Toggle sidebar

Prospect Info: Blues 2024-2025 Prospect Thread

  • Xenforo Cloud will be upgrading us to version 2.3.5 on March 3rd at 12 AM GMT. This version has increased stability and fixes several bugs. We expect downtime for the duration of the update. The admin team will continue to work on existing issues, templates and upgrade all necessary available addons to minimize impact of this new version. Click Here for Updates
jjniner said:
I proposed the Neighbors for Nemec on the big board and they are all over it. They need a young cost controlled winger and are loaded on the back end.👌🏻
Click to expand...
The one person who responded certainly was all over it. Nobody else acknowledged it. I'm not sure how much it excites NJ fans. But Army isn't trading Neighbours anyway, so its moot. Neighbours is the safest player on the team.
 
ChicagoBlues said:
Loves me some Jake, but getting another dynamic, young defenseman sounds pretty great. Before I get too excited, though, I want to learn more about Nemec's personality.

Jake's production can be replaced, but his personality cannot. He is a gem who will lift the Cup one day. He's got the VladyGumption on steroids. It's like an affliction that's infectious. Neighbours is the guy who drags the others along.

Is that energy (plus his 25 goals annual) more valuable over having another high-end, right-handed weapon on the back end? Cuz, at this point, Jiricek is about 50/50 to even make a dent in the NHL.

In the end, I would take the defensive talent over power winger gumption.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure Nemec's personality is what I'd be worried about. He's been horribly bad this year at the NHL level. I think my main focus would be an understanding of why, and how do you remedy that? They're starting him 60% of the time in the OZ, the team isn't getting scoring chances while he's on the ice, his advanced stats are pretty bad - but I don't think they always tell the whole story which is why I don't necessarily love them. He's getting pretty heavily outplayed by Casey in essentially the same role. However, the underlying numbers that I'm looking at are fairly similar.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bye Bye Blueston
BleedBlue14 said:
I'm not sure Nemec's personality is what I'd be worried about. He's been horribly bad this year at the NHL level. I think my main focus would be an understanding of why, and how do you remedy that? They're starting him 60% of the time in the OZ, the team isn't getting scoring chances while he's on the ice, his advanced stats are pretty bad - but I don't think they always tell the whole story which is why I don't necessarily love them. He's getting pretty heavily outplayed by Casey in essentially the same role. However, the underlying numbers that I'm looking at are fairly similar.
Click to expand...
Yep. I’d like to have him, but he’s definitely not living up to his draft pedigree (yet). He’s a big gamble, especially at his likely price point. We don’t generally love defensemen you have to shelter.

Between him, Casey, or Clarke/Spence in LA, I might prefer the other guys unless we get Nemec for a song just because he wants out.

But he also wants out because he wants a spot on an NHL squad. Idk that we have that for him right now in his present condition.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Stealth JD
BleedBlue14 said:
I'm not sure Nemec's personality is what I'd be worried about. He's been horribly bad this year at the NHL level. I think my main focus would be an understanding of why, and how do you remedy that? They're starting him 60% of the time in the OZ, the team isn't getting scoring chances while he's on the ice, his advanced stats are pretty bad - but I don't think they always tell the whole story which is why I don't necessarily love them. He's getting pretty heavily outplayed by Casey in essentially the same role. However, the underlying numbers that I'm looking at are fairly similar.
Click to expand...
I understand what you're saying. His personality is not the deciding factor, but I still want to know more about him.

Regarding his production and general showing, I love it. He produces wherever he plays. This season in NJ, I suspect he got in his head a little as he was somewhat roadblocked and did not force his way onto the roster. Possible red flag, but not too concerned. Did he get down on himself? This is what I want to know. I want to get an understanding of his mental toughness; ergo, I want to better understand his personality.
 
ChicagoBlues said:
I understand what you're saying. His personality is not the deciding factor, but I still want to know more about him.

Regarding his production and general showing, I love it. He produces wherever he plays. This season in NJ, I suspect he got in his head a little as he was somewhat roadblocked and did not force his way onto the roster. Possible red flag, but not too concerned. Did he get down on himself? This is what I want to know. I want to get an understanding of his mental toughness; ergo, I want to better understand his personality.
Click to expand...

Take a look at the two most recent pages on this thread on the Prospects portion of the main board.

alko

Thread 'RD Simon Nemec (2022, 2nd, NJD)'

Simon Nemec, official HockeySlovakia profile
Looks like we have another gem for NHL draft 2022. Second youngest player in the history of Hlinka Cup. Made the Slovakia team as a 2004 class.

Last season, as a 14/15 years old boy collected 35 points in 52 games in our U18 league. As a Defensman.
  • Like
 
  • Sad
Reactions: LGB
BleedBlue14 said:
Take a look at the two most recent pages on this thread on the Prospects portion of the main board.

alko

Thread 'RD Simon Nemec (2022, 2nd, NJD)'

Simon Nemec, official HockeySlovakia profile
Looks like we have another gem for NHL draft 2022. Second youngest player in the history of Hlinka Cup. Made the Slovakia team as a 2004 class.

Last season, as a 14/15 years old boy collected 35 points in 52 games in our U18 league. As a Defensman.
  • Like
Click to expand...
Eye opening.
 
ChicagoBlues said:
Too much. But, from their perspective, it’s not a bad ask.
Click to expand...
I'd actually be okay with that. At some point, if this team wants to take a franchise altering step, it's going to have to make a move that's a little uncomfortable. Remember Shanahan for Pronger? In this case, we have plenty of forward prospects and LHD behind Broberg and Lindstein. That proposed trade would be a really decent for us.
 
Brian39 said:
...and Team Canada chose their goalies over at least 2 other guys who were having clearly better seasons when the roster was picked a quarter of the way through the NHL season. Thompson and Blackwood are both on team Canada in a 'right now' meritocracy. Binner and Hill were there on past performance, not how they were playing when the team got picked.

But even ignoring that Binner got his spot on the team on reputation and/or the knowledge of what his best could be, he let up a bad goal against Sweden and a brutal goal against the US. Instead of shelving him for another option in game 3, Cooper stuck with him. Finland didn't trust Saros due to the season (and 1st game) he had and went with Lankinen who had been playing better. Lankinen cost them their tournament. They didn't go to Saros until they were down 4 and Saros stopped every puck he faced while looking like the top 5 goalie he's been in the past. Binner outplaying Lankinen was the reason Canada got to the championship and we could have witnessed a very different outcome if we had different goalies in net. Hell, even Saros vs Binner might have led to a different outcome. Canada/Finland was a fantastic window into a coach trusting his guys vs a coach relying on the hot hand.

No one is saying ignore present performance and only rely on past performance, but a 22 year old Neighbours isn't remotely comparable to veterans reaching the age cliff. And you are very much downplaying what Neighbours did at 5 on 5 by focusing on his points and not his goals. He was tied for 2nd on our team in 5 on 5 goals and 2nd in goals per 60 at 5 on 5. He absolutely has never driven play at 5 on 5, but he sure has hell has been a finisher of plays at 5 on 5. And frankly, the role he's played in the top 6 this year has been as a 3rd forward finisher and not the driver. he would have to drive play more on the 3rd line, so there is a real argument that trying to get him going as a finisher/passenger in the top 6 is better for the team than putting him on the 3rd line.

Neighbours isn't close to a finished product. He's 11 months older than Bolduc. We are very much still developing him and he has absolutely demonstrated more than Bolduc to merit getting the 'edge' in development decisions. And again, his leash has been shortening. Neighbours has had 4 games with less than 13 minutes of icetime this season and 3 of them came in the 5 games we played before the break. The other was 1/18/25. He's had 10 games under 14 minutes this year and 8 of them have occurred since the New Year. His play has absolutely caused a loss in ice time. Montgomery expanded his role coming out of the 4 Nations tournament and his line has scored a 5 on 5 goal in each game. He was driving the net on a 2-on-1 for one goal and he made the pass to a streaking Thomas in the neutral zone in the other. No points for him, but the line played really well both games and it is hard to criticize that coaching decision.
Click to expand...

We need to argue over Bolduc and Neighbours more often. 2 goals for Bolduc; goal and assist for Neighbours; and washed-up Sundqvist beats them all with 3 points. :laugh:
 
  • Haha
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: Brian39, BadgersandBlues, SirPaste and 2 others
ChicagoBlues said:
Just like we need one of Alexandrov, Kaskimaki or Robertsson to stick, we also need one of Pekarcik, Stancl or Jecho to stick

Two from that group would be some nice biscuits. Three would be gravy.
Click to expand...
We really don’t. Our depth on wing is such that we don’t really need any non 1sts to hit. Kyrou and Buchy signed long term, Holloway, neighbours, and bolduc look like players, stenberg and snuggy coming soon. That is 7 wingers already. That leaves 1 spot for everyone else, including torpo, walker, Tex, etc…would be great to have too many, but that is just icing on cake.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mike Liut
BleedBlue14 said:
Take a look at the two most recent pages on this thread on the Prospects portion of the main board.

alko

Thread 'RD Simon Nemec (2022, 2nd, NJD)'

Simon Nemec, official HockeySlovakia profile
Looks like we have another gem for NHL draft 2022. Second youngest player in the history of Hlinka Cup. Made the Slovakia team as a 2004 class.

Last season, as a 14/15 years old boy collected 35 points in 52 games in our U18 league. As a Defensman.
  • Like
Click to expand...
Certainly concerning to read, however at the same time if everything was going great and he was doing well we wouldn't even be having this discussion because he wouldn't be available. That is the risk in a prospect like him, it will be high price to pay for someone who is not on track and has some red flags but if those weren't there he wouldn't be available in the first place. If we are looking to add a prospect with his ceiling and age, they are all gonna have some kind of red flags or they wouldn't even be in discussion. That's where you really have to put trust into your scouting dept to make sure they have done their due dillegence.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BadgersandBlues
SirPaste said:
Certainly concerning to read, however at the same time if everything was going great and he was doing well we wouldn't even be having this discussion because he wouldn't be available. That is the risk in a prospect like him, it will be high price to pay for someone who is not on track and has some red flags but if those weren't there he wouldn't be available in the first place. If we are looking to add a prospect with his ceiling and age, they are all gonna have some kind of red flags or they wouldn't even be in discussion. That's where you really have to put trust into your scouting dept to make sure they have done their due dillegence.
Click to expand...

I don’t fully disagree. And I think we can take a risk like that. But I would want to be pretty convinced that we have identified a problem with his game and would have a plan to fix that problem.

I just view him as a bit of a project, although it’s a really good project to take on for a multitude of reasons.

I’m just not sure I’d be comfortable shipping out a known contributor and adding to them. I think I’m more of in the situation where Bolduc for Nemec makes alot of sense most likely for both sides.

My main comment was in regards to character being the main issue to hammer down. In all reality I want to know why he’s been borderline the worst player in the NHL in certain metrics.

I fully trust our scouting department at this point. Especially amateur. But I think I view him more in the D. Jiricek category than the recent #2 overall pick that he was.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ChicagoBlues
BleedBlue14 said:
I don’t fully disagree. And I think we can take a risk like that. But I would want to be pretty convinced that we have identified a problem with his game and would have a plan to fix that problem.

I just view him as a bit of a project, although it’s a really good project to take on for a multitude of reasons.

I’m just not sure I’d be comfortable shipping out a known contributor and adding to them. I think I’m more of in the situation where Bolduc for Nemec makes alot of sense most likely for both sides.

My main comment was in regards to character being the main issue to hammer down. In all reality I want to know why he’s been borderline the worst player in the NHL in certain metrics.

I fully trust our scouting department at this point. Especially amateur. But I think I view him more in the D. Jiricek category than the recent #2 overall pick that he was.
Click to expand...
I think his issue is similar to Clarke; it’s really hard to develop offensive defensemen on team trying to contend. There is going to be a lot of struggles as they figure out what they can do at nhl level. What worked at lower levels doesn’t work at nhl and you can’t keep sitting them when they make mistakes or you get tentative player who can’t seem to do anything right. Broberg had similar issues couple of years ago. If you believe in player need to let him struggle and grow, but that is tough to do if you think you are contender. I’d love to have either nemec or Clarke.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BadgersandBlues and BleedBlue14
Bye Bye Blueston said:
I think his issue is similar to Clarke; it’s really hard to develop offensive defensemen on team trying to contend. There is going to be a lot of struggles as they figure out what they can do at nhl level. What worked at lower levels doesn’t work at nhl and you can’t keep sitting them when they make mistakes or you get tentative player who can’t seem to do anything right. Broberg had similar issues couple of years ago. If you believe in player need to let him struggle and grow, but that is tough to do if you think you are contender. I’d love to have either nemec or Clarke.
Click to expand...

Assuming we don’t move out Parayko I think we’d be about the perfect place to try and do so. We lack a high end offensive threat on the backend. PP1 is essentially wide open on the backend.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Brian39 and Bye Bye Blueston
Bye Bye Blueston said:
We really don’t. Our depth on wing is such that we don’t really need any non 1sts to hit. Kyrou and Buchy signed long term, Holloway, neighbours, and bolduc look like players, stenberg and snuggy coming soon. That is 7 wingers already. That leaves 1 spot for everyone else, including torpo, walker, Tex, etc…would be great to have too many, but that is just icing on cake.
Click to expand...
hhhhmmmmm......maybe room will be made for a cost-controlled winger.

EDIT: I think one of Neighbours or Bolduc will be traded.
 
Last edited:
SirPaste said:
Certainly concerning to read, however at the same time if everything was going great and he was doing well we wouldn't even be having this discussion because he wouldn't be available. That is the risk in a prospect like him, it will be high price to pay for someone who is not on track and has some red flags but if those weren't there he wouldn't be available in the first place. If we are looking to add a prospect with his ceiling and age, they are all gonna have some kind of red flags or they wouldn't even be in discussion. That's where you really have to put trust into your scouting dept to make sure they have done their due dillegence.
Click to expand...
Sometimes over diligence is necessary. In general, the negative stuff I read about Nemec is concerning his personality. Sounds like negotiating leverage to me.
 
Last edited:
BleedBlue14 said:
I don’t fully disagree. And I think we can take a risk like that. But I would want to be pretty convinced that we have identified a problem with his game and would have a plan to fix that problem.

I just view him as a bit of a project, although it’s a really good project to take on for a multitude of reasons.

I’m just not sure I’d be comfortable shipping out a known contributor and adding to them. I think I’m more of in the situation where Bolduc for Nemec makes alot of sense most likely for both sides.

My main comment was in regards to character being the main issue to hammer down. In all reality I want to know why he’s been borderline the worst player in the NHL in certain metrics.

I fully trust our scouting department at this point. Especially amateur. But I think I view him more in the D. Jiricek category than the recent #2 overall pick that he was.
Click to expand...
Right, I want to get in his head.
 
BleedBlue14 said:
Assuming we don’t move out Parayko I think we’d be about the perfect place to try and do so. We lack a high end offensive threat on the backend. PP1 is essentially wide open on the backend.
Click to expand...
Very true. I had hopes that Buchinger would graduate into the AHL a little easier than he has. He seems like a long shot now. I think Jiricek fits that mold but we won’t know until he can stay healthy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Top Bottom