Tonight's the night: after weeks of build-up, the St. Louis Blues will, presumably, make the 19th overall selection at the 2025 NHL Draft. With no other picks until the fifth round tomorrow, GM Doug Armstrong really needs to get this pick right, as it will have a major impact on the franchise long after he's retired.
Now, let's not delude ourselves that whoever the Blues select will be on the opening night roster for the 2025-26 season. The chances of that happening are extremely slim and, generally speaking, only prospects taken at the very tippy top of the draft have a shot at making an NHL roster in their D+1 season. If we're being optimistic, the prospect that enters the Blues' pipeline won't be getting consistent NHL time until the 2027-28 season, or two years from now--and it could be even longer if they go with a defenseman, as they often take quite a while to develop.
About that pipeline. We wrote recently that, once prospects Dalibor Dvorsky and Jimmy Snuggerud officially graduate to the NHL level, the Blues' prospect farm takes a major hit. Adam Jiricek, Otto Stenberg, and Theo Lindstein are nice players, but they're in a lower tier than Dvorsky and Snuggerud--with those two gone, the Blues' pipeline could fall from a middle-of-the-pack system to one of the league's lowest-ranked pools. A homerun pick at 19 would solidify a steady stream of young players as the Blues try to navigate their retool.
The final round of mock drafts has the Blues taking some exciting players--there are some real upside swings that should be available at 19! As long as Armstrong doesn't reach too far on a guy he loves (not having a 2nd-round pick makes this a possibility), the Blues have a chance to get a player like Snuggerud who could outshine their draft pedigree. Nothing to do now but wait and see what happens.