Notes and Observations from St. Louis Blues Prospect Camp, July 7
- There shouldn’t have been huge expectations this week from anyone for the Blues’ first pick in 2015, defenseman Vince Dunn. In addition to the fact that Dunn is just 18 years old, he’s coming off an MLC sprain suffered this spring and isn’t quite 100 percent healthy yet. With that said, Dunn has not done anything to wow anyone so far this week. The 6-foot, 187-pounder looked physically overmatched at times during the scrimmage period and didn’t look very comfortable moving around the ice. He also gave up a bad turnover in his own zone that resulted in an opponent goal. On the positive side, Dunn did show some positive skills as a passer during the scrimmage.
- It’s been difficult to get a read on the young goaltenders thus far, as their work in drills hasn’t provided any insight into their abilities. The one goalie who clearly stood out during the scrimmage period today, though, was Jeremy Brodeur, who is attending camp on a tryout basis. Brodeur did not allow any goals during his time in net on Tuesday, splitting time evenly with Finnish prospect Ville Husso. Brodeur, the 18-year-old son of Blues assistant general manager Martin, just finished off his first season with the OHL’s Oshawa Generals, playing in 19 games and recording a goals-against average of 2.47 with a save percentage of .900. The organization already has a good amount of goalie depth, so if anything, it may be more likely that they’ll sign the goalie Brodeur backed up, Ken Appleby, who is also at prospect camp and has performed well over the first two days. However, Brodeur is a player to keep in mind if the Blues need some extra depth at the goaltender position over the next few years.
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- On the other end of the goalie spectrum, 2015 fifth-rounder Luke Opilka had somewhat of a rough day, seeming to be a bit overwhelmed during the scrimmage and lacking rapid movement skills at times. Luckily, the 18-year-old Opilka has plenty of time to develop, as he’ll just be starting his first major junior season with the Kitchener Rangers this fall.
- Defenseman Colton Parayko, the biggest player in camp at 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, had another standout day. In addition to showing off the same aggressive style that he displayed yesterday, Parayko got a better chance to show the high-skill element to his game on Tuesday. Parayko, flashed an impressive slap shot, with which he scored a goal during the scrimmage, while also showing his speed as a skater. Here’s some footage of Parayko’s slap shot goal and some of his defensive play in front of the net:
- A day after scuffling a bit with the offensive portion of the game, former seventh-rounder Dwyer Tschantz (6’5, 221) looked much better. Tschantz created a great breakaway opportunity for himself early in the scrimmage, and while he failed to score on that chance, he did ultimately score a goal later on in the scrimmage. Tschantz is up against the odds as a raw seventh-round pick, but if he can develop some legitimate offensive ability, he could end up being a solid player with as big and strong as he is.
- Another player who had some rough moments on day one, 2014 second-rounder Ivan Barbashev, was much better on Tuesday and showed some crafty skills in front of the net while picking up two goals during the scrimmage. Barbashev will probably get at least one full season to develop in the AHL before breaking into the Blues’ NHL lineup, but he showed today that he has enough natural offensive ability to have a chance at hockey’s highest level.
- 2014 third-rounder Jake Walman, who has been primarily a stay-at-home defenseman during his amateur career, showed off some nice offensive skills on Tuesday and displayed a nice slap shot from the blueline.
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- Though guys like Parayko, Barbashev, and 2014 first-rounder Robby Fabbri were all impressive on Tuesday, perhaps the best-looking player on the ice was 6-foot-4 defenseman Niko Mikkola, a recent sixth-round pick out of Finland. Mikkola looked strong in every element of the game, carrying himself very well as a skater and displaying outstanding physicality. Mikkola played all-out and used his size fully to his advantage, joining Parayko as one of the prospects who was wholly unafraid to send his fellow Blues crashing into the boards. Here’s a clip of Mikkola getting aggressive during the scrimmage:
- After delivering arguably the best performance of any player on Team Tkachuk on Monday, defenseman Tommy Vannelli had another good day on Tuesday, scoring a goal right in front of the net during the scrimmage:
- Former first-rounder Jordan Schmaltz hasn’t really stood out from an offensive standpoint during the scrimmages thus far, but he has shown off some nice mobility. Especially with defensemen like Jay Bouwmeester and Robert Bortuzzo on the NHL roster who are less-than-stellar skaters, Schmaltz might be a nice change-of-pace to the defensive corps in a couple years if he can pick up his game offensively.
- Schmaltz, as well as forward prospect Samuel Blais, was one of the few players who succeeded in the shootout drills at the end of the scrimmage on Tuesday.
- Interpret it however you wish, but four players from the blue-jerseyed squad, a.k.a. “Team MacInnis”, stuck around to participate in drills while the yellow-jerseyed “Team Tkachuk” took part in the second practice session of the day. One could make a strong argument that those four players–forwards Robby Fabbri and Jaedon Descheneau and defensemen Colton Parayko and Niko Mikkola–have been the best four players for the blue team thus far, and perhaps keeping them on the ice longer than everyone else was the Blues’ way of getting a longer look at the talented quartet. Fabbri and Parayko are probably the only two of the four who have any chance of playing in the NHL this year, but all four are making a strong impression during this organized week of practice and activities.