The paths to pick No. 19 can be varied.
There are 18 chances in front of the Blues for a road to be paved for them, allowing for 18 scouting staffs to rank players differently, 18 general managers to weigh trades and 18 prospects to come off the board before 51ºÚÁÏ makes its selection at No. 19. So yeah, Blues general manager Doug Armstrong is keeping his options open.
Those options?
Using the No. 19 pick to fortify the center position in their pipeline, which is shallow after blue chip Dalibor Dvorsky. Using it to take the best player available, even if it is a wing (joining Zack Bolduc, Jimmy Snuggerud, Otto Stenberg and Juraj Pekarcik) or a defenseman (the Blues took defensemen with their first three picks a year ago). Or using the pick in a trade to help the NHL roster immediately.
“It’s definitely a consideration, yes,†Armstrong said of trading the pick. “But it’s always a consideration. What I don’t think we’re going to do is deviate from our course of trying to build within a group of players that, let’s say, are between 20 or 21 now and 25. That’s that window that we’re trying to input players into. I think we can trade 19 for a player that’s one year away from UFA and then hope you can sign them. But if you can’t sign them, then you have a player one year away from UFA.
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“We won’t be trading for a guy with one year left unless we know 100% that we can get him signed. Or two years, quite honestly.â€
The Blues are picking 19th following a season in which they qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 2022. They were eliminated by Winnipeg in a double-overtime Game 7 loss in the first round of the playoffs.
After picking 10th in 2023 and 16th in 2024, the Blues are back in a familiar position selecting in the second half of the first round. Armstrong said, “At 19, we think there’s a good tier of players there that we can get.â€
“One thing that hasn’t really changed is how you build a team: It’s through the middle of the ice (with) centermen, D, goalie,†Armstrong said. “Wingers are extremely important, but they seem to move around quicker or become more available than centermen or D. But you don’t want to take a half-letter or full-letter grade lesser player just because of the positional need.â€
Centers Cole Reschny, Braeden Cootes and Jack Nesbitt have been projected to the Blues in various mock drafts. So have winger Lynden Lakovic and defensemen Cameron Reid and Logan Hensler.
The Blues have hit on late first-round picks in recent years. Tage Thompson was 26th in 2016. Robert Thomas was 20th in 2017. Jake Neighbours was 26th in 2020.
The draft is decentralized this season. Instead of the entire hockey world converging on one city for the draft, each team will conduct business from their own home bases while the prospects will be in Los Angeles to be selected.
The Blues will set up shop Friday inside Enterprise Center for the first round and Saturday for the remaining six rounds.
“The one thing you do miss is the bump-ins,†Armstrong said. “I know when we made the Tage Thompson-O’Reilly deal, we set that up at the draft. We had lots of conversations behind the scenes, Jason (Botterill) and I. Nothing got done there, but it got done a week later. I think I’m going to miss that part of it, not being able to see somebody in the lobby of the hotel or just being out on a walk and bumping into somebody. I think agents will miss the same thing, too.â€
The Blues only have three picks this weekend, the product of offer sheets and trades to add depth forwards. Here’s a breakdown of where their picks went:
- First-round pick (19).
- Second-round pick sent to Edmonton as compensation for signing Philip Broberg. It now belongs to Boston as part of the Trent Frederic trade.
- Third-round pick sent to Edmonton as compensation for signing Dylan Holloway.
- Fourth-round pick sent to Columbus in trade for Alexandre Texier.
- Fifth-round pick (147).
- Sixth-round pick (179).
- Seventh-round pick sent to Detroit in trade for Jakub Vrana.
Asked about the quantity of his picks, Armstrong quipped: “Maybe that’s why I’m glad it’s here. We can sneak out for a quick 18 on Saturday morning.â€
