I’d prefer a forward. I’m really intrigued by Marat Khusnutdinov but I definitely won’t be upset if they choose a defenseman such as O’Rourke.

For the first time in a long time I have zero idea about any of the upcoming draftees. So uhhh draft a hockey player?

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Tue Oct 06, 2020 11:00 am

BillP. wrote: Tue Oct 06, 2020 10:47 am

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Tue Oct 06, 2020 10:44 am Personally, my hope after looking over mocks and draft rankings is for Kaiden Guhle - 6'3 LHD - WHL.

Seems like a good skating physical d-man. I've seen him mocked/ranked anywhere from the teens to 20's so he may have to fall a bit but players always do.

Yeah, I wanted a forward in the first rd but it sounds like there's more choices at D. ............as long as he's damn good, what's the difference. Let's just hope they pick a guy that's got top pair potential.

Agreed. And you can't really draft for "need" but the Blues don't seem to have another Joel Edmundson type on the roster or in the system to my knowledge. Physical d-men is definitely an area of need for them.

Mikkola? The thing that caught me about the JR primer was that the Blues only took 1 first round D under Bill Armstrong (Schmaltz). Maybe they have the notion that in general, you can develop servicable D in the later rounds. Having said that, with no 2nd round pick at the moment, you've really just got to go best player regardless of position.

The big wildcard in the first round is Russian Goalie Yaroslav Askarov. Disclaimer as always: draft goalies in the first round at your own peril. However given his size, skill and producing at the pro level already, he will surely be the first goalie off the board, and some have even linked him to Detroit at #4 overall. That's probably a bit high, but you never know. Nobody's gone in the top 10 since Price in 2005, but hey, Carter Hart developed quickly, which might quell some fears about goalies drafted high just being a gift for the GM that replaces the GM who drafted him (possibly a bad example if you ask Ron Hextall). The "Russian Factor" doesn't seem to be an issue given that 2 Russian goalies just faced off in the Cup Final, and he's already played pro/seems to be intent on coming to North America.

Supposedly there's no way he slips past Carolina at 13, but he might not get that far. Would Nashville or Minnesota take him at 11 or 9? Should be fun. Perhaps once he's off the board, we see some movement in the goalie market in terms of trade bait (Fleury/Murray etc).

A couple other storylines we haven't touched on yet that they're sure to talk about tonight in terms of prospects:
-Who is the first D drafted. Almost surely going to be either American Jake Sanderson and Canadian Jamie Drysdale. Both are from the modern puck moving mold that can skate like the wind, with really good hockey sense.
-This year's high scoring little guy: Marco Rossi. He's listed at 5'9, and is a good not great skater, but he did just lead the OHL in scoring. Last year's version of this mold was Cole Caufield, who slipped to 15. Rossi will probably go sooner than that, but we'll see.

All right, mother fuckers.....let’s have a great draft! We are going to get Alex Lafreniereierierier at #26. Ok, not the #1 ranked guy.....the other guy with the similar name. But think of the marketing possibilities!

Yes, I’m drunk. Peach Crown Royal......delightful if you haven’t tried it!

Almost game time! I'm pumped. It doesn't seem often the Blues have a first rounder.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Tue Oct 06, 2020 5:30 pm Almost game time! I'm pumped. It doesn't seem often the Blues have a first rounder.

Bill Armstrong almost never had a first rounder to work with. So now we have one......and he leaves to go to Arizona, and THEY don’t have one!

Im so glad the Rangers got the number 1 pick. I miss them being good and competitive at hockey.

Going to miss the "this gm just got up from his table and went over to this gm" tweets

1st perfect was easy. NOW it gets interesting. Does LA go speed(Stutzle) or size(Byfield)?

Of course the Kings go size.

Good for Ottawa

I learned from that pick that Cory Stillman is coaching at Sudbury.

I still remember when the Blues got him for Craig Conroy. I thought we ripped them off. Boy was I wrong

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Tue Oct 06, 2020 6:31 pm I learned from that pick that Cory Stillman is coaching at Sudbury.

I still remember when the Blues got him for Craig Conroy. I thought we ripped them off. Boy was I wrong

Stillman had a decent career himself just not so much here. The big thing that hurt us IMO was that we depleted our center depth that time period shipping out Handzus and Conroy. Turgeon had no backup at C after that and Weight never had a good C behind him (Pavol was FAR better on RW). Going up against the likes of Modano/Niewendyk/Arnott Fedorov/Yzerman/Larionov Sakic/Forsberg/Yelle/Drury with what we had at C after losing Conroy and Handzus was a tough road.

I'd be damn stoked if I was a Sens fan at the two players they just came away with. Wow

Color me absolutely shocked the Devils went Holtz over Perfetti. They need a winger and passed on the best one available for a guy ranked in the mid teens by most. Weird.

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Tue Oct 06, 2020 7:05 pm Color me absolutely shocked the Devils went Holtz over Perfetti. They need a winger and passed on the best one available for a guy ranked in the mid teens by most. Weird.

That’s why they’re the Devils. Odd decision

Gary Bettmen's right hand moves every time his mouth does and its starting to bug me

Jack Quinn is such a great hockey name. If you want your kid to grow up to be an NHLer, name him Jack Quinn

The two guys falling so far...Perfetti and Rossi are 5'10 and 5'8. Every single forward drafted through 8 picks has been over 6 feet tall. Looks like teams are back to being scared off by lack of size.

Well there ya go. Power Forward Bill Guerin selects the smallest player likely to be drafted in the first round.

I'm scared off by Bill Guerins eyes,he looks psychopathic. Wtf

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Tue Oct 06, 2020 7:08 pm Gary Bettmen's right hand moves every time his mouth does and its starting to bug me

I noticed that, I wonder if its a nervous tic or beginning stages of something worse.

BlueinNy wrote: Tue Oct 06, 2020 7:18 pm

Dread_Pirate_Westley wrote: Tue Oct 06, 2020 7:08 pm Gary Bettmen's right hand moves every time his mouth does and its starting to bug me

I noticed that, I wonder if its a nervous tic or beginning stages of something worse.

That is the 5G signal from Bill Gates making him twitch.

Perfetti or D for WPG...or a trade? They need D badly.