Prospect Info: St. Louis Blues Top-20 Prospects: #6

[ezcreepin]

I think he could be a good 3rd liner. 2nd line? Not likely.

Idk, I think in the best case scenario, he could be a really nice 2nd line forward, whether it's center or wing. I do think he would be best suited as 3rd line center, but I think his offensive and defensive game could fit a role on the wing if injuries were to pop up during his tenure here. As a 20 year old, he was playing quality minutes in Liiga, and then had a nice showing on a bad Utica team. I feel confident in his floor being a 3rd line center, with a ceiling of quality 2nd line forward.

 

[Stealth JD]

I like Alexandrov more than most. I actually think he's the Blues best prospect overall with Neighbors right behind. Both guys can be top-6 players in this league, with enough grit and skill to replace what Saad should bring for the next few years.

But the prospect pool as a whole is about as weak as it's been since the mid-90's. Scouting, drafting and player development is really concerning at this point; and the Covid ice-times did nothing to help the situation. Hopefully it's not as dire as it seems; but the industry isn't too impressed with the farm system either if you believe the talking/writing-heads.

 

[Beauterham]

I like Alexandrov more than most. I actually think he's the Blues best prospect overall with Neighbors right behind. Both guys can be top-6 players in this league, with enough grit and skill to replace what Saad should bring for the next few years.

But the prospect pool as a whole is about as weak as it's been since the mid-90's. Scouting, drafting and player development is really concerning at this point; and the Covid ice-times did nothing to help the situation. Hopefully it's not as dire as it seems; but the industry isn't too impressed with the farm system either if you believe the talking/writing-heads.

Why do you feel it's like this?

Yes, we don't have a very deep prospect pool. We want to contend, so we've been trading away picks and prospects to stay competative. I'd say the problem isn't scouting, the problem is the lack of draftpicks and the low draftpicks. The Bolduc-pick was the highest draftpick we had in years. I actually think we did pretty well the last couple of years, considering where we have been picking. I do agree the Covid-situation might've really hurt some players development, like Dickinson and Cranley. I also want to see how Perunovich will do after not playing a single game last season.

 

[Stealth JD]

Why do you feel it's like this?

Because I don't see much immediate impact coming from the farm. Maybe Kostin will replace Sanford's production, but we've got a lot of bottom-of-the-roster players coming...not a whole lot of top-of-the-lineup help coming. Perhaps Bolduc or Alexandrov eventually grows into a top-6 role...but that will be in 3 or 4 years after they marinate in the minors then cut their teeth as a depth NHL'er. I'm not even sure that Perunovich, Kostin or Alexandrov will even earn a roster spot out of camp, let alone contribute to the success of the NHL team. It's probably unfair, but after moving past the Jarmo/BArmy-eras, my confidence has waned to that of the late-90's scouting era. Maybe Tony Feltrin will prove to be an astute hire with several unheralded prospect prepping to surprise, but it's hard to see that coming from here.

 

[Blueston]

Why do you feel it's like this?

Yes, we don't have a very deep prospect pool. We want to contend, so we've been trading away picks and prospects to stay competative. I'd say the problem isn't scouting, the problem is the lack of draftpicks and the low draftpicks. The Bolduc-pick was the highest draftpick we had in years. I actually think we did pretty well the last couple of years, considering where we have been picking. I do agree the Covid-situation might've really hurt some players development, like Dickinson and Cranley. I also want to see how Perunovich will do after not playing a single game last season.

This is exactly right. Our dearth of prospects is directly related to lack of picks. We have generally drafted pretty well post-Jarmo.

 

[ezcreepin]

This is exactly right. Our dearth of prospects is directly related to lack of picks. We have generally drafted pretty well post-Jarmo.

Drafting well? Yea I think we've done fairly well percentage wise, but actual big contributor wise? No. There are only 2 major contributor to this team in the entire post Jarmo era and that is Parayko and Binnington, the rest being complimentary pieces, bottom 6 forwards, or sheltered defenseman. The next two guys that SHOULD be big contributors are Kyrou and Thomas, but neither has taken a big enough step that I'm comfortable saying they're in that echelon. Kyrou feels like a lock, but I'll wait to say for sure that he has become that top 6 forward. I do have to accept that the Blues haven't had the ability to draft high respective of other teams so there's that, but they've whiffed on quite a few of their higher draft picks. I think I would've rather had better contributors than more depth pieces, but they've done good.