The Best St. Louis Blues Picks in Each Round of the NHL Draft: Fifth Round

One of the Blues' best fifth round draft picks helped the team trade for a future star and a long-time St. Louis player

Continuing with our series of the best St. Louis Blues draft picks, we move on to the fifth round of the NHL Draft. In case you’ve missed it, we have revisited the best sixth and seventh round draft picks in the team’s history over the last two days.

We’ve gathered five fifth-rounders, plus an honorable mention for our list below. All five players played four or more seasons with the Blues, two of them have played over 900 games in their NHL careers, one has been known as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the league for a long time, and another helped fetch in a trade the general manager in training, Alexander Steen.

Reminder, the career statistics for players include data from both the regular season and playoffs.

Right Wing: Lee Stempniak
148th overall, 2003

First up is the versatile speedy forward, Lee Stempniak, who was drafted 148th overall in 2003 out of Dartmouth College. Stempniak spent two more seasons with the Big Green as captain after being drafted before making his NHL appearance in 2005-06. He made a strong impression in his first pro season splitting time between St. Louis and the Peoria Rivermen in the AHL. He was up with the big club for the majority of the year, playing 57 games and recording 14 goals and 27 points in his rookie season.

Stempniak’s sophomore campaign was even better, however. He hit the back of the net 27 times and registered 52 points. Both statistics turned out to be single-season highs in his NHL career. Stempniak was traded in November 2008 to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Carlo Colaiacovo and Stanley Cup champion and longtime Blues forward, Alexander Steen.

After a two-year stint in Toronto from 2008-2010, Stempniak played for eight franchises over his last nine years in the league. He wrapped his career with 938 games played (233 with St. Louis and 130 points), 206 goals, and 475 points. For the past two seasons, he has operated as the director of player development with the Arizona Coyotes.

Right Wing: Ryan Reaves
156th overall, 2005

The big bad Ryan “Reavo” Reaves was drafted by the team in 2005, 156th overall. Reaves spent seven seasons with the Blues (the longest tenure of any player on our list) from 2010-2017. Of course, he’s known for his fighting skill, and hitting, and spent a lot of time challenging the best fighters in the league. He totaled 716 penalty minutes over 455 games with St. Louis.

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Reaves tenure in St. Louis ended when he was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins along with a second round pick in June 2017 in exchange for a first round pick and Oskar Sundqvist. If you’re wondering who the Blues picked with that first-rounder, it was Russian forward, Klim Kostin.

The enforcer has spent time also with Vegas, Rangers, and Minnesota, and has two years left on his contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs. He had an impactful fourth line role with the Golden Knights on their Stanley Cup run in 2020.

Reaves is approaching the dog days of his playing years. He’s played 990 games, is in the top 10 for most penalty minutes (1,188), and has recorded the third-most hits (3,424) over the last 14 years. Despite a dropoff in his skating and play on the ice, he remains one of the best locker room players and always provides entertainment when speaking to the media.

Center: Mike Zuke
79th overall, 1974

We’re heading back in time for our next player. Mike Zuke, the 79th overall pick in 1974. He went on to play eight seasons in the NHL, five with the St. Louis Blues. Before making his NHL debut in 1978-79, Zuke played for the Edmonton Oilers, but when they were a part of the WHA league.

Zuke’s best season came in 1980-81 when he scored 28 goals and 49 assists in 85 games. He was a weapon on the powerplay, finishing second on the team in powerplay points with 33. He completed his playing career with the Hartford Whalers from 1983-1986. Zuke was a productive playmaker throughout his NHL tenure, recording 202 assists and 294 points in 481 games (165 assists and 247 points in 322 games with the Blues).

Defenseman: Niko Mikkola
127th overall, 2015

We have a second player still playing in the league and is trying to aid the Florida Panthers in winning their first Stanley Cup. Niko Mikkola was drafted in the same year as Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, only 126 spots after he was picked first.

The Finnish native made his NHL debut on Jan. 7, 2020, at home against the San Jose Sharks. He spent three years with St. Louis from 2020-2023 playing 155 games with the team, spending the majority of his time partnered up with Colton Parayko. Mikkola bruised a lot of bodies during his time in the blue, white, and gold throwing 259 hits and sacrificing his body with 188 blocks.

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St. Louis packaged Mikkola and Vladimir Tarasenko to the New York Rangers leading up to the 2023 Trade Deadline in return for Sammy Blais, defensive prospect Hunter Skinner, a 2023 first round pick (who they used to select Theo Lindstein at pick No. 29 last year), and a 2024 third-rounder.

The Rangers let the 6-foot-4 physical defender walk to free agency where the Florida Panthers sprang in and signed him to a three-year deal worth $2.5 million annually. Mikkola led Florida in hits (198) and blocks (124) in the regular season and has turned into a reliable stay-at-home defense partner for the more offensive-minded, Brandon Montour.

Right Wing: Mark Reeds
86th overall, 1979

Next up is right winger Mark Reeds, a brief teammate with Mike Zuke for two seasons. Reeds spent eight seasons in the NHL, six with the Blues, and was a member of the 1986 team that reached the Stanley Cup Final. He was a star player for the Salt Lake Golden Eagles (St. Louis’s farm team back in the ’80s) and bounced between the Blues and Golden Eagles from 1981-1983.

After impressing with 19 points in 20 games in the 1982-83 season, Reeds earned a full-time spot on the roster the next season, and never went back to Salt Lake. He played 373 games with the Blues, recording 167 points. Much like Zuke, he was also known as a playmaker during his time. Reeds was traded to the Hartford Whalers in October 1987, where he finished his playing career.

Reeds used his playing experience and turned it into a successful coaching career from 1992-2015. He coached the Owen Sound Attack to an OHL Championship in 2010-11 and his goaltender was none other than Blues’ Jordan Binnington. The Ottawa Senators took notice of his coaching ability and brought him aboard as an assistant coach from 2011-2015. Sadly, Reeds passed away on Apr. 14, 2015, from esophageal cancer.

Honorable Mention
Defenseman: Matthew Kessel
150th overall, 2020

Our honorable mention is defenseman, Matthew Kessel, who was picked 150th overall in 2020. He spent this past year split evenly between Springfield (36 games) and St. Louis (39 games) and formed a strong defense pairing with veteran Nick Leddy in the final four games of the season, after spending the majority of his time in the NHL with Torey Krug.

Kessel impressed management and earned himself a two-year contract extension worth $800,000 annually on Mar. 13, 2024. He’s a strong candidate to make a push in training camp to make the opening-night roster.

Next up in our series will be the best fourth round draft picks, which may include a couple of players currently on the Blues roster.