Earlier today, the St. Louis Blues signed Justin Selman out the University of Michigan to an Entry Level Contract. What do we know about Selman, and how does he help the Blues?
With the news of the Justin Selman signing, it is time to see what the St. Louis Blues have here in this new prospect. Aside from the draft, signing college free agents is the easiest way to add to your prospect pool. This is an area the St. Louis Blues have not really taken advantage of recently, but there have been a few diamonds found in the rough here in the past few years.
Selman may indeed become that for the Blues as he progresses through his professional career. Selman in his last two seasons with the Wolverines has been a pretty productive player, notching 54 points (24 goals, 30 assists) in 64 games as a junior and senior for Michigan. During this time, Selman has also posted a +30 on the ice, showing that Selman plays a good two-way game.
Today’s Slapshot mentions that Selman has the size and experience at the college level to transition well to the pro game and that he could become a viable option in Chicago as the make a push for the playoffs.
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Selman getting in some games with the Wolves now and in the playoffs will be interesting as the forward has never played more than 50 games since his USHL days that date back about five years ago.
At this point, Selman is going to have to really impress at the AHL level to have much of a shot at making the NHL team anytime soon. However, he does offer the team depth and options, as the team moves toward potentially losing David Backes in the offseason.
Standing in at 6’0″198 lbs, he’s not as big as Ivan Barbashev, but he is said to be a player who plays that big power forward type of game much like David Backes does.
Selman’s deal with the Blues doesn’t technically start until the start of next season, but he is still eligible to play in Chicago, and these few remaining games should give the Blues an idea of what they have in the young prospect.
Next: Examining the Potential Re-Signing of David Backes
It will particularly be interesting to see how he plays in the AHL playoffs, as he will be playing against the best AHL teams, and playing against bigger and more experienced guys than he has played against in college.