St. Louis Blues Bring In Collegiate Reinforcements
The St. Louis Blues added some talent to their roster late in the season. Whether they use them down the stretch is the question right now.
The St. Louis Blues signed three players to entry-level contracts on Sunday. Each player signed two year deals, two of which will report to the Blues and one will go down to San Antonio of the AHL.
The Blues have given contracts to Nolan Stevens, a fifth round draft pick in 2016, and Austin Poganski, a fourth round pick in 2014. The Blues also awarded a deal to Mitch Reinke, a college free agent.
The interesting part of these signings is that they will all see pro action in the remaining season. Reinke and Stevens will report to the Blues. Poganski will report to the San Antonio Rampage on a pro tryout basis.
Even more interesting is the fact that the least known of these players is the more likely to actually see an NHL game by the end of the season. Reinke is a defenseman, which is a position the Blues are extremely thin at right now. With Jay Bouwmeester and Carl Gunnarsson both out for the rest of the season and the playoffs (if the Blues make it), a youngster with fresh legs could be valuable.
Reinke just finished his college career with the Michigan Tech Huskies. He helped them win two straight WCHA championships. He had three goals and 24 points in 35 games this season and nine goals and 44 points in 76 games overall.
Reinke is a little undersized, even by today’s standards. He is listed as 5’11 and 182 pounds.
Stevens is a little more known to fans. He’s featured in the team’s rookie camps the last couple seasons.
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Like Reinke, Stevens helped his team to a conference championship, taking the Hockey East Championship with Northeastern in 2015-16. Stevens also served as Northeastern’s captain this season, where he helped them to a Beanpot Championship.
Stevens was fifth in the NCAA with 24 goals and he had a total of 42 points. He totaled 57 goals and 113 points in his four years at Northeastern. Stevens also helped Team USA to a goal medal in 2013-14 at the World Junior Chamipionships.
Last, but not least, Poganski is another player that got to don the Note already at the rookie camps. He will start his pro career in the AHL with San Antonio.
Poganski has the NHL frame on him already, coming in at 6’2 and 210 pounds. He wrapped up his college career with the University of North Dakota.
Poganski was the team’s captain this past season, notching 11 goals and 20 points. He had a total of 37 goals and 84 points in 162 collegiate games and was part of the 2015-16 NCAA National Championship team.
In the team article, it was specifically pointed out that Poganski’s two-year deal will not kick in until 2018-19. The other two were NHL elidgible immediately, which almost makes it sound as though the remaining games of this season will burn up one year of their entry-level contract. That may or may not be the case, but it seems that way.
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We may not end up seeing either Reinke or Stevens take the ice for a game this season. With the team hotly embroiled in a playoff race, it is not the time to experiment.
Regardless, it is an exciting time for all three of those young men. Hopefully they have fruitful professional careers.