It feels like we're getting new mock drafts every day now and, with the draft just over a week away, there's no reason to believe they'll stop. It's a critical draft for the St. Louis Blues (and Doug Armstrong's legacy as general manager), and they have three picks to make on June 26, provided they don't trade any of them before then.
The Athletic shared a new mock draft today and, instead of just relying on their in-house prospect experts Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler, they brought in Chris Peters of Flo Hockey to add a new voice to the process. For the Blues, we get two names we've seen half a dozen times--and one new one that's a bit of a head scratcher.
First up, with pick number 11, the Blues select winger Ethan Belchetz. Belchetz has become a Blue in several mock drafts, and his combination of size and skill could be just what the forward group needs. Plus, the 11th-overall pick has a pretty solid track record, historically.
At 15, the Blues take Finnish center Oliver Suvanto, who's also been mocked to the Blues in many of these exercises. The 15th-overall pick is, unfortunately, a bit more hit and miss than No. 11.
Things get interesting with pick 29, as the experts have the Blues selecting defenseman Adam Goljer. That seems quite high for Goljer, who's ranked as high as 24 by THN's prospect rankings and as low as 95 on Elite Prospects. Without a second-round pick this year, maybe the Blues would be willing to take that kind of swing--but at that point, perhaps trading back into the second round would be a more measured course of action. They'd need a miracle for the 29th pick to become an impactful player, anyway.
A haul of Belchetz, Suvanto and Goljer would make for some nice additions to the Blues' prospect pipeline, but it feels a little underwhelming. Sometimes, though, that's just the way the board falls.
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