The St. Louis Blues have made their selection with the 19th pick by bringing Justin Carbonneau to the 'Lou. What an incredible moment for him, his family and the Blues faithful.
With that said, it is time to discuss his estimated time of arrival and what he brings to the Blues.
Where he fits in
Carbonneau has scored 77 goals over his last two seasons with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the QMJHL. He is a fantastic offensive threat, and he brings a skill and ability to score at will. This is exactly what the Blues needed, as they grabbed one of the best available players left at the 19th pick of the draft.
NHL Central Scouting on Carbonneau: "He has shown that he is a natural goal scorer with an excellent shot release. He is also a threat offensively as a playmaker, showing a ton of poise and deception with the puck. Impacting the game in so many ways. (MORE)
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) June 28, 2025
You want to talk about the Blues getting even tougher, this guy is a tank. He was an avid football player, playing Linebacker, and lived for the hits before focusing on his hockey career. In an interview with NHL.com, he talked about his aggressive mentality and how it shaped him as a hockey player.
"I used to play football with my brother, so we're both ex-football players," said Carbonneau, "I think I was pretty good. ... I love to play football and those hits and all that. I was linebacker on defense and running back on offense."
Watch out for this kid to develop and be inserted into this lineup for his first playoff appearence.
Estimated time of arrival
This is a little tricky to predict, as Carbonneau is 18 years old. He is slated to continue to play at the QMJHL level, and with the Blaineville-Boisbriand Armada next season. There is also a sense that he could take his talents to the Collegiate level with Boston College as one of his top choices. Either way, he will get the development he needs before he signs his entry-level deal with the Blues.
To put a time-table on it, the 2027-28 season sounds like his start with the Blues, likely in a similar situation as Jimmy Snuggerud and Dalibor Dvorsky in 2024-25. Carbonneau could get a look at the end of that season and then be a starting, potentially top-six forward, for 2028-29.