John Cocktoastin wrote: ↑12 Sep 2025 20:55 pm
Impressed by Jiricek the most in this game. Great shot, poise.
Really noticing how well he negotiates space. But more importantly, his stickhandling is really impressive.
Praying to the injury gods that they have had all the fun with him already. Just stay away.
Tim Taylor said on bk and ferrario that Jiricek has put on 25 lbs since he was drafted. Filling out his body should help with avoiding injuries.
Jiricek is definitely a different looking player physically than when I last saw him. The weight lends a power to his skating that’s he didn’t seem to have. His reverse skating is elite. A player like this makes an impact because of his skating and thinking. His frame just looks way better with the extra weight. Brantford has games next Friday and Saturday but he will probably still be in camp. Can’t wait to see the improvement pop at the junior level
This is great news about Jiricek. You guys are going to need to change your prospect rankings
John Cocktoastin wrote: ↑12 Sep 2025 20:55 pm
Impressed by Jiricek the most in this game. Great shot, poise.
Really noticing how well he negotiates space. But more importantly, his stickhandling is really impressive.
Praying to the injury gods that they have had all the fun with him already. Just stay away.
Tim Taylor said on bk and ferrario that Jiricek has put on 25 lbs since he was drafted. Filling out his body should help with avoiding injuries.
Jiricek is definitely a different looking player physically than when I last saw him. The weight lends a power to his skating that’s he didn’t seem to have. His reverse skating is elite. A player like this makes an impact because of his skating and thinking. His frame just looks way better with the extra weight. Brantford has games next Friday and Saturday but he will probably still be in camp. Can’t wait to see the improvement pop at the junior level
This is great news about Jiricek. You guys are going to need to change your prospect rankings
I love adjusting the “what’s changed” rankings after the summer reset rankings. A huge reason I watch so many extra prospect games is desire to be sensitive to those movements. All of these players are a series of ifs. So time answers the ifs and when it trends well that’s the best.
Having said all of that, he has missed so much game rhythm that he was inconsistent last year. Adding weight is a huge structural component but with this player’s story it’s also showing it game after game for awhile
I just saw on HF boards a post that NHL Network has the Blues prospect pool ranked #4 in the NHL. Now that could be a bit high but they are definitely better than that 14 -16 range where others have placed them and not adjusted.
John Cocktoastin wrote: ↑12 Sep 2025 20:55 pm
Impressed by Jiricek the most in this game. Great shot, poise.
Really noticing how well he negotiates space. But more importantly, his stickhandling is really impressive.
Praying to the injury gods that they have had all the fun with him already. Just stay away.
Tim Taylor said on bk and ferrario that Jiricek has put on 25 lbs since he was drafted. Filling out his body should help with avoiding injuries.
Jiricek is definitely a different looking player physically than when I last saw him. The weight lends a power to his skating that’s he didn’t seem to have. His reverse skating is elite. A player like this makes an impact because of his skating and thinking. His frame just looks way better with the extra weight. Brantford has games next Friday and Saturday but he will probably still be in camp. Can’t wait to see the improvement pop at the junior level
This is great news about Jiricek. You guys are going to need to change your prospect rankings
I love adjusting the “what’s changed” rankings after the summer reset rankings. A huge reason I watch so many extra prospect games is desire to be sensitive to those movements. All of these players are a series of ifs. So time answers the ifs and when it trends well that’s the best.
Having said all of that, he has missed so much game rhythm that he was inconsistent last year. Adding weight is a huge structural component but with this player’s story it’s also showing it game after game for awhile
Getting stronger is apart of a prospects development the Blues staff would have given the kid a plan starting when he was rehabbing at Centene. I didn't consider Jiricek to be that risky of a pick even after injury, at #16 he's was a good value pick.
Best case scenario is he blows the Blues away and earns a spot in the AHL but in any case Jiricek has made positive progress to this point.
Blues fans should be excited about Snuggerud, Dvorsky, Carbs, Jiricek, Stenberg, Fischer etc it's the beginning of a great era
b-a-a-a-rclay wrote: ↑13 Sep 2025 13:11 pm
I just saw on HF boards a post that NHL Network has the Blues prospect pool ranked #4 in the NHL. Now that could be a bit high but they are definitely better than that 14 -16 range where others have placed them and not adjusted.
If they are including Snuggerud then I can go along with that the Blues are more or less loaded with young players. Being able to land Carbonneau changed the trajectory a bit. Man that kid looks good he has all the tools to impact NHL games. A few years ago RW was a big weakness for the franchise (RHD too) no the Blues are stacked on the right side
John Cocktoastin wrote: ↑12 Sep 2025 20:55 pm
Impressed by Jiricek the most in this game. Great shot, poise.
Really noticing how well he negotiates space. But more importantly, his stickhandling is really impressive.
Praying to the injury gods that they have had all the fun with him already. Just stay away.
Tim Taylor said on bk and ferrario that Jiricek has put on 25 lbs since he was drafted. Filling out his body should help with avoiding injuries.
Jiricek is definitely a different looking player physically than when I last saw him. The weight lends a power to his skating that’s he didn’t seem to have. His reverse skating is elite. A player like this makes an impact because of his skating and thinking. His frame just looks way better with the extra weight. Brantford has games next Friday and Saturday but he will probably still be in camp. Can’t wait to see the improvement pop at the junior level
This is great news about Jiricek. You guys are going to need to change your prospect rankings
I love adjusting the “what’s changed” rankings after the summer reset rankings. A huge reason I watch so many extra prospect games is desire to be sensitive to those movements. All of these players are a series of ifs. So time answers the ifs and when it trends well that’s the best.
Having said all of that, he has missed so much game rhythm that he was inconsistent last year. Adding weight is a huge structural component but with this player’s story it’s also showing it game after game for awhile
I get it. One game is one game. But, it showed quite a bit. Shot, skating, positioning, vision, poise. And the dude is getting bigger? Bonus.
Every team misses on picks. But this scouting staff has been solid for years and obviously know what they're doing. Grateful to them for making this pick. If he continues this type of game, look out. Just stay +×@#$%& healthy.
From what I saw, I really felt the best player of the night on the ice was buium and it wasn’t close.
Next best, and I can’t believe it was Jiricek. Man he looked fast and skating was elite.
I was hoping one of our prospects stood out like buium did. He looks like men among boys. I wanted to say that about Dvorsky as he is probably our next nhl ready prospect but he didn’t stick out like buium did.
Carbonneau at his age no doubt is gonna be a beast. He definitely right now tries to do too much by himself sometimes, but he will figure out how to use his teammates more.
I really like several players games though. Stenberg, pekarcik, Fischer and company were very solid. We have a lot to look forward to.
I'm including myself here ... it's easy to put maybe too much weight into one game when we have just one game to go on so far. I wonder who will pop tonight. I agree that last night Jiricek was the man especially in the offensive zone. I hope Dvorsky separates himself more and that line with Stenberg and Carbonneau clicks a few more times. I will take Susuev as my dark horse guy to flash some more. Also, it will be really good if Jiricek is the man again tonight and if he and Lindstein look stronger and more in sync as a defensive pair (if they keep them together for several shifts).
b-a-a-a-rclay wrote: ↑13 Sep 2025 13:11 pm
I just saw on HF boards a post that NHL Network has the Blues prospect pool ranked #4 in the NHL. Now that could be a bit high but they are definitely better than that 14 -16 range where others have placed them and not adjusted.
I don’t disagree.
Take away the three minutes in the first period where our PK was struggling to figure themselves out and it could have been very lopsided. We were driving the play at will, but a four minute minor that turned into a 5 on 3 crippled the momentum .
With very few exceptions we were poised and hungry.
Dean might have made it even sweeter…
Adding a one way defenseman prospect and one good game of a prospect who has potential but challenges does not mean RHD isn’t very much still the weakness. Jiricek showed low positional IQ last year in junior. We have to see if that’s still a part of his game before we can even say he is back on track.
seattleblue wrote: ↑13 Sep 2025 14:35 pm
Adding a one way defenseman prospect and one good game of a prospect who has potential but challenges does not mean RHD isn’t very much still the weakness. Jiricek showed low positional IQ last year in junior. We have to see if that’s still a part of his game before we can even say he is back on track.
"Weakness" strikes me as overstatement, even for RD. Lot of time left before the Blues rely on any of these guys. Even if Dvorsky or someone else makes the team the Blues are not in a position where they are relying on a prospect (other than perhaps Snuggerud to an extent) to stay afloat. Last night was a positive for the whole group of prospects, another game tonight and then a full season of development.
seattleblue wrote: ↑13 Sep 2025 14:35 pm
Adding a one way defenseman prospect and one good game of a prospect who has potential but challenges does not mean RHD isn’t very much still the weakness. Jiricek showed low positional IQ last year in junior. We have to see if that’s still a part of his game before we can even say he is back on track.
"Weakness" strikes me as overstatement, even for RD. Lot of time left before the Blues rely on any of these guys. Even if Dvorsky or someone else makes the team the Blues are not in a position where they are relying on a prospect (other than perhaps Snuggerud to an extent) to stay afloat. Last night was a positive for the whole group of prospects, another game tonight and then a full season of development.
He’s talking organizationally, long-term. Not currently. Faulk is fading fast, Parayko is 32 and Kessel might not really even be an NHLer. We’re ok at RD for now but organizationally, it’s Jiricek and McIsaac and that’s it. Definitely still a long-term weakness.
Obviously the landscape changes if Jiricek can overcome his 2 injury riddled seasons and reach his potential but even assuming that occurs, we’re still clearly quite shallow there.
seattleblue wrote: ↑13 Sep 2025 14:35 pm
Adding a one way defenseman prospect and one good game of a prospect who has potential but challenges does not mean RHD isn’t very much still the weakness. Jiricek showed low positional IQ last year in junior. We have to see if that’s still a part of his game before we can even say he is back on track.
"Weakness" strikes me as overstatement, even for RD. Lot of time left before the Blues rely on any of these guys. Even if Dvorsky or someone else makes the team the Blues are not in a position where they are relying on a prospect (other than perhaps Snuggerud to an extent) to stay afloat. Last night was a positive for the whole group of prospects, another game tonight and then a full season of development.
He’s talking organizationally, long-term. Not currently. Faulk is fading fast, Parayko is 32 and Kessel might not really even be an NHLer. We’re ok at RD for now but organizationally, it’s Jiricek and McIsaac and that’s it. Definitely still a long-term weakness.
Obviously the landscape changes if Jiricek can overcome his 2 injury riddled seasons and reach his potential but even assuming that occurs, we’re still clearly quite shallow there.
seattleblue wrote: ↑13 Sep 2025 14:35 pm
Adding a one way defenseman prospect and one good game of a prospect who has potential but challenges does not mean RHD isn’t very much still the weakness. Jiricek showed low positional IQ last year in junior. We have to see if that’s still a part of his game before we can even say he is back on track.
"Weakness" strikes me as overstatement, even for RD. Lot of time left before the Blues rely on any of these guys. Even if Dvorsky or someone else makes the team the Blues are not in a position where they are relying on a prospect (other than perhaps Snuggerud to an extent) to stay afloat. Last night was a positive for the whole group of prospects, another game tonight and then a full season of development.
He’s talking organizationally, long-term. Not currently. Faulk is fading fast, Parayko is 32 and Kessel might not really even be an NHLer. We’re ok at RD for now but organizationally, it’s Jiricek and McIsaac and that’s it. Definitely still a long-term weakness.
Obviously the landscape changes if Jiricek can overcome his 2 injury riddled seasons and reach his potential but even assuming that occurs, we’re still clearly quite shallow there.
The Blues also have all of their future 1st round draft picks in-hand, and all these prospects. To the extent they are "shallow" at RD they are rich in ability to acquire or add resources. They added Mailloux and they still have a lot of good prospects. It seems like the organization is only "weak" if they need both Mailloux and Kessel in the NHL together or perhaps if they need another full-time NHL RD in the next couple of seasons. If Springfield needs one they'll find a player to plug the hole.
seattleblue wrote: ↑13 Sep 2025 14:35 pm
Adding a one way defenseman prospect and one good game of a prospect who has potential but challenges does not mean RHD isn’t very much still the weakness. Jiricek showed low positional IQ last year in junior. We have to see if that’s still a part of his game before we can even say he is back on track.
"Weakness" strikes me as overstatement, even for RD. Lot of time left before the Blues rely on any of these guys. Even if Dvorsky or someone else makes the team the Blues are not in a position where they are relying on a prospect (other than perhaps Snuggerud to an extent) to stay afloat. Last night was a positive for the whole group of prospects, another game tonight and then a full season of development.
He’s talking organizationally, long-term. Not currently. Faulk is fading fast, Parayko is 32 and Kessel might not really even be an NHLer. We’re ok at RD for now but organizationally, it’s Jiricek and McIsaac and that’s it. Definitely still a long-term weakness.
Obviously the landscape changes if Jiricek can overcome his 2 injury riddled seasons and reach his potential but even assuming that occurs, we’re still clearly quite shallow there.
The Blues also have all of their future 1st round draft picks in-hand, and all these prospects. To the extent they are "shallow" at RD they are rich in ability to acquire or add resources. They added Mailloux and they still have a lot of good prospects. It seems like the organization is only "weak" if they need both Mailloux and Kessel in the NHL together or perhaps if they need another full-time NHL RD in the next couple of seasons. If Springfield needs one they'll find a player to plug the hole.
Agreed they’re rich in resources/assets. And will be even more so if/when the next wave starts hitting the NHL - Stenberg, Kaskimaki, Pekarcik, Stancl etc. Either they can be traded or whomever they replace can be traded to shore up an area of greater need. We already did that once - trading a winger in Bolduc for a RD in Mailloux but I expect it to occur a few more times in the coming years as well.
