Adam Jiricek????

[Droge100]

I know his knee injury dropped him in the draft, but how far? Would he have been in the top ten if he hadn't had the knee injury?

It looks like he has recovered fully and played well last season. Where do you see him going in the future? Do you see him as a first-line defenceman?

I know he probably won't be on the opening roster, but I would guess he will be up at some point this coming season.

Is he more of an offensive defenseman?

I am curious what your overall views of him are.

[BluesDom]

He was seen as injury prone and tall and skinny--so his draft position was right imo. Im not a big believer in discussing re-drafts etc.

It seems like he is the full package--offensive defenseman Powerplay QB. Top pairing d-man. or at worst top 4.
He should start in AHL and break in to the NHL this year .

Only knock is he's 6'3--good height--but only 185Lbs.
Tall and skinny at this point. Still filling out. He is not a huge man like some NHL d-men. Still time to grow up.

Elite Prospects:
Jiříček has the vision to identify the right play at pace and even the ability to deceive and manipulate opponents from the blue line to create those openings himself. And his touch as a passer? Beyond reproach. He can feather a puck through traffic with the best of them.

New Jersey drafted a real project at #10
6'7 207 lbs skinner and taller that AJ. Anton Silayev--i bet they wish they could do it over.

[DawgDad]

Might have been a top-ten. Like Lawrence, all that matters now is he fell to the Blues. All I've seen is the highlight reels, when healthy he is very athletic which should eventually translate to both offense and defense and potential top pair ceiling. Still very young, I have a sense the Blues will season him in Springfield but give him a sniff of the NHL. Mailloux was an AHL All-Star and still face-planted on his initial steps up to the NHL. Likely, Jiricek still needs development, pro game experience and time for his body to mature.

[a smell of green grass]

Here is a recent evaluation...

https://thehockeywriters.com/3-blues-pr ... n-2026-27/

Jiricek is like the rest of the NHL draftees for the Blues. The Blues always draft mid first round, where all the special talent is GONE. As a general rule, we draft in a position where POTENTIAL 3RD-LINERS are taken.

Consequently, while Jiricek is the best that the Blues have, relative to the rest of the NHL, he won't move any needle or turn any heads.

Never forget the age-old saying... The longer it takes for a prospect to make it in the NHL, the LESS of an impact they will eventually bring.
Schaefer is already dominating the NHL. Meanwhile, older iricek has just now made it to the AHL, and is still about 10,000 Big Macs away from the NHL.

Take my advice. You can MOSTLY FORGET about any prospect that we acquire via the NHL draft. They will be nothing special--almost guaranteed.

[keithinwr]

If anyone knowns about not being anything special it's Smelly

[a smell of green grass]

If anyone knowns about not being anything special it's Smelly

Every Blues fans knows all about this. We haven't drafted anywhere near high in almost 20 years. NHL draft excitement and promise goes to every NHL City --- EXCEPT ST LOUIS. Many NHL teams have 2 TOP5 picks on their roster (young players that they themselves drafted), and the Blues have ZERO.

The Blues get a financial kickback from the NHL for letting all the other cities draft high. The Blues care only about profits. We need fans thinking that we will make the playoffs every single year.

Forget about any new HOFers skating in Blues Jerseys.
Forget about St Louis ever have any meaningful NHL Draft excitement.

The most fun we have here is the 5 minutes that all of us thought that we were getting Mrtka for Parayko.

[BluesDom]

Top drafted players in last 26 years:
Lots of good ones. Not too many greats. But some nice picks for sure:
Backes, Stempniak, Oshie, Erik Johnson, Berglund, Perron, Eller, Cole, Pietrangelo, Tarasenko, Schwartz, Parayko, Hofer, Binnington, Barbashev, Vince Dunn, Mikkola, Tage Thompson, Kyrou, Robert Thomas, Jake Neighbours, Bolduc, Snuggerud.


TBD: Potential
Kaskimaki, Dvorsky, Lindstein, Stenberg, Jiricek, Ralph, Carbonneau, Haremstam, Lawrence and Dagenais.

Blue have been much more successful than most NHL teams in using he draft. The current crop seems pretty darn good.
They also used draft picks and prospects to acquire other players such as Mailloux, Broberg, Holloway, McTavish, McMichael.


All in all--what ASOG says is lame and fake and very predictable. Go to Hockey db and look up all 32 teams. We all know you don't do research or base anything you say on facts. Same old lame narrative not based in truth. We aren't doing too shabby.

[2forDiving]

If anyone knowns about not being anything special it's Smelly

Every Blues fans knows all about this. We haven't drafted anywhere near high in almost 20 years. NHL draft excitement and promise goes to every NHL City --- EXCEPT ST LOUIS. Many NHL teams have 2 TOP5 picks on their roster (young players that they themselves drafted), and the Blues have ZERO.

The Blues get a financial kickback from the NHL for letting all the other cities draft high. The Blues care only about profits. We need fans thinking that we will make the playoffs every single year.

Forget about any new HOFers skating in Blues Jerseys.
Forget about St Louis ever have any meaningful NHL Draft excitement.

The most fun we have here is the 5 minutes that all of us thought that we were getting Mrtka for Parayko.

We secured a top 3 overall pick. That defeats your dopey logic either way. So they now have a top 3 pick, which what you clamor for, or they got a guy not worthy of a top 3 pick, which also defeats you myopic perspective. Either way, you lose

[The Average Gatsby]

If I remember correctly Pronman at the athletic was asked this question and put Jiricek around the same draft spot as Zayne Parekh, who went 9th that year. Definitely higher, but not earth shatteringly so.

[DawgDad]

If I remember correctly Pronman at the athletic was asked this question and put Jiricek around the same draft spot as Zayne Parekh, who went 9th that year. Definitely higher, but not earth shatteringly so.

OK, fine. "If a tree falls in the forest . . .". Personally, I don't read The Athletic, except at times what people cut and paste here.

The ONLY thing that matters now for us fans relative to Jiricek is how he develops as an NHL player or asset for the Blues. The only assessment of his talent that matters for now is that of the Blues organization.

There is reason for us Blues fans to remain hopeful they have a diamond in the rough. We'll soon see.

[BluesDom]

In the last 26 years:
Carolina 2 cups
Florida 2 cups
Colorado -2
Tampa 3
Pittsburgh 3
Chicago 3
LA 2
Detroit 2
NJ 2
1 Cup : VEGAS, STL, WASHINGTON, Boston, Anaheim

14 teams out of 32 havent won a cup in the last 26 years.
If you win a cup--Thats the goal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_S ... _champions

Blues are drafting much better than the majority. Winning more than most and are one of 14 teams in 26 years who have won a cup.
They are clearly coming out of a rough patch. the Hockey guy looks at all 32 teams in the last 10 years. Good watch on youtube. He just did the blues. Things are looking up.

Blues have draft capital and a nice logical 2 way team. The Blues model can win a cup. It has and it will again sooner than you think.

Not bad.

Jiricek gonna be a stud .

[DawgDad]

In the last 26 years:
Carolina 2 cups
Florida 2 cups
Colorado -2
Tampa 3
Pittsburgh 3
Chicago 3
LA 2
Detroit 2
NJ 2
1 Cup : VEGAS, STL, WASHINGTON, Boston, Anaheim

14 teams out of 32 havent won a cup in the last 26 years.
If you win a cup--Thats the goal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_S ... _champions

Blues are drafting much better than the majority. Winning more than most and are one of 14 teams in 26 years who have won a cup.
They are clearly coming out of a rough patch. the Hockey guy looks at all 32 teams in the last 10 years. Good watch on youtube. He just did the blues. Things are looking up.

Not bad.

Jiricek gonna be a stud .

Good perspective. Having followed the Blues in some active or distant (remote) manner since their founding I can say my fan satisfaction has endured peaks and valleys but has never depended on the team winning a Cup.

My first date with my wife was to a Blues game, nearly 50 years ago, LONG before they won a Cup. My son was struggling to push a chair around the ice LONG before the Blues won the Cup. I took him to Blues games LONG before the Blues won the Cup. He and his family have actually seen and touched the Cup and posed for a photograph with it, out in Vegas the Sunday after the parade here in St. Louis. The Cup was great but the Blues were a special part of my life LONG before the Cup, in good times and bad.

[Phil Roberto fan]

In the last 26 years:
Carolina 2 cups
Florida 2 cups
Colorado -2
Tampa 3
Pittsburgh 3
Chicago 3
LA 2
Detroit 2
NJ 2
1 Cup : VEGAS, STL, WASHINGTON, Boston, Anaheim

14 teams out of 32 havent won a cup in the last 26 years.
If you win a cup--Thats the goal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_S ... _champions

Blues are drafting much better than the majority. Winning more than most and are one of 14 teams in 26 years who have won a cup.
They are clearly coming out of a rough patch. the Hockey guy looks at all 32 teams in the last 10 years. Good watch on youtube. He just did the blues. Things are looking up.

Not bad.

Jiricek gonna be a stud .

Good perspective. Having followed the Blues in some active or distant (remote) manner since their founding I can say my fan satisfaction has endured peaks and valleys but has never depended on the team winning a Cup.

My first date with my wife was to a Blues game, nearly 50 years ago, LONG before they won a Cup. My son was struggling to push a chair around the ice LONG before the Blues won the Cup. I took him to Blues games LONG before the Blues won the Cup. He and his family have actually seen and touched the Cup and posed for a photograph with it, out in Vegas the Sunday after the parade here in St. Louis. The Cup was great but the Blues were a special part of my life LONG before the Cup, in good times and bad.

Good take - as another who has been watching and going to games since year one i have never let Cup position fetermine my enthusiasm. However, it sure is nice to have lived through winning one ……..

Also share Dom’s enthusiasm re: the prospects and young talent. It’s been a long time since we’ve had this many exciting young players. With the arms race going on in the Central we’ll see if they can catch up and keep up.

[a smell of green grass]

In the last 26 years:
Carolina 2 cups
Florida 2 cups
Colorado -2
Tampa 3
Pittsburgh 3
Chicago 3
LA 2
Detroit 2
NJ 2
1 Cup : VEGAS, STL, WASHINGTON, Boston, Anaheim

14 teams out of 32 havent won a cup in the last 26 years.
If you win a cup--Thats the goal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_S ... _champions

Blues are drafting much better than the majority. Winning more than most and are one of 14 teams in 26 years who have won a cup.
They are clearly coming out of a rough patch. the Hockey guy looks at all 32 teams in the last 10 years. Good watch on youtube. He just did the blues. Things are looking up.

Not bad.

Jiricek gonna be a stud .

Good perspective. Having followed the Blues in some active or distant (remote) manner since their founding I can say my fan satisfaction has endured peaks and valleys but has never depended on the team winning a Cup.

My first date with my wife was to a Blues game, nearly 50 years ago, LONG before they won a Cup. My son was struggling to push a chair around the ice LONG before the Blues won the Cup. I took him to Blues games LONG before the Blues won the Cup. He and his family have actually seen and touched the Cup and posed for a photograph with it, out in Vegas the Sunday after the parade here in St. Louis. The Cup was great but the Blues were a special part of my life LONG before the Cup, in good times and bad.

Back in the 'ol days, the Blues were run like every other NHL city. More specifically, St Louis fans enjoyed the excitement of selecting Pietrangelo and watching him become a standout at the position, and eventually winning a Cup with him. St Louis fans got to watch HOFers IN THEIR JERSEY. St Louis kids knew immediately what name to put on the back of their jersey. Those days are long long gone as the Blues are limited to only building the blue collar team that "works hard".

The Blues are DESTROYING HOCKEY in St Louis now. That's what we get to be part of.

Now, the Blues are on the outside looking in at the party. The Blues are among the ONLY TEAMS that never drafts TOP5. Colorado, Dallas, Carolina, Edmonton, Pittsburg, Washington get the TOP5 picks now. The Blues get what's left in the NHL draft. I agree. Those were the days.

[Aesa]

Off your meds, again?

[keithinwr]

Smelly must have a form of Autism. I do and tend to focus on one topic too much sometimes.

I am grateful to still have a team in St. Louis. Saskatoon blues doesn't sound right.