Official 2013 Draft Thread
 

If the season is lost, which I hope it's not, the Blues can end up drafting in a wide variety of spots, so let's start a 2013 draft thread. How deep is this draft looking, and what players have caught your eye?

From what I've read so far this is looking like a pretty deep draft. About 15 or so players who could probably be categorized as "Top 10" material which makes them rather hard to rank. The exciting part is IF we do lose the entire season and IF they use the same method they did after the last lockout the Blues will be a "2 ball" team this time so we'll have a pretty decent chance of picking in the Top 10 and even a small chance(I believe about 4%)of picking the 1st overall. Can you imagine the Blues landing a Nathan MacKinnon or Aleksander Barkov or even Sean Monahan? That would make this entire lockout worth it IMO.

My thoughts exactly. If the season is cancelled, but the Blues get a top 3 pick, it may be a blessing in disguise. Even a top 5 pick would be fantastic. High end skill forward to add to our wealth of two way forwards would be unreal. I'm sure the Blues would end up picking 29th overall though :laugh:

I think the Blues are a top 5 team in the NHL right now, so it's been pretty tough to watch this lockout continue. A top 5 pick would lower my frustrations toward the league a little:)

I know the other two prospects you listed h22, but I'll read up on Monahan. Thanks

I really do think we'll pick a centremen no matter where we land in the 1st round. This draft is just loaded with them. A few more players who might peak your interest are Jonathan Druin, Elias Lindholm, Curtis Lazar, and Valeri Nichushkin.

Just so odd to think that the Blues would have a better chance at the #1 overall after this lock-out than last if they lose the whole season and do it the same way.

Nathan MacKinnon wearing a Bluenote after the draft would be pretty awesome. Same with Barkov or Nichushkin. The latter who really impresses me.

How many players in the draft will be NHL ready for the 2013 season? Or is it to early to tell?

Seth Jones or another can't miss d-man would be completely awesome...especially if they're allowed to develop properly and aren't thrown in. Can you imagine in 2014 having a top team already and adding another Pietrangelo...which Seth Jones could very well be?

It'd be unreal to add Seth Jones to our roster. He has top-5 NHL D-man written all over him. Stealth, who are you higher on right now, Jones or Mackinnon? Or do you consider it a toss-up?

If it works like last time, would we get 2 out of 3 lotto balls? Even getting a mid 1st round pick would be great.

Mackinnon...no question. He's got #1 center written all over him and it's going to be tough for him to get passed as the #1 prospect. But for the Blues, a Petro/Jones combo has MacInnis/Pronger like awesomeness written all over it. I'd like to see that kind of duo again. Nothing against Shattenkirk, he's a solid top-4 guy...but Petro & Jones each have Norris-trophy abilities, and would cover about 50 minutes of each game between them. :amazed:

Meh, I'll be happy with Sasha Barkov :laugh: Seriously though, if we did manage to get to pick around the 10 spot and be able to select someone like Shinkaruk or Hägg then that won't be bad compensation for losing the year I guess.

In a more realistic scenario; I'm liking what I see of Frederic Gauthier. Looks like a perfect fit for this team and system; size, skill, highly developed 2-way game, good character. Seems very Backes like. I'd be happy taking him with anything outside of a top 10 pick.

Yes. It basically goes by your teams playoff appearances in their last three seasons, and how many 1st overall picks your team has had in their last four. Since we've had no 1st overall picks and only one playoff appearance we would therefor receive 2 balls in the draft. There would be seven 3 ball teams (CGY, CAR, CBS, DAL, MIN, TOR, WPG) six 2 ball teams(ANA, COL, FLA, NYI, STL, TB), and the rest would receive one ball. So 50 balls total. We'd start out with a 4% chance to pick and then our chances would go up after each pick depending on how many balls the teams before us who picked received. Then after the first round it would turn into a "snake" draft where the team who picked 1st wouldn't pick again until 60th, and team who picked 30th would also pick 31st et cetera and so on.

if the lockout does last the entire season, Phoenix will be drafting first. No doubt in my mind about that.

I think there would be major corruption talk if the Coyotes, as a 1 ball team, won the lottery.

Personally, if we were in the top ten, I would want Jonathan Drouin, Ryan Pulock, or Elias Lindholm. If we were in the 11-20 range, I would probably want Rober Hagg or Kerby Rychel. All of these guys just have some specific talent that I just find very interesting and would love to have.

This draft looks very deep, thats for sure. I would love to land a player like Adam Erne. He's a decently sized, strong, physical forward with a strong two-way presence. He'd fit perfectly in out system, like another Backes. Erne can easily surpass the 25g-25a-80PIM mark. He'd be a solid player on the PK. As much as I think Ryan Pulock will become a #1 D man in he NHL, the blues just do not have a need for him. Sure, having him paired with petro would be amazing, but it just doesnt make sense. Pulock's named has been heavily tossed up with the blue but I dont see it. Pulock has 15g-25a potential, but it's not needed on the blues. Anthony Duclair is also very intriguing, as he's still very raw, but has great hands and speed. However, IMO, he is too much like a Ty Rattie, and we need difference in out prospects. Ryan Kujawinski is also and intrigue, but he as had trouble with injuries and is very inexperienced.

I really like erne and suggest the blues draft him if possible. I wouldn't oppose drafting Zac Fucale, a goalie, as well.

I can understand that feeling, but I just feel if he was still on the board, I would definitely go for it. Mostly because of the thought of having Pietrangelo, Shattenkirk, and Pulock on the same team would be a god send for me. All of those guys could easily get 40+ points consistently and two might get 55+ consistently. But I do agree that defense is not our first concern. Personally, I think we should use one of our seconds on Eric Roy. Not offensively gifted, but very, very solid defensively. Could be our own Jared Cowen if we took a chance on him. (Maybe that's not the best comparison, you guys got a better one I could use?)

1st Round Pick
Top 5-10 Pick - Curtis Lazar, Elias Lindholm, Hunter Shinkaruk
Top 10-20 Pick - Kerby Rychel, Jonathan Drouin, Adam Erne, Josh Morrissey, Robert Haag (if all are gone)
Top 20-30 Pick - Hudson Fasching, Anthony Mantha, Fredrik Gauthier, JT Compher, William Carrier, Ryan Kujawinski

A guy I would grab with one of our seconds would be Alex Forsberg, as well as another winger in Pavel Buchenvich or any of Mantha, Gauthier, Fasching, Compher, Kujawinski or Carrier are available or a left handed defenseman in one of Eric Roy and Madison Bowey from the WHL, both will be top four defenseman in the NHL in my eyes.

I put this together a while ago. It hasn't taken into consideration this year's play, but it's a good start so far in at least getting the stats on this year's prospects. I'll start doing profiles nearer the end of the year that'll be based on the way they play; I'll do one a player.

Excellent Job, if you guys haven't seen my 2013 NHL Entry Draft Statistics Thread

The top-end talent sounds really deep in this draft. I wonder how it compares to '08.