Over the past few seasons, the St. Louis Blues prospects have had great success in the spring time. This year is no different as the OHL belongs to a potential future Blues player.
One of the things that gets overlooked when discussing Doug Armstrong’s reign over the St. Louis Blues is how well they have drafted. The Blues have only missed the playoffs a handful of times under Army, meaning they are are always picking in the middle of the draft or later.
Given that fact, it is a wonder the Blues have any pipeline, let alone one of the best ones across the NHL. As far as pre-NHL success, there are few franchises that have done better over the last few years.
Last season, just a little shy of one year ago, the Blues had two players vying to be a member of the top junior team in all of North America. Robert Thomas – yes, Robert Thomas was still playing in junior a year ago – won the OHL with the Hamilton Bulldogs.
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A member of the goaltender’s union, Evan Fitzpatrick helped guide the Acadie-Bathurst Titan to a QMJHL crown. Fitzpatrick went on to grab the Memorial Cup, winning a tournament of all the Canadian Hockey League’s various champions in a winner-take-all battle.
Now, we come to 2019. The silence in the junior ranks had been a little unsettling, but most of that was due to St. Louis pulling most of their top talent into the professional pool.
Enter Alexei Toropchenko. Toropchenko had a solid second year in North America as he continues to figure out his style in a different country.
Toropchenko had a good regular season. He went from 17 goals and 39 points in 2017-18 to 17 goals and 43 points in 2018-19. He also improved defensively, going from a minus-11 to a plus-5, season to season.
The playoffs are where the young forward broke out, however. Toropchenko went off for an amazing 13 goals and 19 points in 24 playoff games with the Guelph Storm.
The young Russian’s play helped the Storm defeat the Ottawa 67’s in six games to claim the OHL Championship. This marks the second straight year a member of the Blues organization has lifted the OHL Championship. We will see if Toropchenko can make it two straight springs where a Blues member lifts the Memorial Cup too.
As far as personal growth, the test for Toropchenko will now be to prove this was not just a hot streak. Whether he makes a jump to the pros next year or stays in junior – he is currently 19, so that will be up to the Blues and himself – he has to take the progression he has shown and build on it.
They are not the same player, but Jordan Kyrou went from a 51 point player one season in the CHL to a 94 point scorer the next. Time will tell if there is any potential jump like that for Toropchenko, but he is definitely one to keep an eye on now that he has a taste for winning.
Junior success does not always translate to the pros. However, winning breeds winning. So, the more pipeline players that can help guide their teams to success, at any level, the better for the Blues as a whole.