Prospect Info: Who is the Blues #11 Prospect - 2023

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Tucker getting less respect than Neighbours and Alexandrov did.

I like Tucker but his ceiling seems to be maybe a bortuzzo. I just think the other guys have a higher ceiling. I like the kid don’t get me wrong. He serves a purpose.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Tucker getting less respect than Neighbours and Alexandrov did.

Player getting even less respect me included is Simon Robertsson. He was a projected first round pick. Arguably the third best player at prospect camp last year. One of the few this year that actually helped defensively as it is like watching an all star game. Totally sh*t on by his team in Sweden for ice time. Given ice time and decent linemates, he may surprise us all and be a factor on special teams.

 

[Beauterham]

Burns is i think is hindered here by his injury. Folks seem much more comfortable voting for someone they saw perform well in relatively meaningless prospect camp.

I'm convinced that untill the WJC Pekarcik was a huge unknown by a lot of scoutingagencies and NHL teams. The WJC made his rankings skyrocket but it was still based on very limited viewings. That makes Pekarcik still a bit of an unknown who, 'on first glance' seems like he could have huge potential. I might very well be the most boom/bust prospect we have right now. He could end up as a AHL-lifer, he could also very well end up as a middle six winger if everything goes right. That makes him exciting. And when Tim Taylor says he looks like a first rounder, that helps too.

Burns is harder to rate. Besides his injury (which you already mentioned), he also played for a really bad Frontenacs team. We could very well rate him a lot higher next year if he stays healthy and takes a next step in his development.

Player getting even less respect me included is Simon Robertsson. He was a projected first round pick. Arguably the third best player at prospect camp last year. One of the few this year that actually helped defensively as it is like watching an all star game. Totally sh*t on by his team in Sweden for ice time. Given ice time and decent linemates, he may surprise us all and be a factor on special teams.

Yeah, it's hard to vote for a guy who hardly gets any minutes. Development isn't linear, so lets hope he takes that next step and forces Skelleftea to give him more ice time. Or just transfer to another SHL (or Liiga) team.

 

[Bluesnatic27]

Don't really get the Pekarcik love. Freshly drafted 3rd round pick and a player we took in front of him is still on the board.

I don't really see much of a value difference between Pick 74 and Pick 76 truthfully.

But for the Pekarcik love, I just like what I see out of him more than the others listed. Not much to defend there honestly.

 

[LGB]

I don't really see much of a value difference between Pick 74 and Pick 76 truthfully.

But for the Pekarcik love, I just like what I see out of him more than the others listed. Not much to defend there honestly.

The picks themselves have basically no difference in value, but the fact that Burns was taken with the earlier pick means to me that the Blues value him more. I can understand if you’ve scouted him yourself and like him but it seems odd that so many people are taking him IMO.

 

[Majorityof1]

You didn’t ask me, but I tend to fall a similar way. My answer is that Hofer has charted well and has shown he can take the ball and run with it in a starters role in the AHL. I think he can be a plus level starter.

Zherenko has showed well but is further behind in development mainly because he was blocked by Hofer and may continue to be. But like a few other prospects, I am sort of waiting to see what happens this year before I move them up (or don’t). While that’s sort of true for all of them, there are some that I am an the fence on but this year will solidify my view.

I don't dislike him at all. He will probably be my vote once Tucker is off the board. I wouldn't downplay how impressive it is for him to be in conversation as our 11th best prospect. 7 of the 10 guys currently ranked ahead of him are 1st round picks that are younger than him. Plus you have Hofer, who is only 8 months older than him and outplayed him in the AHL last year. Our prospect pool is really deep and he is still in the running to be top 12. Given that talent assessment, he could be top 8 in a lot of groups. That's damn impressive for a just-turned 22 year old 7th round goalie.

I haven't watched a ton of him playing. The numbers intrigue me and the athleticism is there. But in my limited viewings, I haven't liked his patience or positioning. But again, this is based on a very limited sample of actually watching him. I wish he was a bit taller, but his size doesn't concern me.

With all that said, demonstrating that you can be "the guy" over 40+ games in a season at the pro level is a major, major milestone for my ranking/evaluation of goaltending prospects. Preferably I want to see a goalie prospect do it over 50+ games in a year, but 40 is kind of my cutoff to start demonstrating an ability to handle a starter's workload. There are only a small handful of goalie prospects that I view as having separated themselves from the pack in their teens and early 20s before they hit this milestone.

I like what I've seen out of Zherenko as a whole, but he hasn't shown me anything (yet) to have him as one of the truly elite talents under 23. He should be the guy in the AHL this year and I'm really excited for that. He could shoot up my rankings with a good season, just like Hofer did for me this year.

That's fair to want to see more from him. He hasn't played more than 37 games in a year.

As for height, he hit a growth spurt. He's 6'4". Only an inch shorter than Hofer. And he's much thicker than Hofer while retaining his athleticism. I don't see his size being a negative vs Hofer at all. Sure I'd like him to be 6'7" while retaining all his athleticism but 6'4, 200lb is a good sized goalie

 

[LogosBlue]

top 10 prospects - MSN

Noting, Alexandrov, Neighbours & Tucker not considered prospects in this list. (Peru is still a listed prospect)

With these exceptions, their list is right with ours for the most part

 

[Bluesnatic27]

The picks themselves have basically no difference in value, but the fact that Burns was taken with the earlier pick means to me that the Blues value him more. I can understand if you’ve scouted him yourself and like him but it seems odd that so many people are taking him IMO.

To the bolded, I guess that's fair given we have no other evidence. But the Blues have selected players ahead of players they valued more because of higher certainty the player they valued would still be there a la Parayko or even Tarasenko before that.

Personally, I dislike using draft position in any prospect discussion revolving around talent or projectability after the selection was made. I know that nothing has happened since the draft to displace relative selections, so the argument has more weight than the in any draft year before this past one. But with the picks being that close together, I don't like the leap in logic that the Blues value Burns more. If that argument is to hold true, with no other piece of evidence available, then the Blues value Burns one whole pick higher than Pekarcik. That just becomes negligible even if the draft was five weeks ago. If they were selected over ten picks apart then I wouldn't complain with your argument, or at least, not as much.

The only reason I said anything is how every year a poster will make the same point about draft position and those posts never add much to any discussion. I would rather hear what a poster sees in a prospect then make some appeal to authority. So while you find it odd that so many like Pekarcik, I find it odd that people won't actually talk about why he should be voted behind others here.

 

[Reality Czech]

Player getting even less respect me included is Simon Robertsson. He was a projected first round pick. Arguably the third best player at prospect camp last year. One of the few this year that actually helped defensively as it is like watching an all star game. Totally sh*t on by his team in Sweden for ice time. Given ice time and decent linemates, he may surprise us all and be a factor on special teams.

Good point, a lot of guys are getting lost in the mix only because there are so many intriguing prospects. Will be fun to see who separates themselves from the pack and makes the big club.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

The picks themselves have basically no difference in value, but the fact that Burns was taken with the earlier pick means to me that the Blues value him more. I can understand if you’ve scouted him yourself and like him but it seems odd that so many people are taking him IMO.

He was arguably Canadas best d man before he got hurt in the WJCs. Got tons of ice on a bad team and played well.

 

[Quaz]

I voted Dickinson. He looked good at prospect camp which gives me some hope he can get back on track with his development. He looked good at the WJC that got cancelled due to COVID. I'm excited to see how he does in the AHL this year. If he develops he could be a nice middle 6 player for the Blues.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I voted Dickinson. He looked good at prospect camp which gives me some hope he can get back on track with his development. He looked good at the WJC that got cancelled due to COVID. I'm excited to see how he does in the AHL this year. If he develops he could be a nice middle 6 player for the Blues.

I'm voting for Kessel right now, but Dickinson is very close to the next option for me.