GDT: Blues Draft Day 2023

[Ranksu]

Juraj Pekarcik. Quite a name.

@jura your guy

 

[BleedBlue14]

Blues director of armature scouting.

Extremely excited, pleased that it played out the way it did," Blues director of amateur scouting Tony Feltrin said. "We sat with three first-round picks, ended up executing with those with players we had high on our prioritized list, talented players. We had two first-round picks, it was tight. Wasn't sure they were going to be there for us, but fortunately they were. Right through seven rounds, we got players that as a staff we're very excited about. All in all, great success."
Certainly when you look that it was three Swedish (league) players drafted in the first round, you might say, 'Well, that's overloading it,'" Feltrin said. "But they're great hockey players. The talent of a hockey player dictates where we have them on the list. Selections were made by there warranted rating on the list."

man I just watched Borat the other night and seeing great success really made me relive that movie again

 

[Ranksu]

Suprised that we have drafted 3 LHD and no RHD. apparently we plan on playing Parayko and Faulk 30 minutes a night for next half dozen years.

This.

We should had to draft RHD's

 

[cardinalnation]

Really Really??

Ha Ha!

 

[Blueswin]

Armstrong's thoughts on the draft

https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/st-louis-blues/latest-news/trades-never-presented-themselves-for-blues-on-first-day-of-draft

 

[Blueswin]

Feltrin video on the draft

 

[BleedBlue14]

Man Pekarcik (sp?) has a motor on him. Every tape I’ve watched of him he’s flying all over the place. Good frame, and really late birthday too. I have a lot higher hopes for him than I do most 3rd rounders. Interesting skill set, seems pretty mistake prone, but I think that’s youth and him trying things out. His checking game is high end though from what I’ve seen in terms of compete. Good chance he’s a lot like what Torpo was for us this year

 

[Blueswin]

At the 1.37 min. mark -impressed with what the Blues did

St. Louis Blues Draft Dalibor Dvorský 10th Overall - The Hockey Writers NHL News Latest News, Analysis & More

With the 10th pick of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, the St. Louis Blues have selected Dalibor Dvorský from AIK of the HockeyAllsvenskan

thehockeywriters.com

 

[Blueston]

Man Pekarcik (sp?) has a motor on him. Every tape I’ve watched of him he’s flying all over the place. Good frame, and really late birthday too. I have a lot higher hopes for him than I do most 3rd rounders. Interesting skill set, seems pretty mistake prone, but I think that’s youth and him trying things out. His checking game is high end though from what I’ve seen in terms of compete. Good chance he’s a lot like what Torpo was for us this year

With I think a bit more skill. Feel like he was steal. He is i think our top forward prospect for us now other than the guys who were drafted in 1st.

 

[ezcreepin]

Need those motor guys, especially with players who aren't necessarily as competitive on the boards in Thomas and Kyrou. I don't know about Bolduc or Snuggerud, but adding that element for each line is going to be important for the style we want to play - good rush offense, tough forechecking, wear you down cycling, good finishers. If we can manage to be terribad this coming season and land another top 10 pick, we will be golden in a few years.

 

[BleedBlue14]

Need those motor guys, especially with players who aren't necessarily as competitive on the boards in Thomas and Kyrou. I don't know about Bolduc or Snuggerud, but adding that element for each line is going to be important for the style we want to play - good rush offense, tough forechecking, wear you down cycling, good finishers. If we can manage to be terribad this coming season and land another top 10 pick, we will be golden in a few years.

Snuggerud is labeled pretty frequently as a heavy forechecker and puck hound in the OZ. He just also has a laser of a shot

 

[Robb_K]

That reaction is great. Very happy to have both of them. Dvorsky’s English is incredible by the way. So jealous of how easily he can transition from one language to another when he was talking to Honzek.

He moved from Slovakia to Sweden at age 9. Everybody in Sweden can speak Engllish fluently (except maybe a few Sami reindeer herders in the far north, and a few people over 100 years old). Since then, he's had enough time there watching non-dubbed American and British films and listening to pop music sung in English to pick it up easily. Plus, he probably was communicating in broken English to Swedes, when he first arrived in Sweden. On the other hand, his Slovakian relatives still probably speak no English at all. When I last visited there in 1988, virtually no one spoke a word of English. It took me an hour of searching before I found someone, over 90,who could speak in German, with whom I could communicate.

 

[Robb_K]

I correct one thing what I sain. That we drafted sweds so it should be good draft for us.

Glad you're a little more tolerant of Swedes than you were some years ago!

 

[Robb_K]

Need those motor guys, especially with players who aren't necessarily as competitive on the boards in Thomas and Kyrou. I don't know about Bolduc or Snuggerud, but adding that element for each line is going to be important for the style we want to play - good rush offense, tough forechecking, wear you down cycling, good finishers. If we can manage to be terribad this coming season and land another top 10 pick, we will be golden in a few years.

That should be easy to do, given how terrible The Blues' team defence was last season, and the fact that they weren't able to trade off ANY of their bad contracts to make room for adding a competent relatively high-level defensive defenceman, andgiven the current roster, how difficult it may be to get the entire roster of skaters to buy in on hustling all game, to get back on defence, and backcheck, as well as to attack the puck carriers relentlessly in The Neutral Zone. Doing none of that is called "The Natural Tank". It is tanking without being so obvious about it. It doesn't get you the #1 -3 picks, but can get you within striking distance to trade up for difference-making prospects that can become career stars. And, if your owners can't afford for your team to lose so much by having really low attendance, your team still scoring a lot of goals, while winning 40+ % of your games, can be exciting enough to keep a fair amount of people in the seats during your couple losing transition years. I'll be happy as long as Army doesn''t pay out a lot in draft capital or young prospects, to try to add solid veterans who can help the team win more now, when The Blues won't be able to go far in the playoffs even with those additions.

 

[Majorityof1]

And it isn't like the Bobfather was the only guy who had him ranked ahead of the mid-late 2nd round.

Pronman had him at 42.

Sportsnet had him at 29.

Ryan Kennedy from the Hockey News had him at 36 (while two other writes had him 56 and sixty something).

Central Scouting had him 14th among international players. Tough to tell exactly where that falls on the combined list, but probably not outside the top 50ish guys.

If we still owned our 2nd round pick, then maybe the strategy would have been to take someone else at #29 and hope that he'd fall to 42. I could see an argument for believing that he was a 2nd round talent best suited to get in the first third of the 2nd round. But he absolutely wasn't a consensus late 2nd round (or early 3rd) talent. I get preferring specific writers, but you can't just ignore Sportsnet, TSN, The Athletic, and Central Scouting.

Again, that was not the point. I was responding to someone who said they can't wait to read all the praise we will get in the post draft report cards and winner/loser articles.

I don't ignore those rankings, but a lot of the people writing those articles do. I wasn't saying he was a late 2nd to a 3rd round pick, the article I was referencing did.

I have not seen a single article that said we were a "winner" on draft night. I have not seen a single report card say we got an A on the Lindstein pick. There may be articles out there. But you won't be inundated with Blues praise if you read around the internet because we are a small market team that doesn't generate clicks and most people who write that stuff are dumb.

Again, I am not saying it wasn't an A pick. I don't know enough about him to judge. I am just saying I have not seen any article giving us an A on it.

Wheeler gave us a Overtime winner, which is the 2nd of 4 tiers. He had 5 winners, and 13 OT winners. So we got a positive, but not necessarily glowing praise. Sportsnet did not mention us in either of their winner/loser article. So I have looked at draft coverage and the writers are not falling all over themselves to praise us.

 

[kimzey59]

For what it's worth; Pronman gave us a B+ overall.

NHL Draft grades, analysis for every pick from Corey Pronman

Corey Pronman grades how every team performed at the 2023 NHL Draft.

theathletic.com

 

[Robb_K]

Woah, this Susuyev guy was ranked much higher than where we got him. Is this a Russian factor result?

Maybe he's signed to a KHL team for the next 5 years?

 

[PJJJP]

For what it's worth; Pronman gave us a B+ overall.

NHL Draft grades, analysis for every pick from Corey Pronman

Corey Pronman grades how every team performed at the 2023 NHL Draft.

theathletic.com

I always fine Draft grades amusing.

 

[bluesfan94]

This.

We should had to draft RHD's

Should always draft BPA. Can trade pieces if they're valuable.

 

[simon IC]

A look at Burns is included here

2023 NHL Draft Scouting Reports: Prospects 91-100

The 2023 NHL draft is one of the strongest in the last 20 years and it shows. Here is the ranking of Prospects 91-100.

lastwordonsports.com

Nice! A defensive defenseman. Sweet!!!!!

 

[rumrokh]

Need those motor guys, especially with players who aren't necessarily as competitive on the boards in Thomas and Kyrou. I don't know about Bolduc or Snuggerud, but adding that element for each line is going to be important for the style we want to play - good rush offense, tough forechecking, wear you down cycling, good finishers. If we can manage to be terribad this coming season and land another top 10 pick, we will be golden in a few years.

I feel like Thomas is getting re-imagined around here lately and it's so weird. On multiple broadcasts late in the season, they talked about how he's statistically one of the best 50/50 puck battle winners in the league. And you can watch that in game. He's not a bull out there, but he doesn't shy away from tough areas of the ice and he wins most battles he engages in. He's constantly winning the puck below the goal line and making a play out to the slot. Room to improve for sure, but this growing portrait of Thomas as lacking compete blows my mind.

The same is true to a large degree about Kyrou. He's a flawed hockey player, just like all but the most elite, but I don't see a guy who doesn't try. He's not stout defensively or tough, but he does hound the puck. That type of chasing is especially something the high energy forwards do on every team with defense that backs in and stands around without a strategy. I know Pang likes to blame those forwards for everything, but his biases are clear. We aren't obligated to absorb them.

 

[Robb_K]

Burns and Fischer are both 6’1???

Both good picks. I have high hopes for both of them. We'll need their help, too. They were "safe" picks with high floors. Burns can become more well-rounded by spending a lot of effort to improve his shot and breakout passes (both very doable). They've. both got a good base starting point and can add skills through a bit of instruction help and a lot of hard work at it. I very happy with the picks in The 1st and 3rd Rounds. And choices after that round are always gambles, but their choices their seem to look decent, at this point.

 

[ezcreepin]

Snuggerud is labeled pretty frequently as a heavy forechecker and puck hound in the OZ. He just also has a laser of a shot

Yea I couldn't remember if he was a puck hound or not and didn't feel like doing some digging. The laser shot though is going to be such a weapon with Kyrou or Thomas passing to him. Can't wait for those days.

 

[ezcreepin]

I feel like Thomas is getting re-imagined around here lately and it's so weird. On multiple broadcasts late in the season, they talked about how he's statistically one of the best 50/50 puck battle winners in the league. And you can watch that in game. He's not a bull out there, but he doesn't shy away from tough areas of the ice and he wins most battles he engages in. He's constantly winning the puck below the goal line and making a play out to the slot. Room to improve for sure, but this growing portrait of Thomas as lacking compete blows my mind.

The same is true to a large degree about Kyrou. He's a flawed hockey player, just like all but the most elite, but I don't see a guy who doesn't try. He's not stout defensively or tough, but he does hound the puck. That type of chasing is especially something the high energy forwards do on every team with defense that backs in and stands around without a strategy. I know Pang likes to blame those forwards for everything, but his biases are clear. We aren't obligated to absorb them.

I don't personally think of Thomas and Kyrou as puck hounds. When I think of those players, I think of young Schwartz, Steen, Perron (despite his offensive penalties), O'Reilly when he first joined the team. Not that Thomas or Kyrou don't engage in those areas, but you're not going to see them force their way through guys like some other players would. I think Thomas' defense is decent and his hands allow him to win those battles more efficiently. Kyrou has the speed to cancel players out, but as we've seen he can go games without challenging like he should. I'm looking for Washkurak type guys with high compete and motor, and Dvorsky and Stenberg sorta fit that bill.

 

[rumrokh]

I don't personally think of Thomas and Kyrou as puck hounds. When I think of those players, I think of young Schwartz, Steen, Perron (despite his offensive penalties), O'Reilly when he first joined the team. Not that Thomas or Kyrou don't engage in those areas, but you're not going to see them force their way through guys like some other players would. I think Thomas' defense is decent and his hands allow him to win those battles more efficiently. Kyrou has the speed to cancel players out, but as we've seen he can go games without challenging like he should. I'm looking for Washkurak type guys with high compete and motor, and Dvorsky and Stenberg sorta fit that bill.

I fully grasp what you're talking about, I love that type of heavy player, I just don't agree that Thomas can be described as lacking competitiveness on the boards.