The St. Louis Blues pulled the rabbit out of their hat during the 2017 NHL Draft. After leading most to believe it would be a quiet night, it ended up being anything but.
Apparently the St. Louis Blues have mastered the art of lowering expectations in the offseason. Many, if not a vast majority of fans had come to the conclusion that the draft would pass without anything earth shaking happening.
The Blues were going to make their selections at 20 and 27. We would debate the talents of the picks and have to wait 3-5 years before finding anything out.
Instead, Doug Armstrong went from villain to hero in a matter of seconds. He reversed the famous line from The Dark Knight and saw himself live long enough to become the hero.
Many fans wanted his head on a platter the last two seasons. He failed to add any notable free agents to a team that went to the Western Conference Finals. He failed to turn Kevin Shattenkirk into anything of value during the 2016 NHL Draft. Armstrong was a seller at the 2017 trade deadline. All proved to be a pretty good idea.
Not adding any more bad contracts, i.e. David Backes or Troy Brouwer, gives the Blues more freedom this summer and the next. Shattenkirk did not yield a return we wanted, but the Blues took that 27th pick and turned it into a viable NHL scorer.
It always sucks to feel like a seller at the trade deadline. However, the team proved they could step up to the plate and perform when called out.
Armstrong is now rewarding the team and fans for their efforts/patience. The Blues did not trade up in the draft, as expected and that was the perfect move.
Armstrong said there was one player #stlblues would have moved up for, prepared to trade picks 20 and 27 to do it but player went in top 10.
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) June 24, 2017
Thank goodness Armstrong did not have his top choice available to move up and draft. The 2017 Draft worked out about as well as any fan could have dreamed in a realistic setting.
The Blues selected Robert Thomas with their 20th overall pick. Thomas is a playmaking center, capable of playing without the puck on both offense and defense.
He exploded for a point per game in the OHL this past season and scored 66 points in 66 games. He almost kept that pace with 12 points in 14 playoff games.
Then, with the 27th pick Armstrong made his strongest move since 2013-14. He turned that pick into Brayden Schenn.
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Not only did he pick up a guy capable of scoring 20 goals and 50 points, but he shed the albatross contract belonging to Jori Lehtera, who is off to Philadelphia. It cost a conditional pick in 2018, but that was more than worth it.
Schenn is locked in at just over $5 million through 2019-20. He’s also only 25 and has seen his stats steadily increase over his career instead of sharply decrease.
Armstrong would have won the day if he stopped there. A verified top-six center and a good center prospect would have been enough to put your hands up and say job well done.
Instead, Armstrong kept going. His second deal was more divisive, but has a lot of upside.
The Blues ended up sending uber fan-favorite Ryan Reaves to Pittsburgh. In return, the Blues got the 31st pick and http://www.eliteprospects.com/player.php?player=41621.
Sundqvist is a big-bodied, young centerman from Sweden. He came into his own in the AHL this past season, scoring 46 points in 2016-17.
The Blues turned the 31st overall pick into Klim Kostin. Kostin was the top-rated European skater in the draft and a highly rated prospect out of Russia.
If not for a shoulder injury, he could have been a late-lottery pick or at least mid-round selection. Instead, a shoulder injury coupled with the question of what it takes to get Russians out of Russia saw him tumble through the first round.
The Blues shrugged off all the potential baggage, not wanting to miss out on another Artemi Panarin. Now, they have a large, talented kid capable of turning into a 20-30 goal scorer, if he fulfills his potential.
The last word is the key to the entire thing – potential. If Kostin pans out and even turns into a third-line winger, capable of 15-20 goals then this trade is a success.
Reaves was a hell of a person and worked his butt off to stay in the league. However, you make that deal.
If you take emotion out of it and names off the ledger, you make the trade. A first round pick and a big, tall, young prospect for a fourth line player? Sign me up.
Additionally, Reaves is an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2018. Even if you don’t re-sign him then, if you told the future versions of ourselves that we turned Reaves into two prospects, you’d likely take it in a heartbeat.
Armstrong has now given himself a lot of room. Not only does he have plenty more leash from the fans, but he has wiggle room in the salary cap.
The Blues are up to around $11 million in space. Even if you sign Colton Parayko to around $5 million, you can sign a pretty decent free agent with the remainder.
Next: Blues 2017-18 Schedule Released
Maybe Armstrong will hit the market and maybe he won’t. Even if not, the Blues should be a vastly improved team between Schenn and the prospects that force their way onto the roster.
Maybe it’s the idea of going from hating the guy to loving him that provides such joy over these moves. Even Army supporters had come to the conclusion he would do nothing between now and the season.
He shoved that right down our throats by improving the team in one day and making it possible to do more. Doug Armstrong reminded us why he’s seen as one of the top executives around the league, regardless of how we view him on a day-to-day basis.