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St. Louis Blues Take Former Colorado Avalanche First-Rounder Conner Bleackley in Round 5

By Patrick Karraker

Jun 27, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Conner Bleackley puts on a team sweater after being selected as the number twenty-three overall pick to the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 27, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Conner Bleackley puts on a team sweater after being selected as the number twenty-three overall pick to the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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The St. Louis Blues made a trade with–gasp–the Chicago Blackhawks to acquire an extra fifth-round pick, and they took (you guessed) it another center.

For a variety of reasons, the St. Louis Blues’ most interesting selection in this weekend’s NHL Draft may have come at pick 144 in the fifth round. First of all, it was a bit of a shocker to hear that the Blues had made a deal–even just for a draft pick–with the archrival Chicago Blackhawks, as the Blues sent a 2017 fifth-rounder to Chicago to get back into this year’s fifth round after already having taken center Nolan Stevens earlier in the round.

Of added intrigue was the fact that the player they took with the pick, center Conner Bleackley, was a first-round pick of the Colorado Avalanche (23rd overall) in 2014, but went unsigned and had to enter the draft this year. Bleackley, a 6-foot-1, 192-pound 20-year-old, has played for the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL since the 2011-12 season.

A prolific 2013-14 season with Red Deer earned Bleackley his initial first-round selection, as he scored 29 goals and added 39 assists in 71 games with the Rebels. At the time, Bleackley was considered a strong, skillful skater with a good amount of offensive upside.

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Bleackley’s career took a major downturn after he was initially selected by Colorado. When he reported to camp in 2014, the Avalanche judged his conditioning level to be unsatisfactory and sent him straight back to juniors. Though his numbers with Red Deer in 2014-15 were still relatively good–27 goals and 22 assists with a plus-13 rating–things continued to take a turn for the worse.

Though the Avs were more impressed with his performance in training camp last fall, they still were unwilling to give him a contract, and after returning to Red Deer, he was stripped of the Rebels’ captaincy. After suffering a season-ending broken kneecap in January, it became apparent that he wasn’t going to be able to do enough to impress the Avs and earn a contract, and his rights were traded to Arizona in the February deal that brought Mikkel Boedker to Colorado. The Coyotes didn’t sign him either, and that brought him back to this weekend’s draft.

Next: Blues Take Nolan Stevens in Fifth Round of NHL Draft

NHL Network draft analyst Brian Lawton said during Saturday’s draft coverage that he’d be shocked if the Blues didn’t sign Bleackley right away and use him in the AHL next season. Though fifth-round picks in the NHL are usually shots in the dark–and Bleackley very well may still be–this pick is about as interesting as a selection this late in the draft can be. Considering his junior experience and relatively advanced age, Bleackley could be knocking on the NHL door sooner than later if he finally lives up to the upside that caused him to be a first-rounder just two years ago.

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