St. Louis Blues: Prospects Coming Along At Different Paces

Jordan Kyrou

Jordan Kyrou is doing everything he can to not spend another year in juniors after this one.  In the last prospect check-in, we discussed that he had done enough to earn an AHL spot, but given the team’s uncertainty with their affiliation, it made sense to keep him down.  The Blues won’t have that same luxury next season.

The Sarnia Sting are 15-1-0 to start their season, which puts them atop the Western Conference in the OHL.  Kyrou is one of the main reasons the team is doing so well.

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Through seven games, he had four goals and 14 points.  Kyrou went crazy over the next seven games.

Now he has 14 goals and 34 points in 14 games.  That’s almost 2.5 points per game.

He is currently one of the featured players on the OHL website’s wallpaper.

With 14 goals already, Kryou seems poised to blow his 30 goals from last season out of the water.  His 34 points are currently five points higher than any other scorer in the OHL.

Other than building up his strength there is nothing more junior hockey can teach him other than patience.  He’s going to be a fun player to watch and hopefully all his skills translate to the next level.

Tanner Kaspick

Some people still might be asking who Tanner Kaspick is. The 19 year old was selected in the 2016 draft.  He’s also scoring at an impressive clip.

Playing for the Brandon Wheat Kings, Kaspick has settled in to a rhythm where he is scoring more than a point per game.  He trails only Kyrou in terms of Blues prospect scoring.

When we last checked in, he had two goals and 12 points. He might not have kept pace with the high-flying Kyrou, but his production is nothing to sneeze at.

Through 15 games, he is almost halfway to his point total from all of last season (45 points).  He’s upped his goal total to six and now has 20 points.

Good luck figuring out the WHL standings, but Kaspick has led the team to a 9-5-1 season so far as the team’s captain.  As an aside, Kaspick leads all Blues prospects with 28 penalty minutes, so he’s got a bit of an edge to his game.

Robert Thomas

Robert Thomas makes his way into the prospect watch this time around.  After having a decent camp and a very good prospect tournament, Thomas was slow out of the gate.

Maybe you could chalk it up to disappointment at not being kept in the pros.  Maybe it was just a slow start, which can and does happen.

Either way, Thomas has righted the ship.  Through 12 games played with the London Knights, Thomas has his average up over a point a game.

He’s got 17 points in those dozen games.  Out of those points, he’s got nine goals as well.

That might not sound impressive, but like Paul Stastny ahead of him, Thomas is a pass-first kind of player.  The idea that he is scoring more than assisting is encouraging for his game.

Nobody is asking him to become a true scorer.  Any added wrinkle to your game improves your chances of turning pro the following season though.  That is definitely something on Thomas’ radar as the Blues will take over the affiliation with San Antonio next season.

Klim Kostin

Last but not least, we finally get to Klim Kostin.  Fans are hoping he might be the Robin to Vladimir Tarasenko‘s Batman (insert whichever superhero duo you want.  Makes no difference to me).

Things have been a little slower than fans would like though.  Kostin has not lit the world on fire, but when viewed in the context of everything going on in his life, it’s not a bad run.

Kostin has featured in nine of the San Antonio Rampage’s games so far.  He has a total of six points and one goal.

Again, that’s not great.  It’s not bad either though.

Kostin is new to the western culture overall and then is thrust into the heart of America down in Texas.  He’s not playing with only Blues prospects either since the Colorado Avalanche still control much of what is going on with the Rampage.

With the viewpoint that the staff has no incentive to play Kostin other than he could potentially help them win games, his start looks much better.  You’d like the goal numbers to be much higher since that is what the Blues hope he will be, but he’ll get the feel of it eventually.

Overview

For whatever reason, the Blues seem to have picked very well in terms of guys that are producing in juniors.  Their minor league ranks are a little disheveled right now.

Kyrou still jumps off the page when looking at his skill and scoring ability. In the last article I said not to expect him in the NHL for a couple years and that remains likely, but he’s making a heck of a push to turn pro (at least AHL) sooner than we expected.

Thomas is a pleasant surprise as he is getting back into the rhythm.  Tage Thompson is a little bit disappointing as he has two goals and three points in six games.

As the season goes on and more games are played, we’ll continue this series and branch out with different names. Hopefully some of the AHL guys can get it into gear and overcome this sticky situation regarding the team’s affiliation.