Left-handed defensemen should be Priority No. 2
Left-handed defense is another position that could use quite a bit of attention heading into June’s draft. While it’s not as high of a priority as an RHD, Armstrong shouldn’t feel guilty if he instead rolled with an LHD in the first instead of the former.
As with a couple of right-handed defensemen mentioned in the previous slide, there is a greater influx of LHD toward the top half of the 2024 class, starting with Denver’s Zeev Buium. Zeev is one player I watched in the National Championship, and he wouldn’t just upgrade the depth in the Blues prospects pool but would find himself ranked rather highly should he be there when it’s Armstrong’s turn to pick.
While Tankathon has both Buium and Anton Silayev going in the top 10 in their latest mock, there is always a chance one of them will fall should the Blues stay somewhere between 11th and 16th - the Blues pre-lottery draft slot is 16th.
Of the two, Buium would be the top choice, thanks to the way he exploded for 50 points and 11 goals in 42 games, showing that he can be a two-way player. Buium is also closing in on having ideal NHL-caliber size, something that will more than come to fruition over the next three years.