One thing sports fans are guilty of is constantly looking for the next, big thing. I'm guilty of it and most of you St. Louis Blues fans are too.
The majority of the 2024 offseason talk has been about the prospects. Will Dalibor Dvorsky live up to the hype and crack the lineup right away?
Can Zachary Bolduc nab a full-time role? Will Zach Dean be a primetime player or is he more of a Cardinals prospect, i.e. full of promise but never delivered upon?
We've also heard discussions about whether the Blues might trade Pavel Buchnevich, whether Robert Thomas or Jordan Kyrou will take their next steps towards being league stars and the neverending saga about the defense. There's one important name most of us have kind of forgotten.
Jake Neighbours has not been discussed at all in the grand scheme. Perhaps he became such a dependable player in a short time that people don't even worry about him.
Even so, don't sleep on this guy. Bigger things are still in store.
At just 21 years old, in his first, full season, Neighbours tallied 27 goals and 38 points. He came close to scoring 30 goals right away and still managed to impact the game in all facets.
Neighbours had 138 hits in 2023-24. That trailed only Brayden Schenn, Alexey Toropchenko and Sammy Blais, all of whom are much more known as guys who take the body.
On top of that, at just 21 and in his first full year, Neighbours had an uncanny ability to simply know where to be. He figured out he could get more playing time by planting himself in front of the net, even though that had never really been part of his game as he made his way through juniors and the minors.
Neighbours isn't physically imposing at 5'11, but he's sturdy. He looks bigger than he is because he's strong and stands his ground. He didn't let defenders push him around and he was a nuisance, even if he didn't score.
In a season where the team was down and everyone was inconsistent, you could still depend on Neighbours playing his butt off. That kind of work ethic is hard to teach, so he was essentially just made that way.
Through all his stops, all his teammates have commented about his knowledge of the game and ability to be a leader, even if not automatically being placed in a leadership role. You know there's something special about someone when you're a player in juniors and guys in their 20's are seeking guidance and perspective from someone who was a teenager.
Neighbours' game makes it hard to project his trajectory statistically. He has the talent to be a consistent 30-goal scorer, but he might also fluctuate like Schenn simply because the team will involve him in so many facets.
Frankly, I'd be fine if the goals stayed around 20-25, but he picked up more assists and continued to be a bother to opposing goalies. The Blues don't need him to be a fighter any more than we really want Schenn to be, but knowing he will drop the mitts if nobody else will endears him even more.
What really sets Neighbours apart is an ability to be as impactful no matter where you put him. The Blues played him on the first, second and third lines last year and he thrived in all spots.
He looked like a genuine top guy when placed there. He was a dual offensive and defensive threat on the second line and made the most out of every minute if he was on the third line too.
A guy like that is just built for a team game. He's more concerned with wins than stats, but the stats tend to find those kinds of players anyway.
I'm not sure about goal totals, but if the team is doing well in 2024-25, I could see Neighbours definitely getting to 50 points. That's only a 12 point increase from 2023-24.
It's great to have hope for the future with high draft picks being on the cusp. Neighbours is already here and still has a ceiling that hasn't been reached.
He's got intangibles like in-game intelligence and also the skill to match. Even if the young guns do make the team, it would not shock me if Neighbours was still one of the most consistent players and someone the Blues can lean on for years to come.