St. Louis Blues: Blackhawks Player Proof Jordan Kyrou Can Succeed

The St. Louis Blues have to be keeping an eye on their prospect Jordan Kyrou. His continued production in junior hockey impresses and has to make them think about the future.

Right now, the St. Louis Blues’ brass is keeping focused on their team in the NHL. They are likely looking at roster moves they can make or trades to improve, but they’re focused on the NHL.

They would not be doing their job if they were not wondering how Jordan Kyrou might fit into all of this in the future – perhaps the near future. Whether it is Doug Armstrong, Marty Brodeur or one of the scouts, the Blues are certainly not turning a blind eye to the youngster’s constant progression.

As we discussed in our recent look at the Blues prospects, Kyrou continues to be the best of the bunch. You can discount that because he’s in junior hockey if you want, but it’s still a fact from a pure production stand point.

Kyrou is averaging over two points per game. He’s also leading the OHL in scoring and has been at or near the top of that list almost all season.

As fans, we start to salivate over such things. We want these guys wearing the Note right now, whether they are truly ready or not.

Teams tend to take these progressions much slower. They always have several questions they need to look at.

One of those questions is always whether the production will carry over. Of course, you never expect a player to score 100 points in the NHL anymore, but just the overall style and confidence when confronted with adversity.

Another question, in this instance is whether his size will be an issue. The NHL is trending toward faster players, but it is still a big man’s league.

However, Blues fans might need look no further than the Chicago Blackhawks for proof that Kyrou can succeed. They had similar questions and those are being answered right now.

Currently, one of the Hawks’ plethora of players to come from obscurity is Alex DeBrincat. Whether we cheer for him or not, he is proof that Kyrou can be a good NHL player.

DeBrincat, like Kyrou, is undersized by NHL standards. Kyrou is listed at 6′ and 185 lbs.

DeBrincat is five inches shorter and 20 lbs lighter. Nevertheless, he is thriving in his young NHL career.

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The current Blackhawk has 10 goals and 18 points heading into December of 2017. Maybe those are not historic numbers, but they are pretty darn good for a rookie.

The size issue is not just where the comparisons stop. Both players had or are having great junior careers.

DeBrincat had three straight 100 point seasons with the Erie Otters and four consecutive seasons overall. Kyrou had 94 points last season and is on pace to eclipse 100 this time.

As said multiple times, you can’t just turn all those 100 point guys into NHL stars. However, if they are going to be solid contributors as DeBrincat has been, that’s more than you can ask for most times.

Another similarity is their draft position. Kryou was selected with the 35th overall pick in 2016. DeBrincat was 39th.

Both have awful facial hair too. That’s neither here nor there though.

None of this automatically means Kyrou will be a good or great NHL player. We don’t even know how well DeBrincat will hold up over 82 games yet.

However, right now he is a good blueprint for Kyrou’s success. A similar sized player, capable of producing the same amount of points, drafted around the same time. It’s easy to put two and two together and figure Kyrou can have similar success early in his potential NHL career too.

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The Blues might not be as talented at the top as Chicago, but they have a quality squad overall. They will have enough veteran presence to allow Kyrou to come along at his own pace and get comfortable without the pressure.

So, keep your eye on this kid in Chicago. He might show us how good the Blues’ future might be once Kyrou arrives.