First Round Position: 17th overallBest Picks of last 3 Years:
Patrick Berglund (C) – 1st round 2006
David Perron (C) – 1st round 2007
Erik Johnson (D) – 1st round 2006
Alex Pietrangelo (D) – 1st round 2008
Brett Sonne (C) – 3rd round 2007
Coming Down the Pipe – After spending a few years outside of the playoffs the Blues have been able to make the most of their draft picks thanks to excellent scouting and draft day choices, especially in the first round where they just haven’t made a mistake in the last four years. St. Louis has found players that have been able to step in right away and contribute like David Perron and Erik Johnson but they’ve also loaded their cupboard with top quality collegians or Europeans who they wait patiently to develop. Still not in the NHL but soon to be are Lars Eller, Ian Cole, Brett Sonne, Aaron Palushaj and Ben Bishop. St. Louis just might be the deepest organization in the entire NHL.
Draft Trends – The Blues haven’t really shown a preference for league, country, position or anything else. In 2005, 4 of their 7 picks came out of the WHL and then the next year they went heavy with Europeans. One could argue that their 'Drafting Trend' in recent years is that they just rarely miss.
Millard: Peter Holland - In my opinion he’s the safe pick in this year’s draft. He does a lot of good things, but none are great. A team with lots of skill up front can use a dependable forward.Flaming: Chris Kreider – Perhaps a bit of a reach but with arguably the best prospect depth of all 30 NHL teams, the Blues have the luxury of being able to wait for a high school kid to go through the NCAA route and Kreider (pictured) is the best of that group available this year.
1 comment:
I don't see why the Blues would go after a safe pick in Holland if they are the deepest team as far as draft picks.
I think Kreider is the guy they get if he is still there. I wonder what the chances of that are though.
Post a Comment