Director of Scouting Bill Armstrong Interview

[Mark Edwards]

St. Louis Blues Director of Scouting, Bill Armstrong, joined NHL Networks Radio Hockey Prospects show recently.

Armstrong talks St. Louis Blues prospects for over 30 minutes including chatting about William Carrier, Jordan Schmaltz, Tommy Vannelli, Ty Rattie, Dmitrij Jaskin, Joel Edmundson and Sebastian Wannstrom.


LINK

Click to read more...

 

[Frenzy31]

St. Louis Blues Director of Scouting, Bill Armstrong, joined NHL Networks Radio Hockey Prospects show recently.

Armstrong talks St. Louis Blues prospects for over 30 minutes including chatting about William Carrier, Jordan Schmaltz, Tommy Vannelli, Ty Rattie, Dmitrij Jaskin, Joel Edmundson and Sebastian Wannstrom.


LINK

That is a great interview. Good to hear what he thought about Carrier, Wannstrom, and Edmundson.

 

[SirPaste]

Sweet, thanks for posting, can't wait to listen to this later

 

[ExJbeck]

Thanks for the post

 

[PocketNines]

Thumbnails:

Jaskin is basically NHL ready, can play and contribute on any of four lines, versatile, power game, total steal.

Rattie is another score of a pick, however he's not going to be a third/fourth liner. He is either a top two line guy or a AHL/NHL tweener. They feel pretty good he's got the hockey IQ to become a top two line player.

Carrier they think he'll be a better pro than junior. High ceiling.

Edmundson getting groomed correctly, should enter NHL as a quality #5 who can be a #4. (I inferred he's Polak's eventual replacement on the right)

Schmaltz is being taught by great coaches at UND, is top-four quality, making development strides.

Vannelli is further away but also top four, natural gifted skater but on the defensive end is going to be a positional defender rather than a muscler, glad he went WHL even though they didn't push him to do it.

Wannstrom adjusting to culture, really working hard to make it as an AHL pro.

Overall joked that Blues are cornering the market on the rarer RHD prospects. Spoke to how the NHL game is much harder when forwards have to make so much effort tracking down the puck and that transition D is where the game is at now. Apparently the Euro scouts who scouted Jaskin were adamant the Blues take him. Interesting to hear his approach to 2d round picks which all of these were except Schmaltz. Good listen, thanks for the link.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Thumbnails:

Jaskin is basically NHL ready, can play and contribute on any of four lines, versatile, power game, total steal.

Rattie is another score of a pick, however he's not going to be a third/fourth liner. He is either a top two line guy or a AHL/NHL tweener. They feel pretty good he's got the hockey IQ to become a top two line player.

Carrier they think he'll be a better pro than junior. High ceiling.

Edmundson getting groomed correctly, should enter NHL as a quality #5 who can be a #4. (I inferred he's Polak's eventual replacement on the right)

Schmaltz is being taught by great coaches at UND, is top-four quality, making development strides.

Vannelli is further away but also top four, natural gifted skater but on the defensive end is going to be a positional defender rather than a muscler, glad he went WHL even though they didn't push him to do it.

Wannstrom adjusting to culture, really working hard to make it as an AHL pro.

Overall joked that Blues are cornering the market on the rarer RHD prospects. Spoke to how the NHL game is much harder when forwards have to make so much effort tracking down the puck and that transition D is where the game is at now. Apparently the Euro scouts who scouted Jaskin were adamant the Blues take him. Interesting to hear his approach to 2d round picks which all of these were except Schmaltz. Good listen, thanks for the link.

Thanks. sound issues on my computer.

 

[tfriede2]

Thumbnails:

Jaskin is basically NHL ready, can play and contribute on any of four lines, versatile, power game, total steal.

Rattie is another score of a pick, however he's not going to be a third/fourth liner. He is either a top two line guy or a AHL/NHL tweener. They feel pretty good he's got the hockey IQ to become a top two line player.

Carrier they think he'll be a better pro than junior. High ceiling.

Edmundson getting groomed correctly, should enter NHL as a quality #5 who can be a #4. (I inferred he's Polak's eventual replacement on the right)

Schmaltz is being taught by great coaches at UND, is top-four quality, making development strides.

Vannelli is further away but also top four, natural gifted skater but on the defensive end is going to be a positional defender rather than a muscler, glad he went WHL even though they didn't push him to do it.

Wannstrom adjusting to culture, really working hard to make it as an AHL pro.

Overall joked that Blues are cornering the market on the rarer RHD prospects. Spoke to how the NHL game is much harder when forwards have to make so much effort tracking down the puck and that transition D is where the game is at now. Apparently the Euro scouts who scouted Jaskin were adamant the Blues take him. Interesting to hear his approach to 2d round picks which all of these were except Schmaltz. Good listen, thanks for the link.

Excellent - thanks. As for the bolded, I wonder if that's the scouting department covering for a mistake, or if that's something they actually believe. If they actually didn't think Carrier is progressing at all, he probably wouldn't outright say that, so saying "we think he'll be a better pro" is a good way to absolve themselves (in the short term) from second guessing. But, it also could simply be true. Look at Getzlaf's numbers the 2nd year after he was drafted - his point totals dipped from 75 to 54, and that's with 2 more games played in the 54 point season. This could be a case of Carrier focusing on other elements of his game at the Blues' behest. I don't know, but his numbers this year compared to the past two do raise a question mark.

 

[PocketNines]

Armstrong didn't bring up, but agreed with the interview host who said there are lots of times you watch a player score a nice goal in junior but you also know that goal is never getting scored in the NHL. He asked Armstrong if this was the possible case with Carrier and Armstrong agreed. They feel his injury kept him from being a first (something we already knew). Acknowledged there is risk with Carrier but thought so highly of the upside that they took the chance. See him as having a top two line game in the NHL. Basically got the feeling we'll know what kind of pick this was when he reaches the AHL.

 

[Oberyn]

Carrier should be in the AHL starting next season so we'll be able to grasp a better idea of his skill then.

 

[LGB51]

Thanks for the interview.

 

[David Dennison]

Carrier should be in the AHL starting next season so we'll be able to grasp a better idea of his skill then.

Yeah, he didnt really improve his scoring rates from his age 16-17 season to his age 18-19 season. Now hes buried on a contender. Getting big minutes can certainly be beneficial for a young player, but when its for a ****** team, you can get into some bad habits.

 

[Mark Edwards]

Sweet, thanks for posting, can't wait to listen to this later

Thanks for the post

Thanks for the interview.

No problem. Bill is a good guy. I see him pretty often, especially considering he is not Ontario based (Toronto boy but doesn't live in GTA). The first time we chatted a few years ago the bulk of the conversation was on Petro based on the fact I coached him in minor hockey.

Some great drafting by the Blues last few years should help ensure they remain in the top half of the standings for a while.

 

[PocketNines]

No problem. Bill is a good guy. I see him pretty often, especially considering he is not Ontario based (Toronto boy but doesn't live in GTA). The first time we chatted a few years ago the bulk of the conversation was on Petro based on the fact I coached him in minor hockey.

Some great drafting by the Blues last few years should help ensure they remain in the top half of the standings for a while.

The two guys I'd have loved him to talk about if the interview had been longer are Hakanpaa and Parayko. Do you know what Armstrong thinks of/hiw he currently evaluates those guys? Now that we know you talk to our director of scouting we're gonna bug you for info!

 

[Mark Edwards]

The two guys I'd have loved him to talk about if the interview had been longer are Hakanpaa and Parayko. Do you know what Armstrong thinks of/hiw he currently evaluates those guys? Now that we know you talk to our director of scouting we're gonna bug you for info!

I don't have a clue what he thinks of them, sorry. As for bugging me for info...if I bug him for info he will start avoiding me.

Next time I run into him I'll try to remember to ask him about a prospect or two.