St. Louis Blues 2024 and 2025 first-round picks leave junior teams after respective seasons ended this week; joining Thunderbirds of AHL for playoff push
Adam Jiricek and Justin Carbonneau are turning to the pro ranks.
A first-round pick (No. 16) in the 2024 NHL Draft and 2025 first-round pick (No. 19) by the St. Louis Blues, each already signed to three-year, entry-level contracts for the defenseman and forward, respectively, will be joining Springfield of the American Hockey League for the remainder of the Thunderbirds' season.
Springfield is currently in the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs and took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-5 series against regular-season champion Providence, winning 3-2 in overtime of Game 3 on Tuesday.
Jiricek's junior season -- and career -- ended on Monday when Brantford fell 5-0 to Barrie in Game 7 of the Ontario Hockey League's Eastern Conference Final, a series in which the Bulldogs led 3-1, and Carbonneau's junior season and career came to a close on Tuesday for Blainville-Boisbriand, also in Game 7 in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League semifinal, falling 6-2 to Moncton.
It was a brilliant -- and healthy -- season for the 6-foot-3, 185-pound D-man, who had 59 points (19 goals, 40 assists) in 50 regular-season games and 22 points (seven goals, 15 assists) in 15 playoff games for the Bulldogs, who had the best record in the OHL this season with 106 points (48-10-8-2).
Jiricek, 19, also had five goals and an assist in seven games in helping lead Czechia to a silver medal at this past year's World Junior Championship.
The season comes on the heels of an injury-plagued season that limited him to 27 regular-season games last season, his first in Brantford (12 points; four goals, eight assists) and a goal and an assist in nine playoff games; he had five assists at the WJC last season in seven games before an injured knee sidelined Jiricek.
Carbonneau, 19, also had a fantastic season for the Armada, his fourth campaign in the QMJHL, finishing with 80 points (51 goals, 29 assists) in 60 regular-season games and another 20 points (nine goals, 11 assists) in 16 playoff games. He finished his junior career with 248 points (133 goals, 115 assists) in 222 regular-season games and another 31 points (15 goals, 16 assists) in 33 postseason games.
The past two first-round picks join defenseman Colin Ralph (second round, 2024), who signed a three-year entry-level contract on April 3 that starts next season after completing his first and only season at Michigan State after playing at St. Cloud State as a freshman.
It is unclear at the moment if Jiricek and/or Carbonneau will play for the Thunderbirds, who have a chance to post a huge upset of the AHL's regular-season champion Bruins, on Thursday, but Ralph jumped right into action for Springfield and has fit in seamlessly, but this would be a bigger jump for each of the 19-year-olds.
Does Springfield coach Steve Ott throw the kids right into the fire pit? We'll soon find out. The bet here would be yes.
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