St. Louis Blues Sign 2018 Seventh Round Pick To Entry Deal

The St. Louis Blues took advantage of a slow news day on an off day at the rink. They announced the signing of a player few knew was even in the system.

Either St. Louis Blues general manager Doug Armstrong was a newspaper man as a youth or he just has a keen sense of a slow news day on an off day for the Blues. The GM announced the signing of a draftee that few had even heard of.

Unless you’re a die-hard follower of the Blues and the NHL Draft and pour over scouting reports of all the players in the system, most Blues fans probably forgot the name Tyler Tucker the day after the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. Tucker was drafted in the seventh and final round of that draft.

He was not hockey’s version of Mr. Irrelevant. He was taken with the 200th overall pick and there are a total of 217 picks. Still, he was the final name on the board for the Blues and the chances of landing in the NHL are often minimal at that point.

Nevertheless, the Blues have signed Tucker to a three-year, two-way contract on an entry level deal. Some might say this is just to cover their bases and get him into the system officially, but it is not as though the Blues had all their other 2018 picks signed and their seventh rounder was waiting his turn.

Hugh McGing, a 21 year old forward with the Western Michigan Broncos, is still unsigned. That might have more to do with him being in college, but the fact remains that it is interesting the seventh round pick got signed earlier.

The Blues might actually just be somewhat high on Tucker. He picked up some experience in the AHL, playing two games with the San Antonio Rampage on a pro tryout contract in 2019.

Tucker is an interesting case. He’s got good size already at 6’2 and 205.

The interesting thing will be whether he can or should put on any more size. 205 is reasonably big for a hockey player at that height and any extra weight might hinder speed. As a defender, he might still want to get stronger and might not be done growing anyway. At 20 years old, his body still might fill out even more.

Tucker is somewhat of a hybrid defender in today’s game. He’s not your typical shutdown player, but he’s good defensively and he can put up points but is not solely focused on the offensive game. He’s also not one to mess with, having taken over 80 penalty minutes per season in juniors.

Tucker transformed himself into a leader too, being named one of the alternate captains of the Barrie Colts to start 2019-20. He was then traded to the Flint Firebirds, where he has continued his solid output with an additional nine goals and 29 points, giving him a total of 17 goals and 55 points between the two teams so far this season.

Time will tell if Tucker makes the pros next season or at all. Even then, it might not be a sure thing he reaches the AHL.

Or, perhaps he surprises us all and makes the NHL in a handful of years. Nobody knows, especially with defensemen, who are only behind goaltenders in terms of taking a little longer to develop.

Good luck to him and kudos for getting this contract.