The St. Louis Blues have built up their farm system with some top-notch prospects and upcoming stars. With 17 first-round picks already appearing in the NHL, or close to it in a few seasons, it seems that the future is secure.
But they were only good enough to be the seventh-best in regard to their prospect pool. A few teams that were ahead of them included some Central Division rivals, including a very scary Chicago youth group.
The Blues should be terrified of that group, and here is why.
Bedard, Byram, Frondell, Nazar, Kantserov, Levshunov, on and on and on
With the second-best prospect pool outside of San Jose, according to The Athletic's Corey Pronman, Chicago has some heavy hitters in their under-23 group. Obviously, Connor Bedard highlights it, but there are so many more top-tier players that it will make your head spin.
That would be all of those names above.
The Blues should be scared because each of those players is at the same level or better than their two “elite-level” prospects, Jimmy Snuggerud and Adam Jiricek. In time, Justin Carbonneau, Dmitri Buchelnikov and Otto Stenberg could elevate their game to become NHL-regulars, but it is not defintive.
As the Blues are ranked seventh on that prospect ranking from Pronman, they are not too far behind.
Could blow right by the Blues expected “contender” arrival, and be ahead of the game
If all goes according to plan, the Blues will be able to start “contending” again in the next three seasons. There is a small chance that it could be this upcoming season, with the new additions of Mason McTavish, Connor McMichael, and Brandon Carlo, and whatever prospects make it out of a ferocious training camp ahead.
But Chicago is right on the doorstep of being “contenders” again at a much faster time frame. By the time the Blues reach that point, the Blackhawks will already be an established force in the Central, seasoned for postseason play.
The Blues might run into a lot of trouble running their youth against that concept. Of course, Chicago’s transition from a retooling squad to a Stanley Cup hopeful might fail, and their youth doesn’t fit the bill, but all signs are pointing to them being a problem in the future.
A problem that the Blues are going to have to deal with, very often, in a very good division of hockey teams already. These next few seasons are going to include some very awesome matchups between these two teams, and playoff implications could be coming soon for these bitter rivals.
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