The St. Louis Blues caught a bit of an interesting break on Thursday morning.
News broke about the NHL commuting the Ottawa Senators’ penalty involving forfeiture of their 2026 first-round draft pick. The sanction came in connection with a botched trade in 2021. The league issued a penalty, determining that the Sens would lose their first-rounder in either 2024, 2025, or 2026.
Ottawa kicked the can as far down the road as they could, opting for 2026.
The club applied for clemency, getting the league to reinstate their first-rounder in exchange for a financial penalty.
This situation allows the Senators to retain their first-rounder. However, the pick was shoved down to the 32nd slot, that is, the last pick in the first round.
Meanwhile, everyone else picking after the Senators gets to move up one spot. That’s an interesting development for the Blues.
The Blues currently hold the original first-round pick belonging to the Colorado Avalanche. That pick landed in St. Louis via the Brayden Schenn trade a couple of weeks ago. As it stands, the Avalanche are the favorites to win the Stanley Cup. That situation projects the Blues picking 32nd. Well, if the Avalanche win the Cup, the Blues would now pick 31st.
Of course, if the Avalanche don’t win the Cup, that pick could be much higher. And that’s to the Ottawa Senators, wherever that pick lands, the Blues will move up one spot.
This entire discussion is predicated on the Senators not winning the Stanley Cup. If they did, they would get the 32nd pick, making this entire situation moot.
But if the Senators missed the playoffs, they could enter the draft lottery and help out other teams picking after them.
It’s also worth pointing out that the Blues hold Detroit’s first-round pick. That pick is currently slated to be the 21st overall pick. If the Senators’ first-round spot ultimately ends ahead of the 21st spot, guess what, the Blues move up one spot there, too.
The Senators’ unfortunate break will end up helping the Blues in a roundabout way.
Blues slated for a high draft pick anyways
If there’s a silver lining in this season for the Blues, it’s that they’re slated for a high draft pick. In this case, Tankathon shows the Blues picking fifth overall. Naturally, that will not be the Blues’ final spot. Even if nothing changed in the standings, the Blues’ current spot allows them an 8.5% chance of winning the first-overall pick.
Now, that would be an interesting set of events.
Even a top-five pick in this year’s draft would be fantastic. This draft is supposed to be one of the deepest in a long time. The first five picks are believed to be franchise guys. That could allow the Blues to draft a player to build a new core around.
With plenty of young talent already in the mix, adding a high-end prospect could spur a major turnaround in St. Louis. It’s something to think about as numerous variables hang around in the air.
The race to the bottom will be an interesting one as the season begins to wind down. With less than 20 games to go in the year, teams are rapidly jockeying for position. Evident tanks in Florida and Toronto have shown the desire to land a high draft pick.
Incidentally, unless the Senators somehow land a pick in the top five, it’s unlikely the Blues’ original first-rounder moves up. It’s an intriguing possibility and one that won’t be revealed until after the NHL Draft Lottery.