St. Louis Blues: Top 8 prospects worth getting excited about
After being one of the better teams in the Western Conference for quite some time, the St. Louis Blues were finally rewarded in 2019 with their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.
Unfortunately for them, the St. Louis Blues weren’t able to repeat, or even come close for that matter, as they were eliminated by the Vancouver Canucks in the opening round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
This offseason has seen some big changes to their organization going forward, as they elected to sign Free Agent defenseman Torey Krug to a seven-year, $45.5 million contract. This signing indicated the ending of team Captain Alex Pietrangelo’s tenure with the team and, just shortly after Krug’s deal was announced, he agreed to a seven-year deal of his own with the Vegas Golden Knights.
Despite losing Pietrangelo, the Blues still possess one of the deeper rosters throughout the NHL, and will likely find themselves near the top of the Western Conference yet again for the upcoming season.
Just a few seasons ago, they had one of the better prospect pools in the league. However, many of those players, including Vince Dunn and Robert Thomas, are now at the NHL level and both played a huge role in the Blues winning the 2019 Stanley Cup. As a result, this list of prospects isn’t nearly as deep as it once was, although they do still have a few gems.
As mentioned in every other Top 8 Prospects article throughout this series, any player who has played in more NHL games than any other league in a season, regardless of the season, will not be included. That is why a player like Jordan Kyrou will not be found on this list. With that being said, here are the St. Louis Blues top 8 prospects worth getting excited about…
8. Mathias Laferriere
Just able to make the cut for this list was the Blues Sixth Round (No. 169 overall) pick of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Mathias Laferriere. The 20-year-old has recently begun his fifth season in the QMJHL, and currently has seven points in six games. Like many, Laferriere was in an odd position heading into the 2020-21 season as he likely would have turned pro if the AHL season had started on time, but the Pandemic prevented that from happening.
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Still, one more year of junior hockey isn’t the worst for Laferriere, who is hoping to continue to improve his offensive totals. Last season saw him put up 20 goals and 48 points in 40 games for the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, while the season prior to that he was able to put up his best junior hockey totals with 28 goals and 74 points in 68 games, good enough for second in team scoring. He will need to improve upon those totals to remain on this list a year from now.
7. Nikita Alexandrov
The next player on this list, Nikita Alexandrov, also happened to play his junior hockey in the QMJHL. The 20-year-old forward, who was taken in the Second Round (No. 62 overall) of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, has spent the last three seasons playing for the Charlottetown Islanders. The 2019-20 season was the best statistical season of his junior hockey career, as he put up 23 goals and 54 points in 42 games, which led his team in scoring.
Alexandrov was also able to showcase his skills on the international stage last season, as he represented Team Russia at the 2020 World Juniors. He had a fantastic tournament, racking up eight points in seven games, which tied him for 11th amongst all teams in scoring. Unlike Mathias Laferriere, Alexandrov is not playing the 2020-21 season in the QMJHL and is instead stuck waiting for the AHL season to begin. Once it does, he will be an interesting player to keep an eye on as it remains to be seen whether or not his offensive game will translate to the pros.
6. Tyler Tucker
With their Seventh Round pick (No. 200 overall) at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, the Blues were able to grab what is now looking like a potential steal in defenseman Tyler Tucker. At the time of being drafted, the now 20-year-old was coming off a fairly underwhelming season with the Barrie Colts of the OHL in which he posted just three goals and 23 points in 59 games. Still, the Blues clearly saw potential and made a great pick.
Just one season later, Tucker broke out in a big way with the Colts, posting 14 goals and 59 points in 68 games, trailing only Ryan Suzuki for the team lead in scoring. The 2019-20 season was more of the same, as he put up a combined 17 goals and 56 points in 55 games split between the Colts as well as the Flint Firebirds, who he was traded to earlier in the season. He too is now waiting for a 2020-21 AHL season to begin.
5. Hugh McGing
The first of two college prospects the St. Louis Blues have on this list is forward Hugh McGing. The 22-year-old, who has spent the last four seasons playing for Western Michigan University, was taken in the Fifth Round (No. 138 overall) of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. This past season was the best of his college career, as he racked up 13 goals and 35 points in 35 games. His point total led his team by a fairly wide margin, as Dawson Dipietro came in second with 29.
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While it was a solid season for McGing, it was somewhat disappointing at the same time given that he never really progressed over his last three seasons with Western Michigan, as he posted seasons of 30, 30, and 35 points. How he performs in the AHL this upcoming season will go a long way in determining his ranking on this list a year from now. Still, his point per game totals at the collegiate level is exciting for the Blues organization.
4. Klim Kostin
Klim Kostin has had a much different career path to the NHL than most other players given that he only turned 21 earlier this year, yet has spent the last three seasons playing in the AHL. The Russian forward was selected in the First Round (No. 31 overall) of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. Due to playing in the AHL at such a young age, it is hard to determine just how good Kostin is, as his numbers during his three seasons with the San Antonio Rampage look fairly underwhelming.
What makes Kostin more exciting is his World Junior stats at both the 2018 and 2019 tournaments where he was competing against players his own age. At the 2018 tournament, he was able to post a very impressive five goals and eight points in five games, while in 2019 he had three goals and six points in seven contests.
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This past season in the AHL was his best to date, as he had 13 goals and 30 points in 48 games, which was good enough to earn his first ever NHL call up. Kostin has begun the 2020-21 season playing in the KHL with Omsk Avangard and has just two assists in 15 games, which yet again makes it very hard to get a read on him. Hopefully by this time next year we will have more of an idea on what type of player he is going to be.
3. Joel Hofer
The first and only goaltender on this list is Winnipeg native Joel Hoffer. The 20-year-old has spent the last three seasons in the WHL, split between the Swift Current Broncos and the Portland Winterhawks. Since being drafted in the Fourth Round (No. 107 overall) of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Hofer improved tremendously. This past season was the best of his WHL career, as he posted a 2.49 goals against average (GAA) along with a .915 save percentage (SV%) and a ridiculous 34-8-5 record.
On top of that great season, he also played a huge part in Team Canada winning gold at the 2020 World Juniors. In six games at the tournament, Hofer posted a 1.30 GAA and a .946 SV%, never once appearing to be shook on the big stage. The hope is that he is able to adjust well at the AHL level this season and get a good amount of starts. While Joel Hofer is still at least a few years away from making an impact at the NHL level, he looks very promising so far.
2. Jake Neighbours
The newest Blues prospect on this list is the 18-year-old Jake Neighbours, who was taken with the 26th overall pick at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. The Airdrie Alberta native has spent the past two seasons playing in the WHL with the Edmonton Oil Kings, and is coming off of a 23 goal, 70-point season. This marked a huge improvement from his rookie season in which he had 11 goals and 24 points.
Like many others on this list, Neighbours hasn’t started his 2020-21 season, however he will be back playing soon as the WHL is set to begin in early January. He will look to continue to build off of last season’s totals on what should again be a very good Oil Kings team. Assuming he is able to pick up where he left off last season, Jake Neighbours will remain near the top of this list at this time next year.
1. Scott Perunovich
Not only is Scott Perunovich the top St. Louis Blues prospect, he is one of the better prospects throughout the entire NHL. The 22-year-old defenseman had a terrific season for the University of Minnesota Duluth, posting six goals and 40 points in 34 games. As a result, he was the winner of the Hobey Baker Award.
Since playing his first season for Minnesota Duluth back in 2017-18, Perunovich has put everyone on notice of just how talented he is, with a combined 105 points in 115 games.
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As it turns out, the 2019-20 season will be Perunovich’s last as a collegiate athlete, as he has signed a contract with the Blues and will play the 2020-21 season as a pro.
Given that the Blues have a fantastic blueline, he will likely be given some time at the AHL level to fine tune his game, but he certainly appears to be close to becoming a regular NHLer at this point.
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And, while the prospect pool isn’t as deep as it once was, there is no doubt that Scott Perunovich is the pick of the bunch for the St. Louis Blues right now.