2017-2018 Blues Prospects Thread

[The Note in MI]

In that article I posted in the Blues Discussion thread, Gruden said he had been playing like 27 minutes a night. No wonder he’s tired

I caught that. Perhaps a little exaggerated since nobody is tracking time, but he’s been run hard. What a season he’s had!

It was actually the Pats coach/GM that said they logged him at 27 min that game not Gruden so I believe it. He’s out there all the time.

I hope he was tired because outside of that Swift Current game he was a complete non factor all Memorial Cup. Just like the WJC and his games in London I’ve come away pretty underwhelmed. Still looks like a future 3C to me. Now might be a good time to trade him if he could be the centerpiece of a trade bringing in a substantial upgrade up front. Unless our strategy is to horde all of the 3Cs onto one team so nobody else can have one, we have to start clearing some of these guys. Thomas would have the most value as there’s still some hope he could be a top 6 center so a team might be willing to part with a pretty solid scorer in return.

What about the Acadie-Bathurst game? Or the first Pats game. Last night he had a few good plays but he didn’t have his best game. Still played well. Regina just shut him down. Steel wasn’t exactly stellar last night either.

Thomas is going to be at minimum a 2C

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

I hope he was tired because outside of that Swift Current game he was a complete non factor all Memorial Cup. Just like the WJC and his games in London I’ve come away pretty underwhelmed. Still looks like a future 3C to me. Now might be a good time to trade him if he could be the centerpiece of a trade bringing in a substantial upgrade up front. Unless our strategy is to horde all of the 3Cs onto one team so nobody else can have one, we have to start clearing some of these guys. Thomas would have the most value as there’s still some hope he could be a top 6 center so a team might be willing to part with a pretty solid scorer in return.

The anti-Morty emerges

 

[stl76]

The anti-Morty emerges

 

[542365]

It was actually the Pats coach/GM that said they logged him at 27 min that game not Gruden so I believe it. He’s out there all the time.



What about the Acadie-Bathurst game? Or the first Pats game. Last night he had a few good plays but he didn’t have his best game. Still played well. Regina just shut him down. Steel wasn’t exactly stellar last night either.

Thomas is going to be at minimum a 2C

Steel was head and shoulders better than Thomas. He made things happen with his speed and scored the game winning goal.

In his toughest competitions(Memorial Cup and WJC) he was a no-show. That doesn’t bode well for his future NHL success if he can’t even get a puck past good junior goalies.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

Kostin is captaining the Russian team in the Black Sea Cup.

Scored this easy goal against the Danes, but it’s good to see him in front of the net regardless:

 

[shpongle falls]

I still have high hopes for Kostin and think hes going to have a great second year in San Antonio and maybe even get some NHL games in as well this coming season.

 

[WeWentBlues]

I still have high hopes for Kostin and think hes going to have a great second year in San Antonio and maybe even get some NHL games in as well this coming season.

Agreed. Seems like we are quick to write off Kostin and Thompson and have Thomas and Kyrou ready for top 9 roles. Pump the breaks and give all of them time to develop.

 

[Blueston]

Agreed. Seems like we are quick to write off Kostin and Thompson and have Thomas and Kyrou ready for top 9 roles. Pump the breaks and give all of them time to develop.

This is excellent observation. We too often think Kyrou is a stud because he dominated boys and think Kostin and Tage are leser because they struggled against men. Will be interesting to see how they fare over next couple years.

 

[stl76]

In his toughest competitions(Memorial Cup and WJC) he was a no-show. That doesn’t bode well for his future NHL success if he can’t even get a puck past good junior goalies.

Thomas was 18 at the WJC, but regardless I thought he was really good...certainly not a freaking "no show." That is an absurd mischaracterization. All things considered, I came away more impressed by Thomas than Kyrou from the WJC. Kyrou had some nice dangles and put up good numbers playing on a top line, but I didn't see the same kind of translatable skills for Kyrou that I did from Thomas.

Remember that one goal Kyrou had with the incredible dangle through the opposing dman's legs then shot from the high slot? It made all the highlight reels, it was a beautiful play...does anyone think that would fly in the NHL? I sure don't. Thomas, on the other hand, played a smaller role (again as an 18 year old) but was consistently making all the right decisions with the puck, winning important d-zone faceoffs, maintaining possession and making good passes, etc. All things that will translate to higher levels.

How many passes did you see Thomas make in the final game against the pats that his teammates either weren't ready for failed to convert? I counted at least 4-5. Not to mention all the TOI, faceoffs, special teams, etc. Robert Thomas took 118 faceoffs in the 4 memorial cup games Hamilton played. The next closest player is Steel with 111, and after those two it drops off to the 80s. Worth noting that Steel turned 20 in February, while Thomas doesn't turn 19 until July. Thomas made more shots on goal (24) in 4 games than any other player in the memorial cup, next closest has 20. If you actually watched the games, then you'll know that Thomas was a bit snake bitten and was robbed numerous times (particularly against Swift Current). He could have easily had several more goals/assists, and still managed 2G + 1A in 4 games.

How a player can lead a tournament in faceoffs taken, shots on goal, and most likely TOI, yet be called a "no show" is beyond me.

EDIT: here is that Kyrou goal for reference



Might work against Slovakia, but try that in the AHL and he's getting planted.

 

[Bluesnatic27]

Really?

Is no one going to mention that Fitzpatrick just shut out the Pats to win the Memorial Cup? C’mon guys.

 

[Linkens Mastery]

Really?

Is no one going to mention that Fitzpatrick just shut out the Pats to win the Memorial Cup? C’mon guys.

I think Fitz might be a hidden gem. So glad that her got traded midyear.

 

[Bobby Orrtuzzo]

Really?

Is no one going to mention that Fitzpatrick just shut out the Pats to win the Memorial Cup? C’mon guys.

Who?

 

[Bluesnatic27]

Who?

The guy the root beer is named after, duh!

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Congrats for Fitzpatrick.

I'm wondering, with Sam Steel being a non-factor as the team he captains got shutout in the biggest CHL game of the year, maybe Anaheim moves him while other teams still have hope that he can turn into a top6C.

 

[BlueDream]

Feels good to have Husso and Fitzpatrick in the system in net. We are really loaded at every position, prospect-wise.

 

[Zamadoo]

Feels good to have Husso and Fitzpatrick in the system in net. We are really loaded at every position, prospect-wise.

I was just thinking about our prospect depth when considering trades.

Ed, Parayko, Dunn, Barbashev, Fabbri, and Jaskin have all come up and proven to be NHL players (no longer prospects) in the past few years. (not to mention Soshnikov)

Prospects that I believe will become NHL players:

F: Thomas, Kyrou, Thompson, Kostin, Foley, Stevens, Musil, Toropchenko, Blais, Sanford*, Sundqvist*
D: Schmaltz*, Walman, Mikkola
G: Binnington*, Husso, Fitzpatrick

* - the clock is ticking

Prospects that are fringe NHL players, of which I have insufficience knowledge or confidence, or that are harder to predict:

F: Poganski, MacEachern, Helt, Bleakley, Kaspick, and Krag
D: Reinke, Sergeev, Noel, Bourque, and Andersson
G: Opilka

These guys are minor league depth at best:
F: Selman
D: Vanelli and Lindbohm

Some guys could move up or down, and I really should have another tier or two to separate some of them, but this is basically how I view our prospect pool.

We obviously have a lot more F prospects after some recent graduations, but overall we look very good for the next couple of years at all positions. I'm hoping we can find another Dman or two (preferably a RHD) to fill that gap in our pipeline.

 

[stl76]

Kostin is captaining the Russian team in the Black Sea Cup.

Scored this easy goal against the Danes, but it’s good to see him in front of the net regardless:

Another real nice Kostin goal on a power move:



I'm really excited to see how Kostin does after a year to grow and adjust to the NA game and in a hopefully much better AHL situation next season.

 

[tfriede2]

Another real nice Kostin goal on a power move:



I'm really excited to see how Kostin does after a year to grow and adjust to the NA game and in a hopefully much better AHL situation next season.

What I like about this play is that it shows offensive awareness and hockey IQ...many players would have attempted to go back to the forehand to get a shot off, but Kostin realized that either the goalie or d-man would have poke-checked the puck away from him; instead, Kostin is still able to get off a hard shot (a goal) via the backhand.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

What I like about this play is that it shows offensive awareness and hockey IQ...many players would have attempted to go back to the forehand to get a shot off, but Kostin realized that either the goalie or d-man would have poke-checked the puck away from him; instead, Kostin is still able to get off a hard shot (a goal) via the backhand.

Was it one-handed? It kinda looked like it was

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

And another one, this time cleaning up the garbage again. He’s got a plus wrister, but that kinda goal is how he’s gonna make his money

 

[stl76]

^^^ Almost a carbon copy of his earlier goal. I had to double check to make sure it wasn’t the same play!

Was it one-handed? It kinda looked like it was

Pretty sure he got his other hand on the stick at the last second. Regardless, it was a very impressive play.