The 2003 NHL Entry Draft was extremely deep. Deeper than many would know until now. With that in mind, let’s redraft it for the St. Louis Blues.
Some people might ask why pick the 2003 NHL Draft to change for the St. Louis Blues. Well, there are a couple reasons. First and foremost, it was one of the deeper drafts in recent times. Even the final round of the draft ended up having two All-Stars and at least four NHL players.
Also, I attended that draft in Nashville, Tennessee. While my friend and I went into the draft with no prep and were bored out of our minds halfway through the first round, it was still an experience and fun to look back on considering the amount of names that came through it.
So, why not repick it (focusing on the St. Louis Blues of course)?
For the sake of my sanity, we’ll keep the trades made the same. Most of them were wise in the grand scheme of things and I also don’t know specifically where the Blues might’ve picked otherwise. Also, the Blues were only allowed to choose from the players available between their picks.
Pick 30
The St. Louis Blues had the 30th pick of the 2003 NHL Draft. The pick had belonged to the New Jersey Devils. The Blues ended up picking defenseman Shawn Belle.
Belle only played 20 NHL games between Minnesota, Edmonton and Colorado. He spent most of his pro career in the AHL and then the final two years in Germany.
Instead, even picking at 30, the Blues could have had Patrice Bergeron, Shea Weber, Loui Eriksson (who they could end up acquiring via trade) or Corey Crawford.
All of those names are very appealing, but Bergeron might make the most sense. It’s very hard to pass up on the idea of a top pairing of Weber and Alex Pietrangelo, but the Blues have not had a true top-line center in a long time.
Bergeron has averaged 55 points the last seven years and that includes the lockout season. He’s score 85 goals just in the last three seasons. That kind of production make it easier to pass on a defender, even as talented as Weber.
Pick 62
While it is tempting to pick Jimmy Howard, the way the rest of the draft passes then it makes it easier. So, we’ll stick with the Blues actual pick of David Backes.
Backes may end up leaving this summer, but it’s hard to argue with the things he’s accomplished in a decade with the team. He didn’t quite live up to what some may have hoped he would become, but he was a solid power forward and gave it all for the team.
He’s been worthy of being team captain and put up enough points to more than justify spending a second round pick on him.
Pick 88
This one is going to come off a bit strange, but given the names that were immediately available near this pick, the best choice was Jan Hejda.
Hejda ended up being a solid defenseman in the NHL. He just spent the bulk of his formative years with Moscow in the KHL. He didn’t come over to the NHL until he was 28. That would be a drawback, but he was still a good defensive defenseman.
At 6’4 and 236 lbs, he kept his penalty minutes down with 61 being his career high and never coming within 15 minutes of that again. He also averaged 144 hits and 132 blocks per season in his NHL career too.
If nothing else, Hejda was at least a good NHL player. The Blues took Zack Fitzgerald, who played a grand total of one NHL game with the Vancouver Canucks.
Pick 101
The Blues selected Konstantin Zakharov with this pick that they acquired from the Devils. The Blues also got Mike Danton and gave up the 93rd pick. Zakharov never got out of the minor leagues and eventually returned to Belarus and then the KHL.
Instead, the Blues could have had Paul Bissonnette. People are probably scratching their heads as to why. Basically, playing by the rules I set up for this, he was the only one that made sense right around this pick.
Bissonnette never played more than 48 NHL games and never scored more than eight points in one season. Even so, he at least played in the league and could have been a decent fourth line player for the Blues.
Interesting side note: Bissonnette had a tryout with the Blues in 2014 and played in come preseason games. Clearly, he did not make the squad.
Pick 127
This pick was used to take Alexandre Bolduc. The Blues seemed to have good luck with stocking up Russian clubs in this draft.
Bolduc played a grand total of 65 NHL games and scored two goals. He spent time with Vancouver and Arizona before going to Russia this past season, where he still only played in 35 games.
The Blues could have taken Kyle Quincey with this pick. Again, he would have ended up as a fourth line player or maybe a third liner at best.
Still, he would have been a good defensive presence. Quincey chews up ice time and keeps his penalty minutes relatively low. His drawbacks have been being injury prone and a lack of production outside his first real season with the Kings. Still, it’s better than two goals.
Pick 148
Moving into the fifth round, the Blues had two picks. Starting with the 148th pick, the Blues can stick with Lee Stempniak since there wasn’t anything better right around there.
Stempniak had 57 goals in 233 games with the Blues. Not great production on average, but nothing to be completely sneezed at either. Additionally, compared with some of the pieces the Blues had above and below with this redrafting, he would have been a third line player most likely and his production would have fit a bit more.
The Blues did have to give up fan-favorite, Tyson Nash, for the pick but in the end it was probably the right move.
Pick 159
The Blues spent their own pick on a goaltender in the fifth round. Chris Beckford-Tseu played in relief for one game with the Blues. He spent the rest of his career with the minor league teams.
Instead, the Blues could have picked up Brad Richardson. Richardson never provided a ton of scoring, but would have given the Blues depth at center, which is a position they have struggled to fill top to bottom for years.
Richardson would have been a good third line type player. He didn’t use up a bunch of ice time, but he could play physical when called upon and was a decent shot blocker. The knock against him is he was a negative player every playoff season except one, no matter who he played for.
Pick 189
Entering the sixth round now, the Blues took Jonathan Lehun. In case you’re wondering who that is, you’re not alone. To show how insignificant he would be, he played two games in the AHL and spent the rest of his pro career in the ECHL, which is the hockey equivalent of AA baseball.
Redrafting, if you can believe it, the Blues could actually pick up Joe Pavelski. Sixth round and about halfway through, the Blues could pick Pavelski. The Sharks’ captain actually went in the seventh round.
Can you imagine the Blues with a top line center of Bergeron and a second line center of Pavelski (or vice versa)? Pavelski has been a little bit of a slow burn instead of a hot start out of the gate, but even his production in his first couple seasons has been better than some of the players the Blues have had at center over the years.
In the last three seasons alone, Pavelski has averaged 75 points. Regardless of who you want on the top line and on the second, Bergeron and Pavelski would be a fantastic one-two punch and allow Backes to move out to the wing.
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Pick 221
In the real world, the Blues spent their seventh round pick on Yevgeny Skachkov. Skachkov never left Russia, even for the promise of a potential NHL career. Or perhaps he was never really asked to come over. His career high in the KHL is currently 36 points.
In this draft, the Blues take Dustin Byfuglien. You could also pick Tobias Enstrom and not be completely wrong. Enstrom had a couple 50 point seasons with Atlanta, before going a little quieter in Winnipeg.
Instead, you take the big Buff. Even if you only have him as long as the Chicago Blackhawks did, you still get a few seasons paired with Pietrangelo and a player that put up 55 goals with the Blackhawks alone. When a defender averages 13 goals and 135 hits per year, that’s something you don’t pass on.
Pick 253
A couple familiar faces are going to be taken with the Blues final two picks. In reality, the Blues took Adrei Pervyshin. Maybe the Blues were still trying to emulate the Detroit Red Wings with all these Russian picks, but they haven’t had much luck with Russia outside of Vladimir Tarasenko.
Pervyshin never left the motherland and is still currently playing in the KHL. Instead, the Blues could have had Jaroslav Halak.
Now, I know that I’m in the minority, Halak had some good moments. He was injury prone and had trouble sealing up rebounds, but if the Blues could have got the Halak that had that incredible run in the playoffs with Montreal, then that might be worth the pick in and of itself.
Also, we never really got to see Halak in the playoffs with the Blues. Personally, I would have liked to see one uninterrupted run out of Jaro.
Pick 284
If nothing else, this pick will quiet other Blues fans upset with my last one. The Blues spent their ninth round pick on Juhamatti Aaltonen.
Despite trying the Finnish route, the Blues wasted another pick on a KHL player.
Instead, the Blues pick Brian Elliott in this draft. Elliott was almost the NHL’s version of Mr. Irrelevant. He was selected with the second to last pick of the entire draft (291) by the Ottawa Senators.
While Elliott was inconsistent when handed the reigns in Ottawa and his brief stint in Colorado, he’s been solid to great with the Blues. One of the reasons has been he has always had to fight for his job.
Elliott seems to struggle when he knows he is the man and nobody is pushing him from behind. His best season in the bluenote came in 2011-12 when he and Halak won the Jennings Trophy.
Imagine having those two paired together for a long stretch of years. In today’s game it probably wouldn’t have lasted too long since all goaltenders want to be considered the starter, but if you could convince them both that they were better together than with one or the other as “the guy.”
Final Look
1. Patrice Bergeron (30)
2. David Backes (tempting to take Jimmy Howard)(62)
3. Jan Hejda (88)
3. Paul Bissonnette (101)
4. Kyle Quincey (127)
5. Lee Stempniak (148)
5. Brad Richarson (159)
6. Joe Pavelski (189)
7. Dustin Byfuglien (could have been Tobias Enstrom)(221)
8. Jaroslav Halak (253)
9. Brian Elliott (284)
Obviously this list is a bit of a cheat. You can’t really say the Blues get all the good players who were overlooked without having a ripple effect throughout the draft, but it’s just for fun.
Next: Blues Top 5 Playoff Games of 2016
There weren’t a lot of these guys that made an immediate impact in the NHL other than Bergeron. Even so, if you ever got this entire list on one squad, you’d have a pretty solid team. Plug in some of the pieces the Blues had over that span of time and the Blues might have been contending instead of wallowing in the muck of being one of the league’s worst teams from 2005 through 2008.
You never know how things play out, but Backes, Pavelski and Bergeron have all spent their entire careers (to this point) in one place. What if the Blues could have had all three. Ah, what could have been if the Blues only had a crystal ball.