St. Louis Blues Building Intriguing AHL Squad In San Antonio
By Todd Panula
Any time there is a change in command at a minor league team, there is going to be apprehension. However, the Blues are putting fears to rest rather quickly.
When the St. Louis Blues officially took over as the affiliate to the San Antonio Rampage, there had to be some fears by the local fans. You never know what players you are going to get or what direction the parent club will send your team.
Rampage fans need not fear. The Blues are putting together a rather interesting team that should be incredibly fun to watch.
While all the news has surrounded the Blues making big splashes in free agency and the NHL trade market, they were quietly acquiring pieces to flesh out their system. Combining some of these new names with the prospects the Blues already brought to the table should make for a very solid squad.
Recently, the Blues brought in minor league prospects Tyler Wotherspoon, Joey LaLeggia and Brian Flynn.
Wotherspoon is a steady defender out of the Calgary farm system. He only played 30 games with the Flames, but registered five assists. He had seven goals and 37 points in 63 career games with their AHL affiliate.
LaLeggia came from the Edmonton system, playing with Bakersfield last year. He splits time between forward and defense, making him quite versatile. LaLeggia also has 35 total goals the last two seasons.
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Flynn is a solid minor league player that is going to bring valued experience. While 29 is not old, he is going to be the veteran among this group. He just left the Texas Stars, who went all the way to the Calder Cup final before losing to Toronto in seven games. That is winning culture that this new team will need.
The Blues also just signed Jordan Nolan from Buffalo. Some fans will know him from his days with the L.A. Kings. Either way, Nolan is likely to play much of the year in San Antonio, but any time you have a player with NHL experience, it will help. Nolan is a hard-hitter that can get you a point here or there, but is much more in the vein of Chris Thorburn.
It was slightly surprising Nolan signed with the Blues on a two-way deal. The last time he was in the AHL for most of a season was 2012-13.
With that group of newcomers alone, you have a nice mix. There are veterans and guys still hoping to crack an NHL roster. Then, of course, you’ll have the Blues prospects.
Unless he has a really good camp, fans in Texas are likely to get the first look at Jordan Kyrou in a professional game. This kid has the tools to be something special. Even if he does not fit into that elite category, he could be a star in the league one day. It’s all about how his skills translate to the next level.
Erik Foley is just now joining the Blues organization after being part of the Paul Stastny trade. Foley is one of those 50/50 players as to his NHL potential, but he’s quick and has a lot of determination. Those are always the attributes of a good hockey player.
Klim Kostin is almost surely going to be with San Antonio. The Russian enigma continues to be a player fans are drooling about. This will be a big year for him as the excuses of culture and league differences will be out the window.
Kostin was disappointing last year with only six goals and 28 points. However, you cannot completely discount the fact he is only 19 and was in a truly foreign country.
Sammy Blais will get some good looks in the NHL again, but he’ll also spend significant time with the Rampage. Blais’ 2017-18 had some bumps with injuries and infrequent callups to the NHL. Even so, San Antonio should expect a season closer to what he did in 2016-17 in Chicago.
I was personally disappointed with what I saw from Jake Walman in last year’s training camp, but he’s still a very highly ranked prospect. The Rampage will be a good place for him to settle into a system after splitting time between Chicago and Binghamton after the Wolves played him sparingly. He’s a good puck mover, so the Rampage can be dynamic from the back end.
The Blues still have high hopes on a guy like Zach Sanford. You would still think he will likely start in San Antonio, coming off an injury that held him out all of last season.
MacKenzie MacEachern is looking more like a career minor leaguer, but he is a very serviceable player. He should fit well with the second or third line.
Connor Bleackley has been somewhat of a bust, given how highly touted he was. Nevertheless, he had a good year in the ECHL last season with 19 goals. He’ll be looking to bounce back if given another crack at the AHL.
There is also Austin Poganski, the big Russian Dmitri Sergeyev, the exciting college prospect the Blues picked up in Mitch Reinke and also the outside chance that the team’s draft pick, Domink Bokk makes his way to North America.
All of that is without mentioning the goaltender battle. Of course, Ville Husso (a member of last year’s all-rookie team) will get the starts most nights. Jordan Binnington is still around as a solid backup. Luke Opilka, if healthy, might make a jump to the pros. Evan Fitzpatrick still has junior eligibility, so no need to rush him even after winning the Memorial Cup.
The bottom line is, including some names we left out, this Rampage team has the potential to be pretty darn good.
There will be growing pains, since 60% of the team has not played together outside of prospect camp scrimmages. Nevertheless, the talent level is impressive.
The AHL, despite being a prospect league, is still veteran driven. That’s why the signings the Blues made are important. They seem to have a good mix for the farm and also plenty of players ready to step in when injuries inevitably happen.
It should be a very fun team to keep track of down in San Antonio.