@STL fan in MN had much better ranking over at the Asylum earlier today.
In response to someone posting a Blues prospect ranking, I posted one of my own. Was a fun exercise. Look forward to reworking it in a month or so when we have a few new 2025 draftees to add to it.
I’ll provide my own ranking and will add a blurb about each guy as to why I have them ranked there. Will see how far I get.
Tier 1:
1. Dalibor Dvorsky - projects as a top-6 C. Our highest drafted prospect since Petro. Tore up the OHL at 18 and then was the 2nd highest scoring player his age in the AHL this season. Most 19 yr olds are still playing Jrs. He did well in the 2nd best pro league in the world. He’s right on track IMO. I expect him to get some games in with the Blues this season and then truly arrive the following season.
2. Jimmy Snuggerud - I debated putting him at #1 but kept Dvorsky there because Dvorsky plays the more valuable position. But Snuggy’s transition to the NHL was much smoother than I anticipated. Elite shot, hard worker. I expect him to continue to progress this next season.
Tier 2:
3. Theo Lindstein - played regular minutes for SHL regular season champs and playoff runners up Brynas. He’s calm, cool, has very high hockey sense, very good outlets, gaps etc. Has the hockey sense to contribute more offensively I think (which we’ve seen in spurts) but for the most part elects to make the safe play. I see him as a likely #2-4 d-man during the bulk of his career. Jonas Brodin and Gustav Forsling would be the type of player I see him developing into if he reaches the level I think he will. Very valuable guys to have. He’ll be in Springfield next season. The SHL is about on par with the AHL in terms of caliber of play but it’s a different style he’ll have to adjust to. With the bigger ice over in Sweden, he has more room to cover defensively there but it’s also more of an east-west game. The N.A game is more north-south with more net front traffic, scrums, tips and deflections. He’s 6’0” and hasn’t really gained his man strength yet so for me, the main thing I expect he’ll need to adjust to and work on is the strength needed for leverage in scrums in front of his own net and in the corners. Working on how to leverage his strength to move guys, block shots w/o screening his goalie etc. That’ll be the main adjustment from Sweden IMO.
4. Otto Stenberg - a Swiss Army knife of a LW. Good at everything, not really elite at anything. Reminds me of Steen in that he brings a very solid combo of skill, tenacity, smarts, effort, good board work and he’s very good at tips/deflections. He’s also an absolute pest that loves to get under his opponent’s skin. Always yapping out there. Could be a guy that can complement just about any line.
Tier 3
5. Adam Jiricek - has the raw tools to be an impact top-4 RD but he’s still incredibly raw and has missed a lot of the last 2 seasons to injury. His skating is clearly above average (even after the blown out knee, which is a good thing to see) and his offensive sense and puck skills are good but agree with Seattle in that his positioning, reads and defensive play all need a lot of work. He’s also a string bean physically. I’m usually the first guy to not be concerned when a teenager is skinny as they all tend to fill out and gain the needed man strength by age 21-22 but he’s so skinny it seems to be impacting his game and I think also making him more injury prone. He’s gotten rocked in Jrs a few times and the competition just gets bigger and stronger as you move up levels. So what I really want to see is that he visually looks bigger and stronger by the time next season starts. He has pretty high potential but also a pretty high chance he’s busts or at least doesn’t live up to the draft position if I’m being honest. We’re very short on RD in the pipeline so we need this guy to hit. This offseason and next season, which abound be his last in Jrs, will be critical for his development IMO.
6. Lukas Fischer - son of Jiri Fischer. He had a very strong season as Sarina’s captain. Very young for his draft. If he was born a week later he wouldn’t have been draft eligible until a month from now and if he was in this draft I bet he’d be slotted to go in the late 1st. Solid two-way game but more of a defensive d-man in my book. Don’t see him on an NHL PP or anything. Has another year of Jrs before he turns pro. Think he’s got a pretty good shot of making the US’s WJC team this winter.
7. Zach Dean - he didn’t have a great season. Not because he played poorly but because he missed most of it to injury. But I still see a guy with bottom-6 C potential. Above average skater with solid skills and lots of intangibles that make for a good bottom-6 forward. Next year will be big for him. Needs to stay healthy.
8. Juraj Pekarcik - has had a good Jr career. Best attribute is probably his playmaking ability. Good complementary player. Works hard. I see a guy with the potential to be a good 3LW in time. But could also be a guy that gets lost in the shuffle or it takes him a while to make it. Still quite raw. He has 1-2 games left in his Jr career and then he’ll be in Springfield next season.
9. Jakub Stancl - was good for a bad Kelowna team this season and then led the entire WJC in goals with 7 in 7 games. Another LW, I see his potential similarly to Pekarcik but they bring different strengths/weaknesses. Juraj is a more skilled and a better playmaker but Stancl is bigger, stronger, meaner, better along the boards and has the stronger shot. He brings a lot to the game that tends to make for a quality bottom-6 winger. The question will be if enough of his offense will translate to make it as an NHLer. I like his chances. Hard worker that fits the Blues lunchpail mentality perfectly.
10. Colten Ellis - he really shot up the charts for me. A year and a half ago he was toiling in the ECHL and I wouldn’t have had him on the top-20 of our prospects. He didn’t adapt to the pro game well at all. But something clicked midway through last season and he earned a call-up to the AHL and then stole the starting job this season. Was voted team MVP and it was well deserved. Was among the top few goalies in the main stats and simply gave a young T-Birds team a chance every night. He has legit NHL potential. Will be interesting to see where things go as he should be getting some NHL time soon but with Binner and Hofer in front of him, it’ll be tough. But he’s legit.
11. Aleksanteri Kaskimaki - yet another LW that projects around the 3rd line. Very fast. Like Kyrou/Holloway fast. Good defensively, works hard and drives to the net. He did better his first season in N.A. than I expected. Even Army gave him props in his end of season presser. Brings just enough offense to be a solid secondary option while being a good two-way player that supports his teammates. He was an offense first guy when he was drafted (led the Finnish jr league in scoring the year the Blues drafted him) but he wisely realized he wasn’t quite skilled enough to be a top-6 forward in the NHL and has adapted his game beautifully to be more of a bottom-6 option.
12. Quinton Burns - a mean and nasty defensive d-man. Another lefty. He has good outlets but his main asset is his snarl. It can sometimes get him into trouble as he led Kingston in PIMs the last 3 years but that hard nosed type can be valuable too. He’ll be in Springfield next season.
13. Colin Ralph - another lefty defensive d-man. Huge at 6’5”. He’s simply a solid, go about your business type. Won’t bring much of any offense but is solid defensively. The type you really only notice if he makes a mistake. Otherwise, you have to really pay attention to appreciate his game. It’s subtle. Was good for St. Cloud State this season but is now transferring to Michigan St where he should play a big role in one of the bigger programs in college hockey. Sort of like a younger, likely lesser version of Parayko.
14. Dylan Peterson - big 4th line RW type. Sort of like a Toropchenko. He may take another year or two but I think he’ll make it as a 4th liner eventually.
These are the 14 guys I see as the most likely to make the NHL in some way or another. This is getting long so I probably won’t do blurbs for the rest…or at least keep them short.
Tier 4
15. Matvei Korotky - just lost Game 7 of the Russian Jr league final a couple days ago. But he led the league in playoff scoring. And earlier in the season earned a promotion to the KHL. He’s one to watch.
16. Tomas Mrsic - has obvious offense skills, particularly his shot. But is a bit small, plays a perimeter game and I see the game he plays as very Jr in nature. So that makes me question just how well his game will translate to pro hockey, particularly the NHL. Main concern now though is likely his season ending by getting kicked in the face with a skate and likely suffering yet another concussion. Hopefully there’s no lasting effects from that and he can come back strong next season. 1 more year of Jr eligibility for him.
17. Adam Jecho - big, good shot, decent skater, poor hockey sense.
18. Will McIsaac - solid righty defensive d-man. Has another year of Jrs left.
19. Arseni Koromyslov - solid Russian defensive LD. Until he comes over to N.A., I can’t really say he has potential to be an NHLer. He recently signed an extension that takes him through next season over there.
20. Simon Robertsson - was solid for Springfield this season but was in and out of the lineup with various injuries. I don’t see a great path for him to make it but he’s not a bad two-way winger. Next season will be big for his future IMO.
21. Michael Buchinger - struggled in his AHL rookie season. I don’t think he’ll make it but we’ll see.
22. Vadim Zherenko - got passed by Ellis but was still a solid AHL goalie this season. But he’s a RFA and I read a report the other day that Moscow Dynamo, who owns his KHL rights, are going to try to get him to return. And considering he has 3 solid goalies in front of him here, I wouldn’t blame him if he comes to the conclusion it’d be better for him to go to the KHL than try to keep his N.A. dream alive with another season in the AHL.
Tier 5:
23-29: Kos, Loof, Johannesson, Susuyev, Skinner, Dickinson, Vorobyov
Tier 6:
30-36: Dorian, Cranley, Malmstrom, Mayich, Gaudet, Andronovski, Abramov
