The St. Louis Blues have had some pretty good luck in recent years with their selection process at the NHL Draft. Looking back at the last three, there are sprinkles of excellence from a number of young players in the current core and the future of this franchise.
With a really big draft coming up at the end of this month, all eyes are on General Manager and President of Hockey Operations Doug Armstrong to close out his tenure strong.
Let's go back to the 2023 NHL draft, and follow up with last year's solid selections.
2023 NHL Draft
The Blues had nine picks in this draft, and it was very similar to the one that is coming up at the end of this month. They had three first-round selections, which they used on Dalibor Dvorsky, Otto Stenberg, and Theo Lindstein.
Those three are the only ones to have any NHL experience, and each played together for the Blues this past season. Dvorsky is going to be a lock for next season, and there is a solid case for both Stenberg and Lindstein to also crack the opening night lineup as well.
The grade for this draft, as it stands now, is at a B+.
2024 NHL Draft
Again, the 2024 NHL Draft had nine selections by the Blues, but it was a little more sporadic. Nobody has made their NHL debuts yet from this group, but the first-round selection, Adam Jiricek has a close-guarentee to make it in 2026-27 on opening night.
There are two more relevant names from this group that are amongst the best in the Blues pipeline of prospects, and those are second-round pick Colin Ralph and third-round pick Adam Jecho. Each of those players has substantial evidence to be great everyday NHLers for the Blues, when the time is right.
Even without an NHL game to their credit, this class gets a B+ as well.
2025 NHL Draft
The Blues made some moves in the 2024-25 season to acquire both Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg via offer sheets from the Edmonton Oilers. That eliminated a good bit of their draft capital, and thus, they were left with just three picks in the 2025 NHL Draft.
They made it count, with Justin Carbonneau being picked in the first round, Mikhail Fyodorov in the fifth round and Love Harenstam in the sixth round. Each of these three players are anticipated to be a part of the Blues' future, as new GM-to-be Alexander Steen is going to hold on to them.
This draft class is very new, but on their way with a B grade. In time, this could be an A+.
