference circumstances, but a young player can develop quite a bit with 3rd or 4th line mintues and not much production.

I think the argument for giving Bolduc a better look is what he has done relative to his linemates and ice time. His overall per game pace is going to be less when stapled to Sundqvist. His most common 5v5 linemate, Sundqvist, has half as many 5v5 points as Bolduc. It's hard to put up points when you don't have people to set you up or convert on your set-ups. Also, he is getting 12 minutes a game with less PP time than Sundqvist.

 

[Brian39]

I think the argument for giving Bolduc a better look is what he has done relative to his linemates and ice time. His overall per game pace is going to be less when stapled to Sundqvist. His most common 5v5 linemate, Sundqvist, has half as many 5v5 points as Bolduc. It's hard to put up points when you don't have people to set you up or convert on your set-ups. Also, he is getting 12 minutes a game with less PP time than Sundqvist.

The flip side to that is that he and Sunny are also facing the easiest competition of any forward on our team. And unlike Sunny, Bolduc is also getting pretty offensive leaning deployment (while Sunny is leaning heavily defensive). He has excelled in this role, but the low minutes and mediocre linemates have also come with the benefit of going against mediocre competition while avoiding the hardest situations.

I do think it is worth noting that his 2nd most-frequent linemate is Holloway (139 minutes) and he hasn't seen a drastic uptick in production with him over his production with Sunny (2.14 points per 60 with Holloway and 2.06 with Sunny). His 3rd most frequent linemate is Neighbours (125 minutes) and he down to slightly 1.91 points per 60 with him. 1.77 with Buch, 1.74 with Thomas, 1.67 with Kyrou, and 1.46 with Schenn. He has not scored a 5 on 5 goal while on the ice with any of Neighbours, Buch, Kyrou, Thomas, or Schenn. The sample sizes with these last 4 guys ranges from 34 minutes to 67 minutes, so it isn't like he's had long extended looks. But he also hasn't produced when he's gotten those minutes with the top 6 guys.

I'd like to see him get more minutes with better players, but he simply hasn't capitalized on the scoresheet when he has gotten those opportunities. And I can't blame the coach for not giving him longer runs in the top 6 when he doesn't capitalize on the minutes.

And not for nothing, but he didn't set the AHL on fire offensively last season or in the 4 games he played there during the break. I still believe in him to have a nice NHL career with the ability to be a real contributor, but is looking more and more like that hinges on his ability to develop a complete 200 foot game than his ability to fill up the score sheet. He has 19 goals through 127 pro games (8 in 54 AHL and 11 in 73 NHL). Dvorsky needs 1 more goal in his next 8 AHL games to double up Bolduc's AHL goal total by the 54 game mark. Kaskimaki is 3 goals up on Bolduc in 5 fewer AHL games played. Stenberg is halfway to Bolduc's total through 16 AHL games. Kyrou doubled up Bolduc's goal total in 47 AHL games in his rookie AHL year.

I see flashes of the shot and I still think it is good enough for him to have a nice career in the middle of an NHL lineup. But he is going to have to play his way up the lineup with a complete 200 foot game because his shot isn't good enough to get him there by itself. And I don't want to sound like I'm disappointed with the kid or view his production as disappointing. I think he's coming along nicely and his production in his role is perfectly fine for a rookie. I just don't think that there is a wave of production coming in the short term if he were only getting different deployment. I don't think he'll ever be as good offensively as Thomas, Kyrou, or Buch. I don't think his shot will ever be as good as Snuggy or Dvorsky. I don't think he ever surpasses Neighbours as a net-front guy and I'm not sold that he ever surpasses Holloway's combination of skill/motor.

I don't see him ever being the top scoring threat on either of our top 2 lines. I don't see him ever being on our PP1 when we are healthy. Again, none of that means that he can't develop into a contributor for this team. I just think that all of his paths to success require him to really, really develop his non-offensive toolbox. His current usage is a perfectly reasonable way to build that toolbox.

 

[Majorityof1]

The flip side to that is that he and Sunny are also facing the easiest competition of any forward on our team. And unlike Sunny, Bolduc is also getting pretty offensive leaning deployment (while Sunny is leaning heavily defensive). He has excelled in this role, but the low minutes and mediocre linemates have also come with the benefit of going against mediocre competition while avoiding the hardest situations.

I do think it is worth noting that his 2nd most-frequent linemate is Holloway and he hasn't seen a drastic uptick in production with him over his production with Sunny (2.14 points per 60 with Holloway and 2.06 with Sunny). His next most frequent linemate is Neighbours and he down to slightly 1.91 points per 60 with him. 1.77 with Buch, 1.74 with Thomas, 1.67 with Kyrou, and 1.46 with Schenn. He has not scored a 5 on 5 goal while on the ice with any of Neighbours, Buch, Kyrou, Thomas, or Schenn. The sample sizes with these last 4 guys ranges from 34 minutes to 67 minutes, so it isn't like he's had long extended looks. But he also hasn't produced when he's gotten those minutes with the top 6 guys.

I'd like to see him get more minutes with better players, but he simply hasn't capitalized on the scoresheet when he has gotten those opportunities.

Yes, he is getting better offensive deployment, but it's not crazy offensive deployment at 54.88%. All the top 6 guys and Bolduc are between 50,8 and 56%.

He hasn't produced? 2.14 per 60 with Holloway would put him tied for 2nd on the team with our leading point scorer Kyrou. All of those stats you listed are better than Neighbours by a wide margin, and all the ones without Schenn are better production than Schenn has. The worst P/60 listed aside from Schenn, his P/60 with Kyoru, would out him 5th on the team.

Look what he has done for Neighbours. Sure, his P/60 with Neighbours is ONLY 1.91 p/60. Neighbours P/60 with Bolduc is 1.46, but without him its 1.06. That is a huge jump playing with Bolduc. And his production over Neighbours means to me, that Neighbours is not one of the top guys. He should be the one on the 3rd line. Because he has not produced at 5v5 at all and his most common line mates are Thomas and Buchnevich. And he is 1.39 with Buchnevich and 1.01 with Thomas. those are both far less than Bolduc, yet he has 345 and 295 minutes with each respectively.