After selecting Jiricek in first round Friday, Blues add three more defensemen, four centers to conclude day in Las Vegas
Many felt the St. Louis Blues would be defenseman-centric at the 2024 NHL Draft with their nine picks.
They were, but not as much as thought.
The Blues concluded the draft Saturday at the Sphere in Las Vegas with eight of their nine picks. They selected defenseman Adam Jiricek with the 16th pick on Friday, and also took three more defensemen on Saturday, including two in the second round with Colin Ralph at No. 48 and Lukas Fischer at No. 56, but they were also center-centric with four picks.
They had two more picks in the third round, taking left wing Ondrej Kos of Ilves Jr. of the Finland Jr. League. with the 81st pick.
Kos, 18, had 12 points across all competitions and teams, including Czechia's U18 team at the World Juniors.
With the 95th pick in the third round acquired from the New York Rangers last season for Vladimir Tarasenko and Niko Mikkola, the Blues went with Adam Jecho of Edmonton from the Western Hockey League.
Jecho, 18, had 47 points (23 goals, 24 assists) in 54 games with the Oil Kings, the former junior team of Blues forward Jake Neighbours.
Jecho (6-5, 201) has a high upside and had been projected with first-round potential that slipped to the Blues in the third round. He was 13th among the midterm North American skaters in draft rankings but slipped to 22nd in the final rankings.
It's a great story for the third-round picks, who know each other as Czech Republic natives.
With pick No. 113 of the fourth round, the Blues selected center Tomas Mrsic (6-0, 170) from Medicine Hat of the WHL.
Mrsic, had 62 points (23 goals, 39 assists) in 63 games for the Tigers last season.
In the fifth round with pick No. 145, it was back to defense and William McIsaac of Spokane of the WHL.
McIsaac, 18, had 27 points (six goals, 21 assists) in 67 games with the Chiefs last season. At 6-3, 192, there's some room to grow out and it's the second right-hand d-man to go with Jiricek.
With no sixth round picks (it was traded last year to Philadelphia for Kevin Hayes), the Blues had two picks in the seventh round and took center Antoine Dorion from Zack Bolduc's alma mater, Quebec of the QMJHL.
Dorion, 18, is the son of former Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion and had 26 points (11 goals, 15 assists) in 68 games with the Remparts this past season.
And with pick No. 211, acquired last season from the New York Islanders for Robert Bortuzzo, the Blues took center Matvei Korotny from SKA St. Petersburg Jr. of the Russian Jr. (MHL) League.
The 18-year-old had 38 points (20 goals, 18 assists) in 51 games a season ago and is likely to remain in Russia next year.
A note about Ralph, it's either coincidence or pure luck, but the Maple Grove, Minn. native played AAA hockey for CarShield in St. Louis and went to/played at Kirkwood High School in 2021-22 before moving to Shattuck-St. Mary's for the 2022-23 season.
Ralph is committed to St. Cloud State next season.
And speaking of sons of former players/executives, Fischer is the son of former Detroit Red Wings defenseman Jiri Fischer.
