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As anyone knows if you've been reading "Tomorrow's Blues" for any length of time, the time leading up to the annual NHL Entry Draft is your "Game Time" Prospect Department's favorite time of the year.
The Blues' recent deep run into the Stanley Cup playoffs has delayed our shifting of focus into full-time Draft Preview mode, but now that the boys have been shut down for the year, it's time for your GTPD to get serious about the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
As of today, the Blues will have seven selections in the draft, to be held the weekend of June 24-25 in Buffalo. Barring any trades, the Blues will draft at 28th overall in the first round, and following any compensatory picks being awarded, will pick near the end of the second round, the end of the third round (Washington's pick from the Oshie trade), the end of the fourth, the top of the fifth (Columbus' pick from the Jordan Leopold trade), and two of the last three picks in the draft at the end of the seventh round.
The Blues acquired Pittsburgh's seventh-round pick in this draft along with Robert Bortuzzo in the Ian Cole trade, and had sent their seventh-round pick to San Jose for Konrad Abeltshauser, with the condition that the Sharks would only get the pick if Abeltshauser played "x" number of games for the Blues. Thanks to a poor showing by Abeltshauser with the Chicago Wolves, that condition was not met and the Blues will retain their seventh-round pick.
We will kick off our coverage of the 2016 Entry Draft with our annual tradition of posting the "Game Time" Silver Seven, the seven prospects that our research and understanding of the Blues' developmental system tell us should be the most likely targets for the Blues' first pick in this draft.
Meet Me In St. Louis...
There are four potential first-round picks in this draft who have ties to St. Louis: two players born in the area (Swansea, IL native Clayton Keller of the USNTDP, and St. Louisan Luke Kunin of the University of Wisconsin), and two more who are sons of former Blues' greats and who played much of their minor hockey in St. Louis despite not being born here (Scottsdale, AZ native Matthew Tkachuk, and Jeff Brown's son Logan, born in Raleigh, NC).
Unless the Blues trade up into the first 15 picks, however, their chances of having one of these players fall to them at 28th overall are slim to none. So the 2016 "Silver Seven" will focus on players who we expect to be available at the tail end of the first round... with the caveat that if the Blues should manage to pull off a trade for a high pick, one of the four players mentioned should be the target.
Presenting... The 2016 "St. Louis Game Time" SILVER SEVEN
... | Vitali ABRAMOV | RANKINGS | |||||||||
Position | Left/Right Wing | CSS Preliminary | N America "B" | ||||||||
Shoots | Left | CSS Midterm | N America 56 | ||||||||
Height | 5' 08.75" | CSS Final | N America 29 | ||||||||
Weight | 172 lbs | ... | ... | ||||||||
Born | May 8, 1998 | Birthplace | Chelyabinsk, RUS | ||||||||
SEASON | CLUB | GP | GL | AS | PT | +- | PM | PP | SH | GW | |
2015-16 Regular | Gatineau (QMJHL) | 63 | 38 | 55 | 93 | + 36 | 36 | 11 | 0 | 6 | |
2016 Playoff | Gatineau (QMJHL) | 10 | 7 | 6 | 13 | + 7 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
2016 WJC | Russia U18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
SCOUTING NOTES | PLUS | MINUS | |||||||||
Skating; great speed, very shifty | Lack of size | ||||||||||
Skilled; high hockey IQ | "Russian Factor" | ||||||||||
Good compete level, intensity | |||||||||||
PHOTO: MHL.KHL.RU | |||||||||||
... | Henrik BORGSTRÖM | RANKINGS | |||||||||
Position | Center | CSS Preliminary | Europe "C" | ||||||||
Shoots | Left | CSS Midterm | Europe 11 | ||||||||
Height | 6' 03.00" | CSS Final | Europe 9 | ||||||||
Weight | 176 lbs | ... | ... | ||||||||
Born | Aug. 6, 1997 | Birthplace | Helsinki, FIN | ||||||||
SEASON | CLUB | GP | GL | AS | PT | +- | PM | PP | SH | GW | |
2015-16 Regular | HIFK Jr (FIN U20) | 40 | 29 | 26 | 55 | + 23 | 20 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |
2016 Playoff | HIFK Jr (FIN U20) | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 | - 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
2016 WJC | Finland U18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
SCOUTING NOTES | PLUS | MINUS | |||||||||
Puckhandling in traffic | Raw; needs work in several areas | ||||||||||
Highly accurate wrist shot | Needs to keep feet moving | ||||||||||
Above-average playmaking skills | Improvement needed in faceoff circle | ||||||||||
PHOTO: HIFKJRS.COM | |||||||||||
... | Brett HOWDEN | RANKINGS | |||||||||
Position | Center | CSS Preliminary | N America "B" | ||||||||
Shoots | Left | CSS Midterm | N America 27 | ||||||||
Height | 6' 02.25" | CSS Final | N America 22 | ||||||||
Weight | 193 lbs | ... | ... | ||||||||
Born | Mar. 29, 1998 | Birthplace | Oakbank, MB | ||||||||
SEASON | CLUB | GP | GL | AS | PT | +- | PM | PP | SH | GW | |
2015-16 Regular | Moose Jaw (WHL) | 68 | 24 | 40 | 64 | - 7 | 61 | 8 | 0 | 3 | |
2016 Playoff | Moose Jaw (WHL) | 10 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
2016 WJC | Canada U18 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 8 | + 2 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
SCOUTING NOTES | PLUS | MINUS | |||||||||
Size; has an NHL frame | Needs to fill out | ||||||||||
Solid 200-foot game | No single outstanding trait | ||||||||||
Excellent hockey sense | Improvement needed in speed, acceleration | ||||||||||
PHOTO: MJWARRIORS.COM | |||||||||||
... | Boris KATCHOUK | RANKINGS | |||||||||
Position | Left Wing | CSS Preliminary | N America N/R | ||||||||
Shoots | Left | CSS Midterm | N America 32 | ||||||||
Height | 6' 01.00" | CSS Final | N America 25 | ||||||||
Weight | 181 lbs | ... | ... | ||||||||
Born | June 18, 1998 | Birthplace | Vancouver, BC | ||||||||
SEASON | CLUB | GP | GL | AS | PT | +- | PM | PP | SH | GW | |
2015-16 Regular | Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) | 63 | 24 | 27 | 51 | + 7 | 61 | 6 | 1 | 6 | |
2016 Playoff | Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) | 12 | 6 | 4 | 10 | + 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
2016 WJC | Canada U18 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
SCOUTING NOTES | PLUS | MINUS | |||||||||
Physical play; strong on his skates | Speed needs improvement | ||||||||||
Good hands, playmaking skills | Needs to get stronger | ||||||||||
Forechecking ability | Improvement needed in defensive awareness | ||||||||||
PHOTO: SOOGREYHOUNDS.COM | |||||||||||
... | Taylor RADDYSH | RANKINGS | |||||||||
Position | Right Wing | CSS Preliminary | N America "B" | ||||||||
Shoots | Right | CSS Midterm | N America 34 | ||||||||
Height | 6' 01.75" | CSS Final | N America 36 | ||||||||
Weight | 203 lbs | ... | ... | ||||||||
Born | Feb. 18, 1998 | Birthplace | Toronto, ON | ||||||||
SEASON | CLUB | GP | GL | AS | PT | +- | PM | PP | SH | GW | |
2015-16 Regular | Erie (OHL) | 67 | 24 | 49 | 73 | + 19 | 18 | 11 | 0 | 5 | |
2016 Playoff | Erie (OHL) | 12 | 4 | 6 | 10 | + 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
2016 WJC | Canada U18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
SCOUTING NOTES | PLUS | MINUS | |||||||||
NHL size and strength | Good, but not elite skill level | ||||||||||
Excellent skater for a big man | Still somewhat raw and undeveloped | ||||||||||
Skilled in both ends of the ice | |||||||||||
PHOTO: OTTERSHOCKEY.COM | |||||||||||
... | German RUBTSOV | RANKINGS | |||||||||
Position | Center | CSS Preliminary | Europe "B" | ||||||||
Shoots | Left | CSS Midterm | Europe 6 | ||||||||
Height | 6' 02.00" | CSS Final | Europe 5 | ||||||||
Weight | 176 lbs | ... | ... | ||||||||
Born | June 27, 1998 | Birthplace | Chekhov, RUS | ||||||||
SEASON | CLUB | GP | GL | AS | PT | +- | PM | PP | SH | GW | |
2015-16 Regular | Team Russia U18 (MHL) | 28 | 12 | 14 | 26 | + 12 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 2 | |
2016 Playoff | Team Russia U18 (MHL) | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | - 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
2016 WJC | Russia U18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
SCOUTING NOTES | PLUS | MINUS | |||||||||
Hockey IQ; understanding of the game; vision | Held out of U18 WJC due to team doping scandal | ||||||||||
Hands; quick stick, puckhandling skills | "Russian Factor" | ||||||||||
Strong two-way, neutral zone game | Needs to develop faceoff skills | ||||||||||
PHOTO: MHL.KHL.RU | |||||||||||
... | Riley TUFTE | RANKINGS | |||||||||
Position | Left Wing | CSS Preliminary | N America "B" | ||||||||
Shoots | Left | CSS Midterm | N America 17 | ||||||||
Height | 6' 04.75" | CSS Final | N America 17 | ||||||||
Weight | 205 lbs | ... | ... | ||||||||
Born | Apr. 10, 1998 | Birthplace | Ham Lake, MN | ||||||||
SEASON | CLUB | GP | GL | AS | PT | +- | PM | PP | SH | GW | |
2015-16 Regular | Blaine HS (MN HS) | 25 | 47 | 31 | 78 | - 1 | 53 | 6 | 7 | 10 | |
2015-16 Regular | Fargo (USHL) | 27 | 10 | 4 | 14 | - 5 | 30 | 6 | 0 | 2 | |
2016 WJC | USA U18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
SCOUTING NOTES | PLUS | MINUS | |||||||||
Outstanding size and reach | Questions about competition level in HS hockey | ||||||||||
Skates well for a big man | Needs to develop playmaking vision | ||||||||||
Exscellent shot and puck protection skills | Needs to improve defensive game | ||||||||||
PHOTO: MNHOCKEYHUB.COM | |||||||||||