Prospect Info: St. Louis Blues Top-20 Prospects: #7

[ChicagoBlues]

2022 Prospect Rankings:


#1 Zachary Bolduc (75.8%)
#2 Jake Neighbours (50.9%)
#3 Jimmy Snuggerud (51%)
#4 Scott Perunovich (86.8%)
#5 Joel Hofer (50%)
#6 Alexei Toropchenko (55.3%)

You can change your vote.

Poll closes in 2 days.

Who should I add next time?

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[Blueston]

Kessel. Think he has good shot to contribute, maybe as soon as next year.

 

[Beauterham]

Went with Buchinger. From the guys that are left, he might have the highest ceiling. He also has a lower floor than some others, but it's a bit of a lottery at this point.

 

[Memento]

Voted for Alexandrov again. After him would be Kostin, then Robertsson, then Dickinson.

 

[stl76]

Matt Kessel is going to be a player. After him I have Kostin.

Don’t really understand the Alexandrov love here.

 

[STL fan in MN]

We’ve reached the mushy middle of the rankings IMO. A fairly sizable tier drop off here. I see lots of guys in this tier that I value pretty closely.

Kostin is a disappointment but there’s guys in this range that will end up with lesser NHL careers than the 46 games played Kostin already has.

Kessel has been a late bloomer. Really impressed turning pro by stepping right into the AHL playoffs and not missing a beat. Can he continue that trajectory and be an NHL caliber guy in a year or two? TBD.

Koromyslov and Lööf are also solid defensive d-men. It would be nice to see Koromyslov against the best of his age group but the president of his country is a homicidal maniac so unfortunately, don’t think we’ll be seeing him in international play anytime soon.

Kaskimaki is someone I think is being overlooked somewhat. Maybe because he’s new and was injured during prospect camp so we haven’t really seen much of him? But he did lead the top Finnish Jr league in scoring for his age group (U18). One could argue that the truly elite 17 year olds were already playing in Liiga, not juniors, but sometimes that has to do more with opportunity than anything else. And he did put up 2 pts in the 4 Liiga games he played. I’ll be interested to see how he develops this season. Good chance he makes the Finnish WJC team this December.

Buchinger is the one true offensive d-man we have in the pipeline other than Perunovich. The knock on him is that he doesn’t bring size so does he have enough offensive skill to set himself apart? TBD but an intriguing prospect. He certainly looked good in prospect camp.

Dickinson was putting up a heck of a season, made the US WJC team (the tourney that ended up getting canceled) but then broke his femur after a dirty hit into the boards. Can he rebound or will that set him back? Hopefully he’s 100% now and is ready to go. Will be rooting for him.

Alexandrov and Robertsson…I’m not impressed with what I’ve seen from either but I’m no Nostradamus and have been wrong plenty of times before. They certainly belong in the mushy middle group as well.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

The Alexandrov love for me is based on his trajectory. It’s a conservative trajectory, but still upwards. Also, it is based on a gut feeling, much like my gut feeling regarding Toropchenko.

 

[stl76]

The Alexandrov love for me is based on his trajectory. It’s a conservative trajectory, but still upwards. Also, it is based on a gut feeling, much like my gut feeling regarding Toropchenko.

Fair enough, there’s probably a lot of gut feeling going on at this point in the rankings.

My gut: I just don’t see it with Alexandrov. He’s never been a big point producer at any level, don’t see many obvious translatable skills, and don’t see stand out physical attributes that would indicate he has a good chance of being a quality NHLer. He seems like a solid all around guy who maybe can carve out a decent career but I am not betting on it. Not sure his skating is good enough to make up for his lack of size and physical play in a NHL bottom 6 role. Don’t think his offensive skill is high enough to make it in a middle 6 NHL role (definitely not a top 6 role).

I really appreciated STL fan in IA’s break down above and see it mostly the same way. Kessel and Kostin are much more of a “sure thing” to me to at least be able to play at the NHL level. Buchinger and Dickinson have intriguing ceilings, Loof and Koromyslov have an outside shot of making it. I’m not a huge fan of Ellis, but he and Zherenko are worthy of consideration for sure as well.

 

[LGB]

Matt Kessel is going to be a player. After him I have Kostin.

Don’t really understand the Alexandrov love here.

Speaking for myself I value what he did in the AHL last season. Not spectacular but a very solid season for a 21 year old 2-way center on a good AHL team. I'm expecting him to build on that this year. I'll admit though I mostly consume prospect info through clips and stats.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Fair enough, there’s probably a lot of gut feeling going on at this point in the rankings.

My gut: I just don’t see it with Alexandrov. He’s never been a big point producer at any level, don’t see many obvious translatable skills, and don’t see stand out physical attributes that would indicate he has a good chance of being a quality NHLer. He seems like a solid all around guy who maybe can carve out a decent career but I am not betting on it. Not sure his skating is good enough to make up for his lack of size and physical play in a NHL bottom 6 role. Don’t think his offensive skill is high enough to make it in a middle 6 NHL role (definitely not a top 6 role).

I really appreciated STL fan in IA’s break down above and see it mostly the same way. Kessel and Kostin are much more of a “sure thing” to me to at least be able to play at the NHL level. Buchinger and Dickinson have intriguing ceilings, Loof and Koromyslov have an outside shot of making it. I’m not a huge fan of Ellis, but he and Zherenko are worthy of consideration for sure as well.

His skating is good, but it’s the non-physical aspect of his game that concerns me. He’s a tough one to figure out.

I can’t see him as a 4th-liner and this may be why (as another member here pointed out a few weeks ago) he won’t stick in the NHL. He needs to develop toward the middle-6 or he will be a minor-league pro in North America.

 

[stl76]

Speaking for myself I value what he did in the AHL last season. Not spectacular but a very solid season for a 21 year old 2-way center on a good AHL team. I'm expecting him to build on that this year. I'll admit though I mostly consume prospect info through clips and stats.

Maybe I'm being too hard on him. I'd probably have him closer to #10 than 7, but it's kind of splitting hairs at this point. Hopefully Alexandrov can continue to build and develop into an NHLer.

His skating is good, but it’s the non-physical aspect of his game that concerns me. He’s a tough one to figure out.

I can’t see him as a 4th-liner and this may be why (as another member here pointed out a few weeks ago) he won’t stick in the NHL. He needs to develop toward the middle-6 or he will be a minor-league pro in North America.

Part of the reason I value guys like Kessel and Kostin higher here is that their NHL role/path is much more clearly defined. It's tough for me to see how Alexandrov fits in a NHL line up right now but maybe he will surprise us and prove me wrong.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Maybe I'm being too hard on him. I'd probably have him closer to #10 than 7, but it's kind of splitting hairs at this point. Hopefully Alexandrov can continue to build and develop into an NHLer.


Part of the reason I value guys like Kessel and Kostin higher here is that their NHL role/path is much more clearly defined. It's tough for me to see how Alexandrov fits in a NHL line up right now but maybe he will surprise us and prove me wrong.

Totally see this as well. Maybe it was you who was concerned about the lack of a clear projected role for Alexandrov. And that is legit.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Totally see this as well. Maybe it was you who was concerned about the lack of a clear projected role for Alexandrov. And that is legit.

I also said something similar about not seeing how Alexandrov had any particular skill or attribute that would take him to the next level.

I don’t really see much of a path for him but I could be wrong.

 

[Frenzy31]

Totally see this as well. Maybe it was you who was concerned about the lack of a clear projected role for Alexandrov. And that is legit.

I think Alexandrov is on the Barby track. And I think next year (2023 -2024) he will be a regular in the lineup and he will get his cup of tea this year if injuries hit. He had a very good season as a rookie in the AHL last year - I don't count covid year playing 7 games...... 30 points in 67 games is pretty good production (Topochenko never hit that). He is turning 22 this year so, I think he will take off a bit. He was drafted as a 3rd line center - a guy who doesn't have a high end talent, but someone who would play in the NHL. (low ceiling - but solid floor). And I think that will be his role (though with our center, he will be the 4th line guy).

But, I went with Kessel. I think Kessel has 2nd pairing upside, and I prize that higher then a 3rd/4th line center. I have both over Topochenko who is a 4th liner.

On a side note, check out Hofer's photo on the Thrunderbirds website.......

Team | Springfield Thunderbirds

www.springfieldthunderbirds.com

ALSO, I DID CHECK AND I DID cast my vote correctly this time.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

I think Alexandrov is on the Barby track. And I think next year (2023 -2024) he will be a regular in the lineup and he will get his cup of tea this year if injuries hit. He had a very good season as a rookie in the AHL last year - I don't count covid year playing 7 games...... 30 points in 67 games is pretty good production (Topochenko never hit that). He is turning 22 this year so, I think he will take off a bit. He was drafted as a 3rd line center - a guy who doesn't have a high end talent, but someone who would play in the NHL. (low ceiling - but solid floor). And I think that will be his role (though with our center, he will be the 4th line guy).

But, I went with Kessel. I think Kessel has 2nd pairing upside, and I prize that higher then a 3rd/4th line center. I have both over Topochenko who is a 4th liner.

On a side note, check out Hofer's photo on the Thrunderbirds website.......

Team | Springfield Thunderbirds

www.springfieldthunderbirds.com

ALSO, I DID CHECK AND I DID cast my vote correctly this time.

Yes. I’ve got Alexandrov on the Barby track.

And…good boy.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I think Alexandrov is on the Barby track. And I think next year (2023 -2024) he will be a regular in the lineup and he will get his cup of tea this year if injuries hit. He had a very good season as a rookie in the AHL last year - I don't count covid year playing 7 games...... 30 points in 67 games is pretty good production (Topochenko never hit that). He is turning 22 this year so, I think he will take off a bit. He was drafted as a 3rd line center - a guy who doesn't have a high end talent, but someone who would play in the NHL. (low ceiling - but solid floor). And I think that will be his role (though with our center, he will be the 4th line guy).

But, I went with Kessel. I think Kessel has 2nd pairing upside, and I prize that higher then a 3rd/4th line center. I have both over Topochenko who is a 4th liner.

On a side note, check out Hofer's photo on the Thrunderbirds website.......

Team | Springfield Thunderbirds

www.springfieldthunderbirds.com

ALSO, I DID CHECK AND I DID cast my vote correctly this time.

I assume it’s just poor lighting but his face looks like my toddler’s does after she’s been rolling around in dirt.

He’s also got that dead vacant look in his eyes too.

 

[stl76]

I think Alexandrov is on the Barby track. And I think next year (2023 -2024) he will be a regular in the lineup and he will get his cup of tea this year if injuries hit. He had a very good season as a rookie in the AHL last year - I don't count covid year playing 7 games...... 30 points in 67 games is pretty good production (Topochenko never hit that). He is turning 22 this year so, I think he will take off a bit. He was drafted as a 3rd line center - a guy who doesn't have a high end talent, but someone who would play in the NHL. (low ceiling - but solid floor). And I think that will be his role (though with our center, he will be the 4th line guy).

But, I went with Kessel. I think Kessel has 2nd pairing upside, and I prize that higher then a 3rd/4th line center. I have both over Topochenko who is a 4th liner.

On a side note, check out Hofer's photo on the Thrunderbirds website.......

Team | Springfield Thunderbirds

www.springfieldthunderbirds.com

ALSO, I DID CHECK AND I DID cast my vote correctly this time.

Bunch of beauties there. Washkurak looks like he would kill a guy for the nicotine under his fingernails. Callin rock’n the hell outta that tooth!

 

[ChicagoBlues]

He’s also for that dead vacant look in his eyes too.

A lot like Patrick Kane. That dude is a soulless psycho.