Blues Draft Day(s) Review 2017-08-14 Well others went re-entry crazy, St. Louis appears to be the patient ones selecting 4 first year entry players and 4 re-entires in this year’s draft. It would also appear that St. Louis is making sure they find a goalie of the future since it has let them down the last few seasons, drafting two Summer Showcase goalies. Let’s have a quick rundown of the St. Louis Blues draft pick by pick. 1st round pick 29 – Jake Oettinger (G) – can’t complain about getting this year top goalie prospect at the end of round one. Did not think there was a hope in heck he would slip down to me at 29 so I was debating if I should take Dipietro that high or go with Robertson. Well Robertson fell off the board at 28 and I did not even have to think, Oettinger was my man and I ran up to the podium to scream his name out! 2nd Round pick 37 - Aleksi Heponiemi (F) – An undersized Finn who could possibly be the best passer in this year’s draft. I knew I needed to stock up on my forward crop quite badly. His size scared me quite and bit, tossed between him and Norris until the clock winded down. Do I love this pick….err no, do I like the upside I see in Heponiemi yes absolutely. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH1LMSbSEE8 3rd Round pick 69 – Patrick Harper (F) – First of the Blues 4 re-entries. Another undersized player full of potential and skill. He really impressed me during the Summer Showcase and with his performance there was fully expecting him to go mid to late 2nd round. Very pleased he fell to me, and once again I ran right up to the podium. PPG guy in his Freshman year at Boston College, had a somewhat disappoint WJC as an 18 year old but expect him to help lead the US this year in a gold medal charge on home soil. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5GUWXrsaSU 4th Round pick 105 – David Farrance (D) – I told myself I was going to lay off the defence but seeing Farrance around still in the 4th round made me trade my 4th round pick in 2018 to Florida for pick# 105. After seeing him at the U18 and Summer Showcase I just had to have him. Solid two way guy that is a very underrated puck mover. Could contend for 6th or 7th D man for US and WJC this year. Once again a tad undersized (thicker frame though) which seems to be a common theme on draft day. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeProK5DLNU 5th Round Pick 139 - Dmitri Samorukov (D) – well so much for not going back to the same old tool shed I suppose. Clearly I like to work from the back end up. There is nothing flashy about his game. Plays a defence first style. But what impressed me the most was how far he came during his first N/American season. He was hesitant with the puck early on but come the end of the season his puck skills had evolved two fold. He also showed off his newly acquired puck skills in the U18 where he was Russia’s top D man, will probably get brought to Russia’s WJC camp but a long shot to make it this year. Very raw potential with lots of room to improve here. Finally a little bit of size added in the draft as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS34X6hZ_ZQ 5th Round pick 141 – Dylan Wells (G) – back to the tendy well once again. Has back stopped a few mediocre teams in Peterborough over the last few seasons, so his numbers do not reflect how good his game actually is. Very agile goalie that reads the play extremely well. Plus he is a legit sniper! Was probably the best Canadian goalie at the showcase behind Carter Hart who is already Blues property. Ecstatic he fell in to my lap in the 5th round. Next draft or two should/maybe be goalie free. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvmA2ZOiv68 7th Round pick 202 – Brandon Hagel (F) - I had Hagel pegged as my seventh round pick from day one. With the the O/A’s going I was starting to think it may not happen and I would have to go another route. Traded away 1 seventh rounder to Philly for their 5th in 2018. Smallish frame once again, but man can he score. The latest proof was his 7 goals in 7 games in Red Deer’s last playoff exit. He also is not afraid to get dirty and stir the pot. Will he be the next Brad Marchand or Antoine Roussel? Going to have to beaf up and get stronger to produce at the next level but for a 7th rounder it is worth the risk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONl4A7CI44U 7th Round pick 207 – Devante Stephens (D) – Why not another D man right? Clearly not a highly touted prospect coming out of the junior ranks, Devante Stephens made a huge leap last year in his overall game it was hard to ignore. Especially coming out of the Defenceman factory known as Kelowna. They also might have got a little tip from a Dman they already had the rights to. He most certainly went overshadowed with the names of Johansen and Foote in the Kelowna lineup, but Stephens was their steady Eddie! All in all I am quite please with how this draft turned out for me. Wish I could have picked up more scoring, but lots of GM’s did some solid research and scouting before draft day so many of my plans were foiled, but pleased with what came out of what we could say was a draft lacking top end talent. I did not want to go this D or G heavy but that is what was in the cards.
