Blues prospect pool over the years

[Celtic Note]

The Blues have been highly rated for a while now. Is this well deserved? Have our prospects turned into the players expected? How would you rate the Blues..overrated, under, or about right?

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[rumrokh]

I think it's hard to judge with EJ's season out and Perron and Oshie out this year when they were arguably starting to break out. Next year seems to be the real test.

If anything, I think their higher-end youngsters (other than Tarasenko, probably) are getting overlooked juuuuust a little. Cole has progressed faster than a lot predicted and could arguably be a regular. Allen is absolutely dominating the AHL. Berglund is having a much better season than his numbers show. A lot of people still haven't seen Pietrangelo except for once or twice. The team as a whole just hasn't put everything together, yet - they have one of the youngest rosters in the league.

However, as a Blues fan, I think there's no question that their mid-range prospects have been overestimated. Every off-season, I see fans making unfair projections for guys like Sonne, Lehtera, Fairchild, and Kristoffer Berglund. Luckily, the Blues' young talent is deep enough that it doesn't really matter. But there's a point at which roleplayers and long-shots don't really add value to your pool; it's just more of what everybody has. Although, their ability to pawn some of those guys off for real NHL depth like Sobotka and D'Agostini might say otherwise. I think that's more about shrewd management than actual quality of their lesser prospects.

 

[stlblues57]

The Blues are in a unique situation. They have a lot of young defensive talent that is barely starting to become NHL ready. Cole has played for a short period of time, same with Nikitin (who I think is forgotten). Nikitin has looked VERY good in his most recent call up and seems to be ready now, hence Strachan being sent down. Yet they still have more in the pipeline including Cundari and Junland.

They have their first set of forwards that came in with Oshie, Perron, and Berglund. Berglund is still trying to find his way, but he looks so dominating at times it's hard to believe he won't figure it out to be consistent in this league. Oshie is what he is, and willl be a Blue for a long time. Perron is the most interesting one to me. Sometimes he looks like he could be a PPG player in this league, and other times like a good second liner. He has world class skill with the puck, but often tries to do too much. Personally, I still think he will be the best offensive player out of their young forwards provided he stops getting headaches sometime soon. Then you have the next wave of forwards in McRae (who looked very capable when he was called up), Tarasenko, and Schwartz. I wouldn't mind seeing McRae back in Peoria to start next year since Tarasenko will most likely make the roster out of camp. Yes, I expect him to contribute right away somewhat at the level of Seguin since I figure his minutes will be limited to third line duties to start. Schwartz is probably still a year or two away, but seems to have some very good upside. The future is bright for the Blues offense.

Then you have Jake Allen and Ben Bishop. I would imagine that Bishop is the Blues back up next year and Allen takes over full starting duties in Peoria. Allen will probably be in Peoria the next year, too. Then you have Halak's last year of his contract and you decide whether Bishop and/or Allen are capable of handling the goaltending load for the year. Personally, I expect Allen to take over the duties after Halak's contract is up, but either way for the first time in a long time the Blues aren't hurting in the goaltending department.

I would say the Blues prospect pool is right where it should be. Definitely deserving of top-5 in the NHL at the moment. However, things can change but it looks good from where I'm sitting.