Prospect Info: St. Louis Blues Top-20 Prospects: Where Should Logan Brown Go?

[Bluesnatic27]

The Blues 2020 - 2021 Top-20 Prospect List:
1) Klim Kostin - 61.3%
2) Scott Perunovich - 50%
3) Zachary Bolduc - 45.9%
4) Jake Neighbours - 63.8%
5) Simon Robertsson - 35.8%
6) Nikita Alexandrov - 62.1%
7) Joel Hofer - 72.1%
8) Colten Ellis - 33.3%
9) Matt Kessel - 48.8%
10) Alexei Toropchenko - 27.3%
11) Tyler Tucker - 43.6%
12) Leo Loof - 32.4%
13) Tanner Dickinson - 35.7%
14) Vadim Zherenko - 35.3%
15) Dylan Peterson - 48.6
16) Keean Washkurak - 57.1%
17) Mathias Laferriere - 53.3%
18) Hugh McGing - 50.0%

This is where I usually do a write up on the previous poll winner. However, during the time the previous poll was up, Logan Brown was traded to the Blues. As such, he should be entered into the poll because he meets all of the criteria that was laid out for what constitutes a "Blues Prospect". The issue is that I feel just inserting him into the pool of remaining players only to fight for #19 would be unfair to him.

Instead, I leave his placement up to you. I have laid out every possible position Brown could have been voted into (so every number besides 19 and 20) and whatever position the masses believe him to be in, he will be the new #__ Blues prospect with every other prospect below him moving down one spot. If we all believe him to be lower than 18, then we will continue the poll as normal with Brown inserted with the remaining pool.

I think this to be the best compromise to make sure Brown isn't downplayed for reasons beyond his time joining the Blues. But, if there are any concerns, please voice them now so we may accommodate.

With that said, let's see where Brown will go!

Click to read more...

 

[bleedblue1223]

Maybe 5th?

 

[stl76]

Maybe 5th?

Yeah I think 5th is about right.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

5th or 6th. He has the ability to be a good player just hasn't shown the drive to be one.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Maybe 5th?

Seems right. Clearly not higher than that.

 

[Xspyrit]

Sens fan here. I voted #7 if you don't mind. Without knowing the Blues pool anywhere close as much as the Sens one, I think your top-4 guys should clearly be ahead. I gave the "benefit of the youth" to your #5 and #6 but yeah, Brown could easily end up better than them. Pretty smart pick up from your GM

For the record, despite several graduations, he was voted #11 on the Sens pool which is still pretty good due to the rebuild and the firesale (trading several good/great players in their prime brings a lot of assets). And well, because Ottawa is pretty good at drafting, the only thing the organization does well (the rest is very subpar)

The fact that he was voted above guys like Jarventie, Kleven, Merilainen, Ostapchuk and Crookshank shows that Sens fans in general still believe in his talent.

1- Jake Sanderson (95.0%)
2- Shane Pinto (71.2%)
3- Erik Brännström (46.1%)
4- Tyler Boucher (28.6%)
5- Alex Formenton (53.2%)
6- Ridly Greig (43.8%)
7- Filip Gustavsson (43.6%)
8- Jacob Bernard-Docker (74.1%)
9- Egor Sokolov (51.2%)
10- Mads Søgaard (58.7%)
11- Logan Brown (50.0%)
12- Roby Järventie (52.8%)
13- Tyler Kleven (44.9%)
14- Lassi Thomson (54.3%)
15- Leevi Merilainen (71.4%)
16- Zack Ostapchuk (42.9%)
17- Angus Crookshank (67.6%)
...

But for him to become a NHL player, he absolutely needs to stop getting injured and needs to have his head on straight and focus on giving his best. I think the last 2 years, there's been too much "bad blood" between his father/him and the Sens organization

5th or 6th. He has the ability to be a good player just hasn't shown the drive to be one.

To be honest, he has been injured a lot. He's been criticized a lot too but the only real chance he ever had in the NHL was during his 21 y/o season, where he only played 23 games without looking out of place. Sure, he didn't look 100% ready but you could see already what he could become by his play on the powerplay

Since then, he turned 22 y/o and covid arrived in our lives but he only played 14 pro games during that whole period! (13 in AHL, 1 in NHL). How was it possible for him to "graduate"? Last year, Ottawa's GM log jammed basically every position with mediocre/bad veterans (1-way contracts) and there was only ONE center spot to win, which went to Josh Norris who was almodt first line caliber in his rookie season. Should it be a slight against Brown? I mean, Norris is pretty damn good

You guys got a potential steal, the talent is definitely there (watch the video below if you haven't yet), need to stay healthy and have enough desire (fire in the belly) to make it.

 

[bleedblue1223]

My personal list might have Alexandrov or Hofer ahead. Brown at this point is an older boom/bust type, so it's a weird one.

There is a clear drop after our first 4, and goalies are always tough in these.

 

[Majorityof1]

Its hard to say because the list we voted on does not jive at all with my personal list. He is clearly ahead of Alexandrov for me but below Hofer and Ellis. I guess I should put him after those two and just consider Alexandrov the anomaly. So I vote him 9th.

 

[Xspyrit]

Its hard to say because the list we voted on does not jive at all with my personal list. He is clearly ahead of Alexandrov for me but below Hofer and Ellis. I guess I should put him after those two and just consider Alexandrov the anomaly. So I vote him 9th.

Just out of curiosity, do you also have Robertsson at #5? I was wondering because he was a 3rd round pick in the recent draft, selected 3 spots before Oliver Johansson who got voted #24 on the Sens pool.

I don't know and it's of course not my team but Alexandrov seems like a better prospect than Robertsson for now

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Just out of curiosity, do you also have Robertsson at #5? I was wondering because he was a 3rd round pick in the recent draft, selected 3 spots before Oliver Johansson who got voted #24 on the Sens pool.

I don't know and it's of course not my team but Alexandrov seems like a better prospect than Robertsson for now

We really overrated Robertsson. Makes no sense.

 

[Majorityof1]

Just out of curiosity, do you also have Robertsson at #5? I was wondering because he was a 3rd round pick in the recent draft, selected 3 spots before Oliver Johansson who got voted #24 on the Sens pool.

I don't know and it's of course not my team but Alexandrov seems like a better prospect than Robertsson for now

I have the goalies ahead of Robertsson, but he is still around 5th for me. My list is a little weird compared to most people's. Alexandrov is 9th on my list (without Brown). I am not really a fan. His skating stride is pretty bad. He generates ok speed, but he'll need to re-work his entire stride to gain anything in that area. It's possible, but a project. His offensive game is based on getting to the net, which he is able to do as he is strong relative to juniors. But he isn't a big guy. I don't think he will have that strength advantage against men, nor will he be able to pack the muscle on his frame to do so. It showed in Liiga as his offense dried up there (although I didn't watch him play there, just stat watching).

Robertsson on the other hand I view as a steal. He was highly ranked, and was a top 30 pick at one point on many rankings. He started falling closer to draft and I am not sure why. It could be because Sweeden's U20 season was cancelled. He ended up going up to the SHL and didn't do as well as maybe people thought he should. But that is a 17-18 year old vs Alexandrov as a a 20 year old.

Robertsson has high end skill. His acceleration and speed are already good, and he can improve it even more with very little work. He can and does do damage in front of the net like Alexandrov, but his real strength is his wrist shot. Its a top 5 shot in his draft and potentially the best. Its powerful, accurate and best of all quick. He can also change the angle effectively. I think his shot gives him top 6 potential. We do not have a great prospect pool relative to Ottawa. So it doesn't take much to push a prospect up the ranks.

 

[kimzey59]

I'm going with 5th. I think his upside puts him right there with Bolduc and Neighbours.

 

[Celtic Note]

Its hard to say because the list we voted on does not jive at all with my personal list. He is clearly ahead of Alexandrov for me but below Hofer and Ellis. I guess I should put him after those two and just consider Alexandrov the anomaly. So I vote him 9th.

I voted him 9th and my list doesn’t jive either.

 

[Frenzy31]

I put him at 10. I don't see him being offensively gifted enough to play top 6. And his game isn't set for Bottom 6. I think he will be a legit top line center in the AHL, but nothing more then that.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Just out of curiosity, do you also have Robertsson at #5? I was wondering because he was a 3rd round pick in the recent draft, selected 3 spots before Oliver Johansson who got voted #24 on the Sens pool.

I don't know and it's of course not my team but Alexandrov seems like a better prospect than Robertsson for now

Blues fans are notoriously homerish, especially when it comes to shiny new toys.

 

[bleedblue1223]

Robertsson being viewed as a big value pick because he was ranked higher in a bunch of pre-draft rankings, is why he's as high as he is.

And the big problem with these lists, we as fans have such limited information. Post prospect tourney and training camp, it would already look different. Perunovich would be #1 and Neighbours would be #2 IMO. Part of that is recency bias, and part of that is us learning more information.

 

[Xspyrit]

I have the goalies ahead of Robertsson, but he is still around 5th for me. My list is a little weird compared to most people's. Alexandrov is 9th on my list (without Brown). I am not really a fan. His skating stride is pretty bad. He generates ok speed, but he'll need to re-work his entire stride to gain anything in that area. It's possible, but a project. His offensive game is based on getting to the net, which he is able to do as he is strong relative to juniors. But he isn't a big guy. I don't think he will have that strength advantage against men, nor will he be able to pack the muscle on his frame to do so. It showed in Liiga as his offense dried up there (although I didn't watch him play there, just stat watching).

Robertsson on the other hand I view as a steal. He was highly ranked, and was a top 30 pick at one point on many rankings. He started falling closer to draft and I am not sure why. It could be because Sweeden's U20 season was cancelled. He ended up going up to the SHL and didn't do as well as maybe people thought he should. But that is a 17-18 year old vs Alexandrov as a a 20 year old.

Robertsson has high end skill. His acceleration and speed are already good, and he can improve it even more with very little work. He can and does do damage in front of the net like Alexandrov, but his real strength is his wrist shot. Its a top 5 shot in his draft and potentially the best. Its powerful, accurate and best of all quick. He can also change the angle effectively. I think his shot gives him top 6 potential. We do not have a great prospect pool relative to Ottawa. So it doesn't take much to push a prospect up the ranks.

I haven't watched/followed Alexandrov since he was in the Q but yeah, if he hasn't improved his skating since, it will be hard for him to reach the NHL. He is average stature and doesn't have elite skill/IQ so I see why you're lower on him

I like projects like Robertsson (and always had a Swedish bias). I think it's a bit similar for Oliver Johansson, he's a guy that several Sens fans who are following prospects closely think will rise significantly during the season. And like I said in my first post in this thread, the Sens pool is abnormally deep these days (due to rebuild/firesale/great drafting) so #24 doesn't mean bad prospect at all at the moment. The #21 and #22 are also looking pretty good and should rise in the near future. Although it might be hard to crack the top-17 (top-16 now because Brown is gone)

I put him at 10. I don't see him being offensively gifted enough to play top 6. And his game isn't set for Bottom 6. I think he will be a legit top line center in the AHL, but nothing more then that.

He was pretty much that in his 20 y/o rookie season.

Blues fans are notoriously homerish, especially when it comes to shiny new toys.

Aren't we all?! I was more wondering if none of the guys voted below didn't have an argument over him?

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Can we do this for Kostin too now that it is becoming obvious that we way overrated him too?

 

[Ranksu]

~10th spot

 

[Majorityof1]

Can we do this for Kostin too now that it is becoming obvious that we way overrated him too?

We've had how many games to watch Kostin? Now we need to change our vote because of 1 or 2 pre-season games? I think that says more about our collective ability to rate prospects than it does Kostin's rank in the organization.

 

[Celtic Note]

We've had how many games to watch Kostin? Now we need to change our vote because of 1 or 2 pre-season games? I think that says more about our collective ability to rate prospects than it does Kostin's rank in the organization.

Kostin would have been my 6th or 7th guy and Brown behind him.

 

[Robb_K]

Brown has been a washout, so far. It will take a lot of work and a big change of attitude for him to become a solid NHLer. I think we are doing Robertsson and Alexandrov a great disservice by not giving enough weight to their innate hockey skills and the related upside potential, and thinking that a player who is big, but has the bad habit of playing small and staying out of the play, and not skating very well, and not having very good hockey instincts, will have an easier path to being an NHL regular. Furthermore, one of Hofer or Ellis will likely make more impact on The NHL than Brown (we just don't know yet which one it will be because goalies mature much later than forwards). I give reasonably high-level perceived upside more weight than closeness to NHL-level play. Based on Brown's play in this season's pre-season games, I'd say it is possible that he NEVER gets much closer to being NHL-ready. He's got to have a complete attitude overhaul, and needs to really want badly to cooperate with his coaches, and work the hardest he's ever had to in his life. Some players are dedicated, and do what they need to. Many others don't. On the other hand, Robertsson shows a lot of promise, and doesn't seem to have roadblocks out of the normal pattern of improving with experience. Alexandrov looks like he's a little less likely than Robertsson to make it. But, I'm fairly confident both will be regular NHL players. Brown seems to have quite a bit of bust potential. IF everything goes right, with his size and improved skating, and a willingness to enter the physical game, play the 200 foot game, and do what's required of a forward in The Blues' system, he could become a valuable NHL player. But, based on how he has behaved in the past, I think his bust potential is significantly higher than his boom potential. I'd put him no higher than 8th or 9th.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

We've had how many games to watch Kostin? Now we need to change our vote because of 1 or 2 pre-season games? I think that says more about our collective ability to rate prospects than it does Kostin's rank in the organization.

It’s not just the game. It was irrational exuberance based on reports from khl. He has been underwhelming all camp.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

Seems right. Clearly not higher than that.

Ok. That may be too high.

 

[Majorityof1]

It’s not just the game. It was irrational exuberance based on reports from khl. He has been underwhelming all camp.

And that's my point. If we are swayed by irrational exuberance based on reports of games we didn't see, then we collectively aren't exactly the best equipped to be evaluating these prospects.