NHL Draft Rumors: Al MacInnis’s Son May be Option for Blues
According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jeremy Rutherford, the St. Louis Blues are keeping their eyes on a highly-regarded draft prospect who has a very familiar name:
Don't rule out possibility of #stlblues drafting Ryan MacInnis, Al's son. It has been addressed within club and everyone seems comfortable.
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) June 19, 2014
MacInnis is the son of Al MacInnis, who is the Blues’ current Senior Advisor to the General Manager and played for the team from 1994-2004. A talented two-way defenseman, MacInnis was a 12-time All-Star and a Norris Trophy recipient. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007.
The younger MacInnis, an 18-year-old center, grew up in St. Louis as his father played for the Blues and formerly attended Whitfield High School. He played on the traveling United States under-17 team last year, then joined the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League for the 2013-14 season. His production was solid this year, as he scored 16 goals and had 21 assists, but the young MacInnis is still somewhat of a project going forward.
Unlike many of the top draft prospects, MacInnis only played one year of junior hockey in Canada, so he’s still getting up to speed relative to the competition. It’s easy to envision his production being better in his second year in the OHL.
As of now, he projects as a physical two-way forward down the road; think of his ceiling as a more talented and aggressive version of Patrik Berglund. He has yet to grow into his frame, however, as he’s only 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds right now. Ideally, he would add at least 20 pounds over the next few years.
Despite the conflict that could come about with MacInnis’s father being a member of the Blues’ front office and one of the greatest players in franchise history, he’d be a reasonable selection at pick 21, and he would fill an organizational need. The Blues don’t have any standout center prospects, and they’ll likely be looking to restock their talent at the position over the next few years as David Backes continues to age and Patrik Berglund and Vladimir Sobotka hit free agency. If MacInnis is given a a year or two to continue developing in juniors, he could be ready to fill a spot once the Blues really need reinforcements.