Vladimir Tarasenko, Jaden Schwartz lead the way in St. Louis Blues top 20

HF Article

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The St. Louis Blues prospect system is led by a pair of potential top-line forwards in Russian winger Vladimir Tarasenko and Saskatchewan native Jaden Schwartz. Both are dynamic players capable of piling up the points and it should not be long before the duo is lighting the lamps for the Blues.



Further down Hockey's Future's belated Fall rankings list there are a couple potential starters in net along with a blue line corps that includes both offensive-minded players as well as behemoth defensemen capable of controlling the defensive zone. Eleven of the team's top 14 prospects on this list were first or second round draft choices, so there are still plenty of talented prospects working towards the NHL roster.… read more



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PocketNines

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Apr 29, 2004
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This is their list:

1. Tarasenko
2. Schwartz
3. Rattie
4. Cole
5. Allen
6. Fairchild !!!!
7. Schmaltz
8. McRae !!
9. Hakanpaa
10. Jaskin
11. Binnington
12. Edmundson
13. Kurker
14. Wannstrom
15. Eronen
16. MacEachern
17. Beach
18. Tesink
19. Veillieux
20. Ponich
 

Lord Helix

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Nov 12, 2010
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Not quite sure how McRae is so high. He'll probably end up being a Zigomanis.
 

stlweir

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Fairchild looked good in his short stint with the Blues but he will be 24 in a few weeks and is suffering through a sophmore slump after an excellent first year in Peoria. Edmundson for example is 19. They are two different players but who has the better upside?

McRae, I just don't know. Maybe could make it as a checking center or maybe should be moved to LW. Boarderline NHLer.

Wannstrom has been an early dissapointment and is not deserving of being a top 15 prospect.
 
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h22prelude93

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Jan 27, 2010
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St.Louis, Mo
This is their list:

1. Tarasenko
2. Schwartz
3. Rattie
4. Cole
5. Allen
6. Fairchild !!!!
7. Schmaltz
8. McRae !!
9. Hakanpaa
10. Jaskin
11. Binnington
12. Edmundson
13. Kurker
14. Wannstrom
15. Eronen
16. MacEachern
17. Beach
18. Tesink
19. Veillieux
20. Ponich

Those are the two that stuck out to me as well. Especially Fairchild. What exactly has he done to move up in ranking? IMO Jaskin should be higher, and where's Lehtera? Is he not still a Blues prospect? Top 10 in the best league in the world and he can't even make our top 20 list? Oh well this guy isn't even a Blues writer. He usually writes articles for the Blackhawks. :help:
 
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PocketNines

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Another way to look at Fairchild being ranked 6th. Imagine Tarasenko, Schwartz, Rattie, Cole and Allen are off the board, and you get to keep only ONE Blues prospect from all the remaining players. And you pick Fairchild. Not a chance.
 

Lifetimebluesfan

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Jul 2, 2012
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Is this a little more accurate?
1.)Tarasenko
2.)Schwartz
3.)Rattie
4.)Cole
5.)Jaskin
6.)Allen
7.)Lehtera?
8.)Schmaltz
9.)Hakannpa
10.)Edmundson
11.)Binnington
12.)Fairchild
13.)Vielluex
14.) McCrae
15.)Grachev
16.)Kurker
17.)Eronen
18.)MacEacheran
19.)Tesink
20.)Peluso
 

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Another way to look at Fairchild being ranked 6th. Imagine Tarasenko, Schwartz, Rattie, Cole and Allen are off the board, and you get to keep only ONE Blues prospect from all the remaining players. And you pick Fairchild. Not a chance.

That's how I look at it too. You could make a case for quite a few different players at that position, but Fairchild is not one of them.
 

Dr Robot

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Binnington and Jaskin being considered legitimate prospects and not just projects is a fairly recent occurrence(this half season so far) and is still a small sample size of high end play. After the top 5 guys we are pretty sure are NHL bound it really comes down to McRae and Fairchild. Some of the other prospects have a bit higher potential but those 2 are an injury callup away from actually contributing in the NHL even if its just 5 minutes a night for a few games. The rest we can't even be certain will get to that point in Peoria.

If Jaskin and Binn keep up their play over an entire season theres a case for them getting bumped up but not from such a small sample size in my opinion. Schwartz went from a 8.0B to an 8.0C and Tarasenko is still a 8.5C. Im not sure why Tarasenko isn't considered a little bit more of a lock to live up to his potential considering how well he has done in the KHL over a long period of time. Also Schwartz going from B to C is curious and id wonder if its from the people who make this decision deciding their original rating was too high even though he has pretty much stayed on track from when they last ranked him aside from a slow start in a struggling Peoria.
 

jessejames

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Sep 1, 2009
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Is this a little more accurate?
1.)Tarasenko
2.)Schwartz
3.)Rattie
4.)Cole
5.)Jaskin
6.)Allen
7.)Lehtera?
8.)Schmaltz
9.)Hakannpa
10.)Edmundson
11.)Binnington
12.)Fairchild
13.)Vielluex
14.) McCrae
15.)Grachev
16.)Kurker
17.)Eronen
18.)MacEacheran
19.)Tesink
20.)Peluso

This listing is far better IMO.

A few comments:

I'm tempted to move Jaskin even higher on the list, to be on a par with Rattie at least.
Beginning to get excited about Lehtera, thinking that he'll be in a Blues uniform next year.
I don't see McCrae or Grachev as any more than trade bait for a very late round draft pick.
 

ExJbeck

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Jul 29, 2012
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Is this a little more accurate?
1.)Tarasenko
2.)Schwartz
3.)Rattie
4.)Cole
5.)Jaskin
6.)Allen
7.)Lehtera?
8.)Schmaltz
9.)Hakannpa
10.)Edmundson
11.)Binnington
12.)Fairchild
13.)Vielluex
14.) McCrae
15.)Grachev
16.)Kurker
17.)Eronen
18.)MacEacheran
19.)Tesink
20.)Peluso

This listing is far better IMO.

A few comments:

I'm tempted to move Jaskin even higher on the list, to be on a par with Rattie at least.
Beginning to get excited about Lehtera, thinking that he'll be in a Blues uniform next year.
I don't see McCrae or Grachev as any more than trade bait for a very late round draft pick.
Im getting excited about Lehtera as well, but he needs to develop a better two way game. I have a feeling he ends up in Peoria for a season to further his development before making it to the NHL roster.
 

Mike Liut

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We better hope some of these pan out because there's no way in hell we are going to be able to afford our current young stars. It's a shame because I love our young team with ascending players. I just hope we can keep these guys for a long time

Backes
Oshie
Pietrangelo
Shattenkirk
Polak
Berglund
Perron

Not sure how though.


ps- I was counting Tarasenko, Schwartz, Jaskin and Cole because of their age.
 

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We better hope some of these pan out because there's no way in hell we are going to be able to afford our current young stars. It's a shame because I love our young team with ascending players. I just hope we can keep these guys for a long time

Backes
Oshie
Pietrangelo
Shattenkirk
Polak
Berglund
Perron

Not sure how though.


ps- I was counting Tarasenko, Schwartz, Jaskin and Cole because of their age.

I don't really see it being a problem honestly. Seems like Armstrong has a good relationship with the players, and has been signing good players(Backes, Oshie, Perron) to deals that are fair for both the player and the team. Clearly the players enjoy being here, and have a good relationship with Armstrong because they are signing these deals when they could probably milk the franchise for more if they really were unsatisfied. I think that's a big deal. The team is winning, the fans are supportive(top 10 in attendance 4 straight years) and there is loads of character in the locker room. The only problem I can see is coming from offer sheets on Pietrangelo or, to a lesser extent, Shattenkirk. That could really screw up the finances of the team if they have to pay some monster contract. Other than that, the players seem happy, coaches are happy, and I can't really think of a player that has a giant ego on the entire team.
 

Mike Liut

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I don't really see it being a problem honestly. Seems like Armstrong has a good relationship with the players, and has been signing good players(Backes, Oshie, Perron) to deals that are fair for both the player and the team. Clearly the players enjoy being here, and have a good relationship with Armstrong because they are signing these deals when they could probably milk the franchise for more if they really were unsatisfied. I think that's a big deal. The team is winning, the fans are supportive(top 10 in attendance 4 straight years) and there is loads of character in the locker room. The only problem I can see is coming from offer sheets on Pietrangelo or, to a lesser extent, Shattenkirk. That could really screw up the finances of the team if they have to pay some monster contract. Other than that, the players seem happy, coaches are happy, and I can't really think of a player that has a giant ego on the entire team.



That's basically my point.
 

jessejames

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Sep 1, 2009
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Just realized that Andronov is missing from the earlier lists. I'm guessing that he should slot in somewhere in the 12-15 range.

Another omission from these lists (and pretty much all others on HF) is Hensink. No, he doesn't figure to have a lengthy NHL career, but he could see some action as an emergency call-up, and he certainly is a better AHL player than Grachev or McCrae.

Sure, a half-dozen or so of these guys may never have more than a sniff of the NHL, still that's an impressive list. Remember the years when the Blues would share sponsorship of an AHL or IHL team with another NHL franchise. There's been lots of years in the Blues' history when there weren't more than two or three legit prospects, if that many. Remember when Denis Cyr (sp?) was a top prospect (call-up)?
 

frostyflo

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Jan 29, 2009
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That's basically my point.

i haven't followed the last lockout,so how would it work with RFAs if the season is lost?

but anyway, I'm sure Petro is with the Blues for a long time, he said he wants to stay and they were already working on an extension till lockout ruined it and if theres any GM who can avoid a Weber situation its Army
 

STL fan in MN

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Aug 16, 2007
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I think it was a decent list, especially since it was put together by a non-Blues writer.

I'd go with:

1. Tarasenko
2. Schwartz
3. Rattie
4. Cole
5. Jaskin
6. Allen
7. Schmaltz
8. Fairchild
9. Hakanpaa
10. Lehtera
11. Binnington
12. Edmundson
13. Eronen
14. Kurker
15. McRae
16. Wannstrom
17. Veillieux
18. MacEachern
19. Tesink
20. Beach

I think Fairchild was a little overrated but not by much. Jaskin has really helped his stock though.
 

bluesfan94

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Jan 7, 2008
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Another way to look at Fairchild being ranked 6th. Imagine Tarasenko, Schwartz, Rattie, Cole and Allen are off the board, and you get to keep only ONE Blues prospect from all the remaining players. And you pick Fairchild. Not a chance.

I disagree with looking at it like this. Because looking at it like this places value on positional aspects. I might not keep a RHD prospect because we're stacked there in favor of a LHD prospect. Even if the RHD is better.
 

PocketNines

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I disagree with looking at it like this. Because looking at it like this places value on positional aspects. I might not keep a RHD prospect because we're stacked there in favor of a LHD prospect. Even if the RHD is better.

Not necessarily. It just means pure value, which automatically includes the possibility of trade. Thus it's value as a player to the Blues or any team in the NHL, eliminating positional, team-specific issues. There's no chance Fairchild is 6th under any of these tests.
 

Celtic Note

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Dec 22, 2006
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*Ratings based on Potential Usefulness to NHL Club Over Time Based on Performance to Date

1. Tarasenko (Elite 1st Line W)
2. Schwartz (1st Line W)
3. Rattie (2nd Line W)
4. Cole (4-5 D)
5. Allen (Starting G/ Journeyman Starting G)
6. Jaskin (3rd Line W)
7. Hakanpaa (4-7 D)
8. Fairchild (5-AHL D)
9. Binnington (Journeyman Starting G -AHL Starter)
10. Lehtera (3rd line W)
11. Schmaltz (3-6 D)
12. Edmundson (5-7 D)
13. Eronen (6-AHL/Euro D)
14. Veillieux (3rd line - AHL 2nd Line W)
15. Kurker (3rd line - AHL 3rd Line W)
16. Wannstrom (4th line - AHL 2nd Line C)
17. MacEachern (3rd line - AHL 3rd Line W)
18. Beach (4th line - AHL 2nd Line W)
19. McRae (4th line - AHL 2nd Line W)
20. Tesink (3rd line - AHL 3rd Line W)
 

David Dennison

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Not necessarily. It just means pure value, which automatically includes the possibility of trade. Thus it's value as a player to the Blues or any team in the NHL, eliminating positional, team-specific issues. There's no chance Fairchild is 6th under any of these tests.

Fairchilds ceiling just isnt that high IMO. Decent offensive skills, but he is very small.
 

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