St. Louis Blues Draft Prospects: Logan Stanley

As proof that this time of year is a lot of throw “stuff” at the wall and see what sticks, one of the latest mock drafts has the St. Louis Blues taking Logan Stanley. Let’s look at where the defenseman would fit.

The latest mock draft by Kyle Woodlief for USAToday had the Blues taking a defender. Logan Stanley is a defenseman playing for the Windsor Spitfires. He’s also along that borderline of being a first round pick or possibly a second rounder.

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The kid has amazing size. At 18 years of age, he’s already 6’7. It is conceivable that he’s got more growing to do. Teams interested in the huge defender are probably hoping he grows sideways rather than up.

Although Stanley has tremendous height, he’s only weighing in at around 220 lbs. Now that’s a lot of poundage for your average person, but when you stretch it up that high, it ends up pretty thin.

Just for comparison, Zdeno Chara is 6’8, weighs 256 lbs and still looks a bit thin due to his height. Chara has good strength though.

Stanley has already learned how to use his size to his advantage and in ways that make him even more appealing. According to his eliteprospects profile he’s “become a nasty player the other team dreads when he’s on the ice.”

Stanley is a smart player as well. He knows he’s got the physical attributes and will always be able to hang his hat on physicality and simply being able to leverage players off the puck. However, he knows how today’s game is being played.

He’s worked consistently on his offensive skills. SportsNet said he’s looking to go down the path of the Blues’ own, Colton Parayko and using his style as a template rather than some of the other large defenders who relied more on their defending and have had muddled careers to this point.

The problem with Stanley is going to be footwork. As with any 18 year old, let alone one who is 6’7, they haven’t become totally acclimated with their bodies. When you’re at an age where your body is still changing, without even putting any stresses i.e. training and weight lifting, then you’re bound to be a step off.

Stanley is going to have to gain a little speed and get his footwork on point. He’s also going to have to work on production.

While being a good puck mover is enough to get you drafted, especially with size that NHL GM’s dream about, he’s got to finish. His best offensive season was two years ago in midget hockey when he had 28 points in 28 games. This past season with Windsor, he had 17 points in 64 games.

If you compare that with Parayko, the player he seems to need to model his game after, then it doesn’t quite measure up. Parayko scored 43 points in 53 games in his final season of junior hockey and then 66 points in 104 collegiate games. Parayko also had seven points in 17 games in the AHL.

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The odd thing about Stanley is going to be who wants him. One mock draft has him going as high as the tenth pick to the Colorado Avalanche. Others have him going late in the first round. So, given the odd nature of drafts, with players sliding and teams trading, there could even be a slim chance he slides out of the first round.

One way or the other, he’s going to be a bit of a project. As mentioned, he is only 18.

Parayko came into the league at 23 and even then, it was a surprise until his talent gave the team no choice but to keep him. Even if Stanley got fast tracked, that would still be two or three years either in the juniors, college or the minors.

In his defense though, it takes big guys a little longer to get acclimated (Parayko not withstanding). Chara only put up 28 points in his first three NHL seasons and then progressively got better as he figured out his place and his own style.

That’s not to say Stanley is going to be the next Chara. It’s just hard not to make the comparison when there is only an inch or two in the difference.

Stanley presents an interesting challenge for the Blues if they wanted to take him. On the one hand, they could potentially need defensive help sooner, rather than later. Kevin Shattenkirk is likely out the door via a trade and Jay Bouwmeester isn’t getting any younger. However, Stanley might not be NHL ready in that kind of time span.

Flip that coin around though and the Blues already have some defensive depth. Petteri Lindbohm is waiting patiently in the AHL. Jordan Schmaltz, Tommy Vannelli and Jani Hakanpaa are also touted prospects. So, the Blues could afford to wait a bit if they are that excited by the idea of pairing a 6’7 defender with 6’5 Parayko sometime down the line.

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For my own opinion, I think the Blues are in a position that if they stay lower in the draft then you simply take the best available player on the board. However, the Blues seem to need more help at center both now and in the future, so would drafting another defenseman really make sense?

If Stanley is the best available player when the Blues pick comes around, then so be it. However, with his name popping up at such varied spots in mock drafts, it is hard to get a handle on where Stanley’s actual value is. He’s got the body, but sometimes it’s a roll of the dice as to whether that translates into having the game at the pro level.

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