Draft Thread

[hockey jedi]

Don't get your hopes up. The Blues will get hot enough to just miss the playoffs. We'll be picking around 12-18

[Younghopp1991]

Don't get your hopes up. The Blues will get hot enough to just miss the playoffs. We'll be picking around 12-18

The only thing that gives me hope of a top 3 pick is that the “leaders” of this group continue to nosedive after they are not selected for the olympics. Thats probably (bleep) to say.
But has robert thomas character shown us to make us believe hes going to do anything but look in the rafters.
We lack personality.
The thing about this team is that they absolutely need their last couple puzzle pieces to be their main source of personality. There are very few guys who can come in from another organization and lead a locker room.
We thought our window was opening and we NEEDED a solid season and to establish consistency and a identity and its going down hill. Buch contract looks terrible
Kyrou is not a leader and will choose to show up when the team shows up.
We have a bunch of really hard decisions to make with giving out new shiny contracts (broberg, holloway)
Respect schenn, but its over. But you dont want to give the room to anyone else.
You needed a solid run this year and next year to justify not trading parayko before he starts breaking down and losing minutes. Maximun value is now or in the offseason. His return would really help change a rebuilding franchise in numerous ways. The prospects and picks. You would think it would have to be a 3 team trade. Plus you write your own ticket to top 3 this year and maybe top 5 pick next year. But that decision is hasty to make now. Better hope he stays healthy.
Faulk will probably never be as productive to the eye test as he is at this point. RHD Offensive production and being on a bad team overshadows a lot for a defenseman. This is the perfect time to trade faulk. If you trade faulk or parayko you are essentially not trying to be competitive for the next 2 seasons. They have a lot of hard decisions to make extremely soon and they HAVE to get them all correct. They have used up their re-do’s

[kimzey59]

I also really like Lawrence (missed the first 15-20 games of the season to injury but he’s legit), Suvanto and Novotny as well. Viggo Bjorck is also highly, highly skilled.

This draft is deep at wing, relatively deep at D and pretty darn weak at C. Lawrence and Suvanto are really the only 2 true Cs I see going in the first half of the 1st round as of now. There will be others as C is a valued position but those are the only 2 I see as absolutely deserving of going that high as of today.

Caleb Malhotra and Ilya Morozov look a LOT better than Suvanto right now.
At least for right now; I have both of them pretty comfortably above Suvanto.
Malhotra is easily a top 10 pick IMO.

The center class this year came in fairly unheralded, but I'm actually seeing a fairly decent crop start to emerge. They just aren't the "flashy" types of centers that the hype machine likes to push on everyone. Strong 2-way play seems to be the hallmark rather than raw offensive skills.
Lawrence and Malhotra should both be top 10 picks IMO.
Morozov, Suvanto, Shilov, Edwards and Hextall should all end up safely inside the first round.
Command, Gashilov, Rogowski, Chrenko and a few others are right on the cusp of the 1st round.

And how do you classify Roobroeck?
He's still slides between C and wing on a regular basis and that tool kit is insane(even if the motor isn't always there).

[STL fan in MN]

I also really like Lawrence (missed the first 15-20 games of the season to injury but he’s legit), Suvanto and Novotny as well. Viggo Bjorck is also highly, highly skilled.

This draft is deep at wing, relatively deep at D and pretty darn weak at C. Lawrence and Suvanto are really the only 2 true Cs I see going in the first half of the 1st round as of now. There will be others as C is a valued position but those are the only 2 I see as absolutely deserving of going that high as of today.

Caleb Malhotra and Ilya Morozov look a LOT better than Suvanto right now.
At least for right now; I have both of them pretty comfortably above Suvanto.
Malhotra is easily a top 10 pick IMO.

The center class this year came in fairly unheralded, but I'm actually seeing a fairly decent crop start to emerge. They just aren't the "flashy" types of centers that the hype machine likes to push on everyone. Strong 2-way play seems to be the hallmark rather than raw offensive skills.
Lawrence and Malhotra should both be top 10 picks IMO.
Morozov, Suvanto, Shilov, Edwards and Hextall should all end up safely inside the first round.
Command, Gashilov, Rogowski, Chrenko and a few others are right on the cusp of the 1st round.

And how do you classify Roobroeck?
He's still slides between C and wing on a regular basis and that tool kit is insane(even if the motor isn't always there).

Very true on Malhotra. He’s a player for sure. Should’ve mentioned him.

I’ve yet to see Morozov play beyond a few highlights so don’t have a great read on him yet. But the little I’ve seen and basic stat watching sure suggest he’s doing very very well for a 17 yr old playing college hockey.

Roobroeck is very talented but the epitome of leaving you wanting more. Not a big fan of him.

A guy I wasn’t too familiar with before that’s really caught my eye is Alberts Smits. Big d-man with some skill that’s already playing pro hockey.

Piiparinen is another one I want to see more of. Any opinion on him?

[smilinjoefission]

I'm still holding out for Stenberg, but Belchetz is also in the picture. I doubt the Blues finish with the worst record so unless they win the lottery I figure 3-5 as their pick. I'd like to see two additional 1st rounders. I liked Villeneuve back when he was mid round, but he's gained some ground in the ranking (the one I'm looking at). I'd take Roobroek mid 10s and probably Hurlbert later 20s. I also like Shilov and Morozov (I'm still a sucker for Russians). Blues could be in the position like 2007 when they had 5 top 44 picks (and then traded the players away like a Keenan way too early). This draft will make/break their rebuild speed.

[kimzey59]

Very true on Malhotra. He’s a player for sure. Should’ve mentioned him.

I’ve yet to see Morozov play beyond a few highlights so don’t have a great read on him yet. But the little I’ve seen and basic stat watching sure suggest he’s doing very very well for a 17 yr old playing college hockey.

Roobroeck is very talented but the epitome of leaving you wanting more. Not a big fan of him.

A guy I wasn’t too familiar with before that’s really caught my eye is Alberts Smits. Big d-man with some skill that’s already playing pro hockey.

Piiparinen is another one I want to see more of. Any opinion on him?

I've only seen a little bit of him but Piiparinen seems bland IMO.
Not necessarily in a bad way, but nothing really stands out with him.
Good skater, but not elite.
Good hockey sense, but not elite.
There's some skill, but I don't see him projecting as a real point producer.
He plays solid defense, but I don't know that he really projects as a "shutdown" type.

I think the combination of abilities lands him somewhere in the first and probably on an NHL 2nd pairing somewhere down the line; but I don't know that the upside is overly high. He's a safe and projectable pick in the late teens/early 20's, but I also think there's some real homerun potential in that range.