The Stanley Cup has been awarded (congratulations to the Carolina Hurricanes!) and the league's officially transitioning to off season mode. Aside from any trades that crop up in the next two weeks, the big date circled on every front office's calendar is June 26: the NHL draft. Today, we get another mock from The Athletic, where each team's beat writer makes selections on behalf of the organization they cover--that means Jeremy Rutherford's picking for the St. Louis Blues.
Up first, he gives the Blues a name that's shown up in practically every mock we've covered: Swedish left-shot defenseman Malte Gustafsson. The board doesn't fall in the Blues' favor, with Tynan Lawrence going one ahead of the Blues and Viggo Bjorck long gone. Here's hoping one of Ethan Belchetz of Wyatt Cullen falls to 15 and--
Welp, no, Belchetz and Cullen go 12 and 13, respectively. That's a drag, so Rutherford gives the Blues the top center of the next tier of forwards, Oliver Suvanto--another prospect the Blues have frequently been mocked. Of the players that were available at 15, this was a pretty solid selection and one we can get behind if it does come to pass. It just feels a bit rough to miss on the high potential of Belchetz and Cullen and come out of the Top 16 with a couple of guys likely destined to play in the middle six forever.
At 29, however, we get a new name: Maksim Sokolovskii. Sokolovskii is a late riser this year, and he has the potential to be a top-four defenseman with snarl--and we mean snarl. The Russian left-shot is 6-foot-7 and 240 pounds, and plays mean as hell--think in the mold of Nikita Zadorov. While that would bring some much needed toughness to the Blues' blue line of the future, there's a chance he brings zero offense and is just a third-pair, shut down defenseman you love in the playoffs. Not a terrible outcome, but a disappointing one when there are some higher ceiling prospects on the board.
This would be a rather bland draft for the Blues, largely due to some poor luck with the way the board fell. Here's hoping that, on draft day, they can catch a break.
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