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St. Louis Blues Draft: Moves to Make to Shimmy Up the Draft Board

By Travis Grither

May 23, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues fans cheer in support after a goal scored by St. Louis Blues right wing Troy Brouwer (36) against the San Jose Sharks in the first period in game five of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. The Sharks won 6-3. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
May 23, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Blues fans cheer in support after a goal scored by St. Louis Blues right wing Troy Brouwer (36) against the San Jose Sharks in the first period in game five of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. The Sharks won 6-3. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /
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With the 2016 NHL Draft only days away, the St. Louis Blues may want to consider making a few moves to climb the draft board.

St. Louis Blues General Manager, Doug Armstrong, and the rest of the organization’s front office have quite the offseason ahead of them. The first obstacle they must face is producing a successful Blues draft.

The St. Louis Blues hold seven picks in the draft; a selection in each round, minus the sixth. However, they do own two seventh round picks. The Blues acquired one of the picks in the trade that sent Troy Brouwer to the Blues. They lost their sixth round selection to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Olli Jokinen.

The Blues own the 28th pick of the first round, not the ideal place to be in order to score top prospect talent. Bold offers must be made to attract the attention of teams holding selections atop the draft board.

Trading Kevin Shattenkirk

Possibly the hottest commodity the Blues possess: trading Kevin Shattenkirk. It is no secret that a Shattenkirk trade has been on the rumor mill. Shattenkirk is a premiere defenseman in the NHL. He could be an appealing trade for the Edmonton Oilers, who own the 4th pick of the draft. The Oilers are in need of a defenseman and may be willing to make the deal.

The Blues should consider shipping Shattenkirk and their first round pick, in exchange for the rights to the 4th pick. They maintain depth at defense, with emerging young stars, such as Colton Parayko, on the rise. This could put the Blues in the position to land a potential playmaker on offense. Maybe this is what it would take to land prized-prospect, Matthew Tkachuck (son of former Blues Hall of Famer, Keith Tkachuck).

However, the practicality of this taking place is uncertain.

Shattenkirk could still generate interest from other teams who maintain a top 10 draft pick. Let’s consider a selection at either 7 or 8.

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The seventh pick of the draft belongs to the Phoenix Coyotes. Phoenix is looking to add a top-tier defenseman. Unlike many other teams, the Coyotes possess a large amount of cap space, making a Shattenkirk deal more likely. Landing the seventh pick of the draft would put the Blues in the running for another high-profile scorer, such as local Clayton Keller.

The Buffalo Sabres pick at slot 8. They are also in the market for a top-tier defenseman to “quarterback” their defense. Shattenkirk fits that mold. He would most likely be paired with defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, creating a feared top line duo for the rest of the league.

However, Ristolainen is a restricted free agent and it will most likely take a significant amount of money to land a deal with him. This makes the Kevin Shattenkirk deal unlikely.  The Sabres also just traded for the rights of Jimmy Vesey, which also muddies those waters.

Other Possibilities

If a Shattenkirk deal became out of question, is there much the Blues can do to entice a trade? While other teams are in a rebuilding process, the Blues are in a “win now” mentality. If there’s a prospect the Blues believe can add to that mentality immediately, then is a 2017 first rounder worth it? The idea may not be a popular, conservative approach, but eliminating next year’s pick could be enough to land a top 5 prospect this year.

Next: Blues Prospect: Tage Thompson

A deal consisting of this year’s first and second round selection, combined with a 2017 first round pick, may be the only other option outside of a Shattenkirk trade. The deal may be enough to bring Tkachuck to St. Louis. As noted earlier, Tkachuck is a playmaking scorer, who grew up playing in the Blues AAA program. While he does not boast compelling size, his game resembles that of quicker, shifty skaters, such as Jaden Schwartz and Robbi Fabbri.

Tkachuck is a very safe pick and one that may provide an immediate impact for the Blues. A drastic deal will need to be made for this to happen, but it could end up being the right decision in the end.

The 2016 NHL Draft will take place June 24th-25th. 

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