Prospect Info: Blues Top 20 Prospect List #6

Who is the #6 Ranked Blues Prospect?

  • Zach Sanford

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Adam Musil

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Tanner Kaspick

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • David Noel

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Joel Hofer

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Trenton Bourque

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Mitch Reinke

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Austin Poganski

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Mathias Laferriere

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Hugh McGing

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Nikolaj Krag

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Filip Helt

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Anton Andersson

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    87
  • Poll closed .
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Bluesnatic27

Registered User
Aug 5, 2011
4,712
3,209
Bokk takes 5th in the prospect list. Now, I'd imagine the field will begin to open up with the likes of Foley, Schmaltz, Blais, Walman, and Mikkola. I can even see Stevens, Sanford, and Fitzpatrick getting some love as well. I don't think the >50% rule will apply from here on out, so expect to see three-day polls. However, if people wish for me to shorten the time, just say so. Enough voices will change that ploicy.

Blues Prospect List:
1) Robert Thomas (92.1%)
2) Jordan Kyrou (87.4%)
3) Ville Husso (56.4%)
4) Klim Kostin (52.0%)
5) Dominik Bokk (73.4%)
 

The Note in MI

Bow to the pyramid
Aug 21, 2013
3,151
991
Muskegon, MI
You’ve been getting from 70-100 votes with a steady decline in votes over the last 3 to around 70-75. I suspect many of those voters will be getting their opinion in by 3 days so I say once you hit 70-80 votes to do the next one.
 

Blanick

Winter is coming
Sep 20, 2011
15,845
10,780
St. Louis
I am comfortably going with Schmaltz here. Gets real interesting after this. I could make a case for any of Foley, Sanford, Blais, Toropchenko, Walman, Mikkola, Reinke and Fitz, who I think make up the next grouping. Could throw Perunovich in there as well but I just didn't get to see enough of him at prospect camp.
 

STL fan in MN

Registered User
Aug 16, 2007
7,026
3,798
It’s between Foley, Walman and Mikkola for me. Schmaltz and Blais are closer but I like the other 3 over the long haul better.

Put another way, I’d much rather trade Schmaltz or Blais than any of Foley, Walman or Mikkola.
 

The Note in MI

Bow to the pyramid
Aug 21, 2013
3,151
991
Muskegon, MI
Schmaltz and Blais will probably see NHL games this year.

Walman and Mikkola are gonna see big minutes in the minors this year.

Foley is gonna see average minutes in the minors.

Two of these are not like the others
 

The Note in MI

Bow to the pyramid
Aug 21, 2013
3,151
991
Muskegon, MI
While I understand the reluctance to choose a player based on the fact you don’t consider them a prospect, these are the choices given the parameters agreed on. And you’re gonna see Schmaltz fall in the list somewhere. I can understand if you don’t truly rank him at this point but to pass over him as a choice because you don’t think he qualifies is kinda silly
 

Vincenzo Arelliti

He Can't Play Center
Oct 13, 2014
9,363
3,854
Lisle, IL
Voting for Schmaltz’s NHL-readiness is fine, but also consider that while he is more ready than most of our prospects, he is also far closer to what he will be than what he could be; meaning what we are seeing now is at least 50% of what we are goin to get. What he offers is not very valuable to the Blues as an organization moving forward, nor is he valuable via a trade in my estimation. I’ll vote for him soon, but not yet. Walman from me.
 
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EastonBlues22

Registered User
Nov 25, 2003
14,807
10,496
RIP Fugu ϶(°o°)ϵ
Bokk takes 5th in the prospect list. Now, I'd imagine the field will begin to open up with the likes of Foley, Schmaltz, Blais, Walman, and Mikkola. I can even see Stevens, Sanford, and Fitzpatrick getting some love as well. I don't think the >50% rule will apply from here on out, so expect to see three-day polls. However, if people wish for me to shorten the time, just say so. Enough voices will change that ploicy.

Blues Prospect List:
1) Robert Thomas (92.1%)
2) Jordan Kyrou (87.4%)
3) Ville Husso (56.4%)
4) Klim Kostin (52.0%)
5) Dominik Bokk (73.4%)
I think three days is good, especially if it covers a weekend. A lot of people don't visit this forum daily during the offseason.

We have plenty of time, so there's no rush.
 

A Real Barn Burner

Registered User
Apr 25, 2016
2,443
3,037
Went with Walman here, him and Mikkola are going to fill a team need once Gun and Boud are gone.

Schmaltz might be closer but as long as he is blocked hard for him to show he can reach his celling.
 

Itsnotatrap

Registered User
Oct 6, 2013
1,294
1,600
Walman just a hair over Mikkola. He had a rough year, so slipping is justified, but the reasons people loved him last year are still reasons to vote him around here now.
 

Celtic Note

Living the dream
Dec 22, 2006
16,838
5,560
We have entered what I consider our third tier. Here is where things get harder to figure. Ability to make it into the league becomes a bigger factor than overall potential, as most of these guys don’t project as impact players. For me this tier consists of (in no particular order):

Foley
Walman
Blais
Mikkola
Sanford
Schmaltz

To me, all of these forwards have bottom six upside, with some potential to maybe be that 6th forward on a team light on depth. There are varying degrees of readiness with Foley being the lowest.

Sanford has not done enough for my liking in the AHL or NHL to feel confident that he will make it as a full-time NHLer. He has nice hands and some offensive vision. His game away from the puck might just be that proverbial nail in the coffin.

Blais thinks the game so well and has shown he is beyond the AHL level, but his speed is limited and his other skills are merely ok. I really like him as a prospect, but he will need to learn to play the game quickly if he wants to overcome his skating deficiencies.

Foley is obviously a nice prospect. He has some skills that translate well to the NHL, but his handling of the puck will need to improve to make it to the next level.

The D are a little tougher to analyze. They have the potential to impact the game more than the forwards if they hit their ceilings, but (like the forwards) it will be really hard to find space on the roster in a role other than the very bottom of the lineup. I would say we are looking at max potential of lower middle pairing for these guys with third pairing more likely given our roster.

To me Schmaltz is both the most ready and likely to reach the highest ceiling. He looks to me that he could eventually be a #4 on an ok to lower team. He moves the puck very well, can QB a PP and his defensive game is better than most realize. Unfortunately, he has a big roadblock ahead of him as our right side is loaded and solidified. The shame of it for Schmaltz is that quality RHD are hard to find. On just about any other team, he would be a full-time NHLer.

Walman would compete with Schmaltz for the best D man in this group if it were not for a terrible AHL season. He looked inept defensively and didn’t do a whole lot offensively either. He still has potentially the highest upside of the three, but last year makes me concerned about his ability to hit that projection. Hopefully he vaults himself back up these rankings early this year, but I can't “reward” poor play.

Mikkola is a strong find for a later pick. He is defensively sound, a decent mover of the puck and can bring a touch of offense. Overall, he has the hardest to determine ceiling. His defense may be good enough for an Edmundson type role. But figuring out how good a player will be defensively is one of the harder projections, as judging their ability to make reads at high speed is tough. This especially challenging for players on larger ice surfaces and without access to much game tape. I also wonder how his relatively low (compared to the group) offense will translate.

This might be one of the harder rankings for me because our roster projects to be so packed for a few years than many of these guys may never get a real shot at the big show. Even the players that I think they have a shot of surpassing have an advantage in the form of one-way contracts. We also have prospects ahead of them in terms of potential and that further complicates their chances. Usually I try to balance ceiling and ability to get to the NHL, but this year I feel the need to skew more towards how they fit in the organization.
 
Last edited:

Vincenzo Arelliti

He Can't Play Center
Oct 13, 2014
9,363
3,854
Lisle, IL
Walman is getting underrated. He has less potential than Dunn in my opinion, but he shouldn’t be relegated to the same tier as Blais, Foley, Schmaltz, etc., IMO.

Walman has a poor season in some regards, but I think it’s wrong to say that he was poor defensively or offensively. The numbers aren’t the prettiest, but neither was his usage until he got out to Binghamton. He should have a very good year in San Antonio, and I think his stock around here will rise to just below our big prospects.

Really quickly off the top of my head in no particular order underneath their tier:

Tier 1:
Kyrou
Thomas
Bokk

Tier 2:
Husso
Kostin

Tier 3:
Walman
Fitzpatrick
Toropchenko

Tier 4:
Mikkola
Schmaltz
Blais
Binnington
Foley

Walman will be an NHLer, in my mind. He has too much skill via speed, skating, passing, vision, and hockey IQ. He has definite top-4 potential.
 

STL fan in MN

Registered User
Aug 16, 2007
7,026
3,798
Schmaltz and Blais will probably see NHL games this year.

Walman and Mikkola are gonna see big minutes in the minors this year.

Foley is gonna see average minutes in the minors.

Two of these are not like the others

You seem to highly value NHL readiness in your prospect rankings. Is that right?

I’m not saying that’s right or wrong, I just see it differently is all. For me, I factor in NHL readiness into the general category of projectability. Generally, older prospects are easier to project in terms of their potential floors and ceilings AND how likely they are to hit that floor, ceiling or somewhere in between than say an 18-20 yr old. That’s a factor for me for sure but for me, I’ll always rank the prospect higher that I think will have the better career in the long-run. It’s all subjective and not a perfect science for all of us but that’s how I view it.

There’s really no right or wrong answer to ranking prospects, I just think it’s key to keep in mind that many of us value different aspects of these guys differently...and for me personally, how I do it has led to me generally identifying the guys that end up becoming the better players in the long-term earlier and higher in my rankings well before they break out in the NHL.
 

PiggySmalls

Oink Oink MF
Mar 7, 2015
6,107
3,516
I’ll continue voting for Walmart. Last season was rough for him and it’s hard to put the fault on him for the way he was treated.
 
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The Note in MI

Bow to the pyramid
Aug 21, 2013
3,151
991
Muskegon, MI
You seem to highly value NHL readiness in your prospect rankings. Is that right?

I’m not saying that’s right or wrong, I just see it differently is all. For me, I factor in NHL readiness into the general category of projectability. Generally, older prospects are easier to project in terms of their potential floors and ceilings AND how likely they are to hit that floor, ceiling or somewhere in between than say an 18-20 yr old. That’s a factor for me for sure but for me, I’ll always rank the prospect higher that I think will have the better career in the long-run. It’s all subjective and not a perfect science for all of us but that’s how I view it.

There’s really no right or wrong answer to ranking prospects, I just think it’s key to keep in mind that many of us value different aspects of these guys differently...and for me personally, how I do it has led to me generally identifying the guys that end up becoming the better players in the long-term earlier and higher in my rankings well before they break out in the NHL.
I posted in an earlier thread the numbers used to get my list where it is. Before I sat down and thought out my list it looked like:

Thomas
Kyrou
Husso
Kostin
Bokk
Blais
Walman
Mikkola
Schmaltz
Fitzpatrick
Sanford
Foley
Binnington
Toropchenko
Stevens
Musil
Etc

This was mostly a sexy list is how I’d describe it. Kind of a power rankings and heavily weighted on skill and forwards.

After breaking down the list into categories, and taking the weight into account of each in order to create a more uniform valuation, I found that my list changed a bit. Mostly because NHL readiness takes a part. Also because I consider a few of the guys that are older but lower ranked to have high ceilings. They’ve just been unable to demonstrate them. Schmaltz being the poster child of that. Less so Sanford.


ProspectCeiling
(50%)
Odds
(10%)
Floor
(20%)
NHL Ready
(20%)
Total
1Thomas95(47.5)90(9)80(16)95(19)91.5
2Husso95(47.5)85(8.5)80(16)90(18)90
3Kyrou100(50)70(7)65(13)90(18)88
4Schmaltz85(42.5)80(8)75(15)90(18)83.5
5Bokk100(50)65(6.5)60(12)70(14)82.5
6Kostin90(45)75(7.5)65(13)80(16)81.5
7Blais85(42.5)80(8)70(14)85(17)81.5
8Fitzpatrick90(45)70(7)60(12)80(16)80
9Walman90(45)65(6.5)60(12)80(116)79.5
10Binnington85(42.5)70(7)65(13)85(17)79.5
11Mikkola80(40)75(7.5)70(14)85(17)78.5
12Foley85(42.5)65(6.5)65(13)80(16)78
13Sanford80(40)75(7.5)65(13)80(16)76.5
14Perunovich90(45)50(5)55(11)70(14)75
15Reinke80(40)70(7)60(12)80(16)75
16Torpchenko80(40)60(6)60(12)75(15)73
17Stevens75(37.5)60(6)60(12)75(15)70.5
18Noel80(40)55(5.5)60(12)65(13)70.5
19Musil70(35)55(5.5)55(11)80(16)67.5
20Kaspick75(37.5)50(5)45(9)70(14)65.5
21McGing80(40)40(4)40(8)60(12)64
22Poganski70(35)45(4.5)40(8)60(12)59.5
[TBODY] [/TBODY]
 
Last edited:

Stealth JD

Don't condescend me, man.
Sponsor
Jan 16, 2006
16,678
7,944
Bonita Springs, FL
Schmaltz, Blais & Sanford are all right on the cusp of being full-time NHL'ers, and in other organizations they'd all already probably be. Mikkola if he 'booms' should beat all 3 of those guys. So too could Perunovich. Foley or Walman could become better NHL'ers than any of 'em. There are a whole lot of ways you could go with these rankings. I think Blais is the most likely of all to "boom", but if he does it likely won't be in STL. Voted him.
 

BleedBlue14

UrGeNcY
Feb 9, 2017
6,078
4,556
St. Louis
I voted Mikkola. We haven't had a great Swedish D prospect like him in a while so I had to vote for him outside of our upper echelon of Husso and Forwards
 
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Bluesnatic27

Registered User
Aug 5, 2011
4,712
3,209
@Bluesnatic27 and @OSA why you guys pick Mikkola? I just want to hear your thought process about him?
Well, truthfully, my thoughts aren't that much different from yours.

I love his combination of physicality, skating, and defensive positioning. Mikkola and Toropchenko are the best 6'3"+ skaters I've seen the Blues own in a long time. Mikkola has incredible edge-work and pushes off so effortlessly. Although his hot and puck-handling aren't his strong-suits, I don't think it will hamper his game any. He might not have the potential that I see in Walman, but I think his professional game is far superior at this point in time as evidenced by his play in the FEL. Mikkola also has the added benefit of playing anywhere up-and-down the Blues left-side. In short, he looks to be what Edmundson is now, although with much better skating but a worse shot. I'll gladly take another Edmundson on the roster with potential for more.
 
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