Prospect Info: St. Louis Blues Top-20 Prospects: #2

[Bluesnatic27]

The Blues 2020 - 2021 Top-20 Prospect List:
1) Klim Kostin - 61.3%

Klim Kostin takes the top spot for the Blues. I remember saying last year that I had him in the same tier as Alexandrov and Neighbours. I thought he needed to refine his game to really move ahead of them. Well last year, he definitely impressed and I do believe he has moved ahead of the other two. He was key cog in his team's KHL championship team with his physicality and aggression. He's built like a bull and made use of that fact every chance he got. He has excellent physical tools to accompany his size. His shot is well above average and his skating won't be an issue while he carves out an NHL role. I like to describe him as the ideal bottom-9 player. He has highly translatable skills that will be of value on any line he's put on. I do think he's a complimentary piece, but there isn't anything wrong with that. Not every prospect has to be the driver of a line as long as he plays a style that will assist the driver the best he can. And from Kostin's development, it seems he's accepted that role rather well. He might never become a full fleged top-6 player, but I have no doubt his skills will be of value to an NHL squad. He's an exciting player to watch even if he never plays higher than the 3rd line.

With that said, voting for #2 starts now!

Click to read more...

 

[Mike Liut]

Pretty much a toss up for me between Perunovich, Bolduc, Robertsson and Neighbors. All 4 could make a case for it.

 

[BadgersandBlues]

I went with Robertsson - I like players that play against grown men early in their careers and I'm always going to find a spot for a guy who has a great shot.

 

[Majorityof1]

Round 2 of voting for Bolduc.

Can we just call this one for Perunovich now? Unless half the people who voted for Kostin all pick the same prospect, Perunovich is unfortunately running away with this. Let's just slide right past how bad we are collectively at evaluating prospects and just give Perunovich the #2 spot. Then in a few years when he is a bust, we can blame how short the poll ran and not how easily we are all swayed by his winning in college.

 

[Beauterham]

Went with Bolduc again.

I really like Perunovich' potential, but he's far more boom/bust to me than Bolduc and Neighbours. It also has to be seen how Perunovich comes back from his injury as he did miss an entire season of development.

 

[LetsGoBLUES91]

Shocked that Bolduc is beneath Kostin. Are we taking into account their ETA to the NHL? Because if not that's a really odd choice. Perunovich, Bolduc, and maybe even Neighbours are better prospects.

 

[Celtic Note]

I am going to go out on a limb and say that Hofer might just be our best prospect and I doubt there will be recognition on that front.

 

[Majorityof1]

I have Hofer #2 on my list

Blues top 10 prospects post draft?

The only thing keeping him from the one spot is the unpredictability of goalies and internal competition at the position. Because goalies are hard to predict, I cannot say with complete confidence that Hofer will be a better NHL player than Ellis in 5-6 years. I think he will, but I am not betting my life savings on a goalie prediction.

 

[MissouriMook]

Round 2 of voting for Bolduc.

Can we just call this one for Perunovich now? Unless half the people who voted for Kostin all pick the same prospect, Perunovich is unfortunately running away with this. Let's just slide right past how bad we are collectively at evaluating prospects and just give Perunovich the #2 spot. Then in a few years when he is a bust, we can blame how short the poll ran and not how easily we are all swayed by his winning in college.

Or maybe we could just ask you to post your rankings and we can all defer to your expertise and get on with our lives.

 

[MissouriMook]

I am going to go out on a limb and say that Hofer might just be our best prospect and I doubt there will be recognition on that front.

I'm not even convinced he's our best goalie prospect. I think Ellis might have passed him, but I say that with the caveat that "Goalies are weird".

 

[kimzey59]

Perunovich.
Highest upside, probably the closest to NHL ready although he’s a bit blocked.
Gets interesting after this.

 

[Davimir Tarablad]

Shocked that Bolduc is beneath Kostin. Are we taking into account their ETA to the NHL? Because if not that's a really odd choice. Perunovich, Bolduc, and maybe even Neighbours are better prospects.

I’ve got him by a hair over the next four guys. If he was still a year out from the NHL, I’d certainly have him in the 4-5 range. He showed a lot of improvement under Hartley last season, while the rest of our top guys didn’t get to show much, whether due to injury or shortened seasons.

 

[Majorityof1]

Or maybe we could just ask you to post your rankings and we can all defer to your expertise and get on with our lives.

I did. Look for the link above. Feel free to take it as gospel. Better yet, people should think about their opinions a bit so we can have a discussion rather then vote with the group think these polls always turn into.

 

[MissouriMook]

I did. Look for the link above. Feel free to take it as gospel. Better yet, people should think about their opinions a bit so we can have a discussion rather then vote with the group think these polls always turn into.

Or maybe what you call group think is just what a majority of posters have arrived at on their own. I’m not sure what you’re going for here, but a lot of your posts lately have come off as exceptionally condescending, especially where prospects are involved. But keep hammering out the content.

 

[LetsGoBooze]

That escalated quickly....lol

I can only speak for myself but i always vote first, then read the comments. Literally zero 'group think' going into my voting.

 

[Memento]

Neighbours is my number two. Perunovich would be number three on my list because of his shoulder injury. Neighbours dominated in the WHL, and there's a lot of Matthew Tkachuk in him. Honestly, he's a top six left winger who can be a solid 200 ft. player, in my eyes. Bolduc would be number four on my list, but that's only because there's questions about his defense and because he's less proven than Neighbours and Perunovich.

 

[Majorityof1]

Or maybe what you call group think is just what a majority of posters have arrived at on their own. I’m not sure what you’re going for here, but a lot of your posts lately have come off as exceptionally condescending, especially where prospects are involved. But keep hammering out the content.
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Except there is massive evidence that is not the case. Take reactions to the Bolduc pick. People were pissed. Then someone posted scouting reports and everyone was all "Now that I read up on him, he's not so bad." Maybe read up on the prospect before you spout off about him. As another example take Kostin. He was dogged as a prospect when he struggled at 18-20 year old in the AHL. Then he gets a ton of press for winning the Gagarin cup, and suddenly the same people who wrote him off as nothing 4 months ago voted him our top prospect. Their evidence isn't having watched footage of him, but some article where his coach said nice things.

This is obviously not everyone. There are some who really know their stuff, but only a very few of those post a bunch. I don't mean to be condescending. I am more annoyed than anything. Group think is boring. I'd rather someone come out hot with a controversial opinion than just follow the crowd.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

mooooo

 

[Blueston]

I went with Bolduc. Really a tossup between him and Neighbours.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

That escalated quickly....lol

I can only speak for myself but i always vote first, then read the comments. Literally zero 'group think' going into my voting.

Same here. I was actually surprised Perunovich had much support as my impression was that not many were as high on him as I am.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

BTW, kind of funny that there is so much snippy commentary going on in this thread in a year when we collectively have had the least opportunity to watch prospects play EVER. This voted ranking isn't going to be worth a hell of a lot. Why fuss over it?

 

[ezcreepin]

Except there is massive evidence that is not the case. Take reactions to the Bolduc pick. People were pissed. Then someone posted scouting reports and everyone was all "Now that I read up on him, he's not so bad." Maybe read up on the prospect before you spout off about him. As another example take Kostin. He was dogged as a prospect when he struggled at 18-20 year old in the NHL. Then he gets a ton of press for winning the Gagarin cup, and suddenly the same people who wrote him off as nothing 4 months ago voted him our top prospect. Their evidence isn't having watched footage of him, but some article where his coach said nice things.

This is obviously not everyone. There are some who really know their stuff, but only a very few of those post a bunch. I don't mean to be condescending. I am more annoyed than anything. Group think is boring. I'd rather someone come out hot with a controversial opinion than just follow the crowd.

There are a lot of variables to consider when you do these kinds of things, and just having a good scouting report isn't going to do it for me. Robertsson has been touted as having one of, if not the best shots in the draft and everyone raves about him, but it doesn't mean anything until he actually does what he's been touted as doing at higher levels. Take for example Rattie (yes I know but just follow me down this road). He scored at a torrid pace and was considered a goal scorer by a lot of people and scouts. He goes to the AHL and scores 31 goals and has 2 follow up good years after that, after finally falling off as a player. I know that many, many people had him as a top prospect in our system that inevitably didn't prove much as an NHL player, whether that's his hockey IQ, skating, defense, doesn't matter (Rattie is an extreme example, but I feel is valid).

So, will Bolduc and Robertsson be better players than Kostin or Perunovich? Maybe, it's tough to tell just a few months out from their draft. But I will say that I have to take into consideration who will definitely play in the NHL along with skill vs who is supposed to play who has skill. Kostin WILL play, Perunovich WILL play, Neighbours and Alexandrov SHOULD play, Bolduc and Robertsson are very talented and should play, but I'm less certain about it than the others. That's the way I grade it, unless of course a kid is the next coming of McDavid or head and shoulders better than other older, skilled players in the system.

 

[simon IC]

There are a lot of variables to consider when you do these kinds of things, and just having a good scouting report isn't going to do it for me. Robertsson has been touted as having one of, if not the best shots in the draft and everyone raves about him, but it doesn't mean anything until he actually does what he's been touted as doing at higher levels. Take for example Rattie (yes I know but just follow me down this road). He scored at a torrid pace and was considered a goal scorer by a lot of people and scouts. He goes to the AHL and scores 31 goals and has 2 follow up good years after that, after finally falling off as a player. I know that many, many people had him as a top prospect in our system that inevitably didn't prove much as an NHL player, whether that's his hockey IQ, skating, defense, doesn't matter (Rattie is an extreme example, but I feel is valid).

So, will Bolduc and Robertsson be better players than Kostin or Perunovich? Maybe, it's tough to tell just a few months out from their draft. But I will say that I have to take into consideration who will definitely play in the NHL along with skill vs who is supposed to play who has skill. Kostin WILL play, Perunovich WILL play, Neighbours and Alexandrov SHOULD play, Bolduc and Robertsson are very talented and should play, but I'm less certain about it than the others. That's the way I grade it, unless of course a kid is the next coming of McDavid or head and shoulders better than other older, skilled players in the system.

I am not as certain as you are about Perunovich, but you make an excellent point. Great post!

 

[kimzey59]

There are a lot of variables to consider when you do these kinds of things, and just having a good scouting report isn't going to do it for me. Robertsson has been touted as having one of, if not the best shots in the draft and everyone raves about him, but it doesn't mean anything until he actually does what he's been touted as doing at higher levels. Take for example Rattie (yes I know but just follow me down this road). He scored at a torrid pace and was considered a goal scorer by a lot of people and scouts. He goes to the AHL and scores 31 goals and has 2 follow up good years after that, after finally falling off as a player. I know that many, many people had him as a top prospect in our system that inevitably didn't prove much as an NHL player, whether that's his hockey IQ, skating, defense, doesn't matter (Rattie is an extreme example, but I feel is valid).

So, will Bolduc and Robertsson be better players than Kostin or Perunovich? Maybe, it's tough to tell just a few months out from their draft. But I will say that I have to take into consideration who will definitely play in the NHL along with skill vs who is supposed to play who has skill. Kostin WILL play, Perunovich WILL play, Neighbours and Alexandrov SHOULD play, Bolduc and Robertsson are very talented and should play, but I'm less certain about it than the others. That's the way I grade it, unless of course a kid is the next coming of McDavid or head and shoulders better than other older, skilled players in the system.

It used to be that the Blues didn’t have a writer for the main page(or got stuck with someone who didn’t have a clue about our system) and this was how we responded to the lack of coverage. But anymore this is just for some off-season fun and it’s certainly not worth getting worked up over.

And if you were to get worked up it should be because this is a little premature. Odds are we end up with someone who belongs in the top 5 following the Vladdy situation.

 

[Majorityof1]

There are a lot of variables to consider when you do these kinds of things, and just having a good scouting report isn't going to do it for me. Robertsson has been touted as having one of, if not the best shots in the draft and everyone raves about him, but it doesn't mean anything until he actually does what he's been touted as doing at higher levels. Take for example Rattie (yes I know but just follow me down this road). He scored at a torrid pace and was considered a goal scorer by a lot of people and scouts. He goes to the AHL and scores 31 goals and has 2 follow up good years after that, after finally falling off as a player. I know that many, many people had him as a top prospect in our system that inevitably didn't prove much as an NHL player, whether that's his hockey IQ, skating, defense, doesn't matter (Rattie is an extreme example, but I feel is valid).

So, will Bolduc and Robertsson be better players than Kostin or Perunovich? Maybe, it's tough to tell just a few months out from their draft. But I will say that I have to take into consideration who will definitely play in the NHL along with skill vs who is supposed to play who has skill. Kostin WILL play, Perunovich WILL play, Neighbours and Alexandrov SHOULD play, Bolduc and Robertsson are very talented and should play, but I'm less certain about it than the others. That's the way I grade it, unless of course a kid is the next coming of McDavid or head and shoulders better than other older, skilled players in the system.

Its exactly because of the variety of factors that we should get some diversity of opinion. Some people more greatly value floor, some ceiling, and some time til impact. Some prefer size, some prefer speed. Some like offense,some defense, and some a more well rounded game. Some have a bias toward Dmen, some toward forward and some very, very few are actual willing to consider a goalie. With all those different preferences, you would think that we would have votes for the top 2 prospects to be very spread out. Instead we get almost everyone voting for 1 of 2 guys.