Prospect Info: Who is the Blues #3 Prospect - 2023

[Stupendous Yappi]

I'll keep the poll open for 48 hours. Added Vadim Zherenko.

1) Dalibor Dvorsky
2) Jimmy Snuggerud
3) ?

Click to read more...

 

[Stealth JD]

Bolduc
Stenberg
Neighbors

three, four, five
will vote around Hofer

 

[BlueDream]

Between Neighbours and Hofer for me. Can’t go wrong with either one.

 

[Brian39]

I've made my pick clear in the last 2 threads. Hofer is the perfect mix of upside and NHL readiness to lead my next tier of Blues prospects.

He is built exactly how modern goalies should be built in the NHL, he handles the puck like a 3rd D man, he did exactly what I wanted him to do in the AHL last year, he looked solid in his NHL cup of coffee, and he exudes confidence. One of my favorite memories from last year was him trying to score on the empty net in the preseason against Minnesota. I loved seeing a 22 year old who was clearly 3rd on the depth chart just going for it on home ice a few months after scoring a goal in an AHL playoff game.

He has that hard to describe 'it' factor you want from a goalie. I'm not 100% sold that his actual talent level is enough to start in the NHL, but I think the head is there and I don't see that in many 22 year olds.

 

[Mike Liut]

Neighbors is the safe pick. Dean and Bolduc have higher ceilings imo. I think Neighbors showed a lot of improvement late last year. I like the physicality he brings. I doubt he’s anything more than a 3rd liner on a good team, but that’s ok, just be a physical 2-way 3rd liner and I’ll be happy. We’ll fill the top 6 with higher end talent. Dean and Neighbors are going to be mainstays in our 3rd like for a long time. Love both of them.

 

[JoernAZ]

Went for Hofer and let Kessel rest for a round or two.

Hofer will see action this season, and probably early on. We need to stabilise our goaltending a lot, and Hofer will be a key to that. When Binner need a rest or having a (hopefully) rare off day, Hof has to bring his end game. He has been through the levels now, got to play in the WC, and gotten his debut among the best.

He should have what it takes, and will need to handle 30+ starts this coming season.

 

[Memento]

Voted Bolduc, since I feel that he has the highest upside of any prospect not named Dvorsky or Snuggerud (whom I voted one and two, respectively.)

After Bolduc, I'll go with Stenberg, then Lindstein, then Neighbours, then Dean.

As I do with all of my prospect lists, Hofer and Zherenko will be way down the list, while Cranley doesn't even sniff it. Goalies are simply too volatile for my liking, so I don't like to vote for them on prospect lists. Granted, both Hofer and Zherenko look good, but they're still young goalies.

 

[LGB]

I'm taking Dean here. I just think he's going to be a valuable player. He's an above average skater, above average puck handler, he makes good reads, and brings some physicality. I think he'll be able to play up and down the lineup with success. He really is the perfect successor to Barbashev although more of a playmaker and not as physically imposing.

 

[Blueston]

this is tough one, because several players are so close in value. bolduc has maybe most upside, but he has low floor. dean perhaps but i hvae hard time conceptualizing that he is better than bolduc who was better than him. stenberg i like a lot but he is so far away so more can go wrong. lindstein too.

so while i really like all of the above, i went with neighbours. he is basically nhl player already so floor is super high. he isn't far at all from being a good nhl player. and i think he has 2nd line upside. we lose sight of his talent since he was up before he was ready and we saw the crappy player he was, but none of our other prospects made the club as a teenager.

 

[Blueston]

I've made my pick clear in the last 2 threads. Hofer is the perfect mix of upside and NHL readiness to lead my next tier of Blues prospects.

He is built exactly how modern goalies should be built in the NHL, he handles the puck like a 3rd D man, he did exactly what I wanted him to do in the AHL last year, he looked solid in his NHL cup of coffee, and he exudes confidence. One of my favorite memories from last year was him trying to score on the empty net in the preseason against Minnesota. I loved seeing a 22 year old who was clearly 3rd on the depth chart just going for it on home ice a few months after scoring a goal in an AHL playoff game.

He has that hard to describe 'it' factor you want from a goalie. I'm not 100% sold that his actual talent level is enough to start in the NHL, but I think the head is there and I don't see that in many 22 year olds.

i think all of y'all over valuing hofer. i don't think goalies have that much value unless they are one of top 8-10 in league. most of them are so hot and cold, year to year, that the next 30 aren't that far apart. and so while i think hofer can be a quality goalie, i don't think he will be elite. and if he is jake allen or ville husso or brian elliot, he can help club but those guys are a dime a dozen.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Between Bolduc, Hofer, Dean and Stenberg for me. All 4 have the potential to be very good.

Hofer’s the closet to the NHL, Dean is a safe bet with a high floor and high compete level, Bolduc has the highest offensive potential and Stenberg is a blend of Bolduc and Dean but farther away.

I’ll also point out Neighbours’ name has a U in it.

 

[CaliforniaBlues310]

Went with Dean here. I value center more than wingers and goalie, and he should be the perfect 3C to go behind Thomas and Dvorsky for a very long time.

 

[kimzey59]

Hofer.
He's got starter upside and is NHL ready. Easy pick IMO.

The next 4 are interesting.
Bolduc probably has the most upside, but he's got a lot of bust potential also.
Neighbours is clearly the most NHL ready, but probably has the lowest ceiling.
Dean has position in his favor, but the upside is questionable.
Stenberg might be the best all-around player of the bunch, but he's the furthest from the NHL.

For me: I go 4- Neighbours, 5- Bolduc, 6- Dean, 7-Stenberg
I'd really like to put Stenberg higher, but I don't know that I can justify it.

 

[Majorityof1]

Bolduc for me. He was the best player on the best team in the CHL. He won the memorial cup as his team's best player. He was tied for 4th in Gs and Pts in the Q with less games than those above him while focusing his work on his defensive game and play without the puck.

Tim Taylor said about him "He's taking the right steps. Everything we've asked him to do, he's done so far." The Blues are asking him to improve his playmaking and defense. He is doing it.

The knocks on him aren't worth taking seriously. He let the pressure get to him in training camp one year after being drafted? So what? Its happened to 1000 guys that went on to be great NHLers. It is rare to make the team one year removed from being drafted. He didn't make the World Jrs? He should have. They took lesser players because they wanted a more grinding bottom 6. But he was good enough to make it. That's what matters, he was good enough that he should have made a stacked Canadian World Junior team.

 

[Stupendous Yappi]

I think Hofer will be the starting goalie as soon as next season. We could get into the situation again where the higher paid goalie is the back-up. I'm curious how Binnington would react to that, but Jake Allen set such a good precedent with his team-first attitude, its hard to imagine Jordan would pout. He seemed to deal with Husso's stretch as the starter pretty well. However, I think in Hofer's case, he may simply take over and never give it up.

 

[542365]

I sat and stared at this poll for a good long while before finally settling on Neighbours. Blueston basically said what I was coming to type. I'll add that he's still very young and already has half an NHL season under his belt. Only two guys drafted after him have played more NHL games than him, JJ Peterka, who looks like a great pick and had the opportunity with a young/bad Buffalo team, and Nils Aman who is damn near 2 full years older than Jake. His floor is relatively high and I think he has the ceiling of a solid second line crash and bang type winger.

 

[Xerloris]

I think Hofer will be the starting goalie as soon as next season. We could get into the situation again where the higher paid goalie is the back-up. I'm curious how Binnington would react to that, but Jake Allen set such a good precedent with his team-first attitude, its hard to imagine Jordan would pout. He seemed to deal with Husso's stretch as the starter pretty well. However, I think in Hofer's case, he may simply take over and never give it up.

I think Binnington is the type that will root for his team mate. Just like Allen did for him. I also think if Hofer starts say 30 games and we keep Binny fresh, we will see less anger issues from Binny.

 

[britishblue]

A very tough choice.

Bolduc, Neighbours, Dean, Hofer could all go here.

Lindstein and Stenberg fall in this bucket too but its hard to rank them currently.

I've gone Bolduc purely on ceiling, but I would absolutely not be surprised if that choice ages badly.

I know we cant really call him a prospect anymore as he is almost 25 (although he has only played 58 pro games) but I would be interested to know where people would put Perunovich in these lists?

 

[Reality Czech]

Between Bolduc, Hofer, Dean and Stenberg for me. All 4 have the potential to be very good.

Hofer’s the closet to the NHL, Dean is a safe bet with a high floor and high compete level, Bolduc has the highest offensive potential and Stenberg is a blend of Bolduc and Dean but farther away.

I’ll also point out Neighbours’ name has a U in it.

You really don't like Neighbours eh? I'd say he's the closest to the NHL, considering that he's already established himself as an NHL player. I keep saying it but Jake is gonna impress this year. All the other guys have question marks to me.

 

[LetsGoBooze]

Apparently im Captaining the Stenberg train.
I'm the only vote thus far. The more video of this kid i watch the more i love him. He makes everyone on his line better and has an under-rated shot. Got a feeling this kid becomes a monster.

 

[Blanick]

At this point I went Neighbours. Why? Because he has progressed every year since his draft year and he has already shown flashes at the NHL level at a fairly young age. All the others in this tier could end up more talented but we are wading into territory of little more uncertainty beyond the Dvorsky and Snuggeruds. It came down to Bolduc, Hofer and Neighbours here and I aired on the side of the player that has already been to the dance.

My ideal next six would be.

Neighbours
Hofer
Bolduc
Dean
Stenberg
Lindstein

After that it gets much more difficult.

 

[Reality Czech]

At this point I went Neighbours. Why? Because he has progressed every year since his draft year and he has already shown flashes at the NHL level at a fairly young age. All the others in this tier could end up more talented but we are wading into territory of little more uncertainty beyond the Dvorsky and Snuggeruds. It came down to Bolduc, Hofer and Neighbours here and I aired on the side of the player that has already been to the dance.

My ideal next six would be.

Neighbours
Hofer
Bolduc
Dean
Stenberg
Lindstein

After that it gets much more difficult.

My thoughts exactly. If Neighbours had been healthy for all of last season, he wouldn't even be considered a prospect anymore. While he may not have the ceiling some other guys have, it's pretty safe to say he's a legit NHL player with plenty of room to grow. Neighbours and Hofer are my 3/4 as well, whereas it's really hard to predict right now what kind of a career the next 4 guys will have.

But I guess it all comes down to what criteria people are using in these polls. I'm going on what we know about the players now, as opposed to what we hope they become. Obviously if we were ranking these guys based on their ceiling then it would come out a lot different, but my main criteria is how likely are they to have an impactful NHL career.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

Kind of hard to overlook an ahl all star goalie who will be given the reins to be your backup next year. I think he will definitely be a prospect and part of the future.

 

[ScratchCatFever]

You really don't like Neighbours eh? I'd say he's the closest to the NHL, considering that he's already established himself as an NHL player. I keep saying it but Jake is gonna impress this year. All the other guys have question marks to me.

Wouldn't at all be shocked to see Neighbours put up a 30 point season if he stays healthy. You could see the confidence in his game evolving with each game down the stretch at the end of last season.

 

[542365]

One thing is apparent in these polls, the Blues have improved the depth and quality of their pool tremendously over the last calendar year. Granted it took a miserable season to accomplish it, but it’s at least encouraging that we have three guys receiving double digit votes at number three and three more guys who were recent first round picks. I have faith that this thing will get turned around reasonably quick.