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

The St. Louis Blues found a future superstar in the seventh round of the 1982 NHL Draft

With the NHL Draft quickly approaching, for the next six days here on the St. Louis Blues Site we will be looking at the best draft picks round-to-round by the Blues organization. Credit for the idea goes to our Site Editor for The Hockey News Detroit Red Wings Site, Connor Earegood.

Note, players' career statistics include data from both the regular season and playoffs. We start in the seventh round, where diamonds in the rough are found.

We gathered five seventh round draft picks who went on to have impactful NHL careers, including a potential sixth player who began to make a name for himself last year with the Blues. Now, only one of these players truly made an impact on the Blues' roster during his tenure. 

Center: Doug Gilmour
134th overall, 1982

That one player would be none other than the Kingston, Ontario native, Doug Gilmour, drafted 134th overall in 1982. Whichever scout slammed his fist on the table to select the future superstar forward should be celebrated.

Gilmour spent five seasons in St. Louis, collecting 409 points in 433 games. Some would argue that his best years were either during the 1986 playoffs when he helped lead the team to the Western Conference Finals with 21 points in 19 games, or the following season in 1986-87, when he scored 42 goals (a career-best) and 105 points.

Unfortunately, in 1988, Gilmour found himself in legal trouble when he was accused of sexual assault (the lawsuit was later dropped) and the team traded him to the Calgary Flames in a massive multi-player deal.

Although his tenure in St. Louis was short-lived, he remains the Blues’ best seventh round draft pick of all time. He went on to win and score the Stanley Cup-clinching goal in 1989 with Calgary, finishing his career with 1,602 points in 1,656 games, and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

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Center: Cliff Ronning
134th overall, 1984

Next up is forward Cliff Ronning. A product out of the WHL, he was drafted 134th overall in the same spot as Gilmour, but two years later in 1984. Ronning spent four seasons with the Blues, first coming aboard in that 1986 playoff run.

His career statistics in St. Louis were 132 points in 185 games. He was moved to the Vancouver Canucks during the 1990-91 season. Ronning was a key offensive contributor (15 points in 24 games) on the 1994 Canucks who lost in the Stanley Cup Final to the Rangers. Ronning finished his career playing 1,263 games and recording 955 points. He had six seasons with 60 or more points.

The next three players did not have long tenures with the team but became impactful NHL players, including two who evolved into coaches at the pro level.

Right Wing: Paul MacLean
109th overall, 1978

First up is former Ottawa Senators Head Coach and a star sniper for the Winnipeg Jets, Paul MacLean, drafted 109th overall in 1978 by the Blues organization. He played only one game in the regular season and playoffs in the 1980-81 season before spending his next seven years in the frigid Manitoba capital playing for the Winnipeg Jets.

MacLean returned to St. Louis in 1989 where he finished his playing career. He played in the NHL for 10 seasons and collected 708 points in 772 games. Paul was quite the goal-scorer back in the day. He scored 30+ goals in eight out of his ten seasons, including 40+ three times. He holds the fourth-highest shooting percentage (21.4%) in NHL history (minimum 400 games played).

MacLean retired in 1991 and took a Head Coaching job with the Peoria Rivermen in the IHL for the beginning of the 1993-94 season. He spent time behind the bench for six NHL organizations and is most known for his stint as Head Coach for the Ottawa Senators from 2011-2015. 

Center/Right Wing: Ian Laperrière
158th overall, 1992

This next player went on to play over 1,000 NHL games for five franchises before moving into a coaching role with the Philadelphia Flyers organization. He is currently the Head Coach of the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the AHL. He is 1992, 158th overall pick, Ian Laperrière.

Laperrière only spent two years in a Blues uniform. He appeared in one game in 1993 before being sent back for his final junior season in the QMJHL. His first pro season was a rousing success as he was a point per game player in the AHL (48 points in 51 games) with the Peoria Rivermen and earned a shot with the big club, which he made the most of (27 points in 37 regular season games).

However, his next season was bumpy, splitting the year between St. Louis, Rangers, and Los Angeles. 

Laperrière was a highly-skilled, offensive dynamo during his time in the QMJHL. But in the NHL he was more known as a defensive specialist and an excellent penalty killer, and was the 2010-11 recipient of the Bill Masterton Trophy. From 1997-2010, he took the 27th most shorthanded faceoffs, but his win percentage (43%) wasn’t as good as his defensive play.

Laperrière played a total of 1,149 games, collected 349 points, and racked up the penalty minutes with 2,051.

Left Wing/Right Wing: Ladislav Nagy
177th overall, 1997

Lastly, before our honorable mention, we have the Slovak forward Ladislav Nagy. He was drafted out of his home country in 1997, 177th overall, and spent two seasons with the Blues (24 points in 51 games) from 1999-2001. Nagy is best known for his impact on the Phoenix Coyotes and with Slovakia at the international level. He won Gold with Slovakia at the 2002 World Championship and then a Bronze at the 2003 tournament.

Nagy played eight seasons in the NHL before completing his playing career overseas. He scored 315 points in 447 games in his NHL career. And finished back home in Slovakia as the team captain for HC Kosice from 2016 to 2019.

Honorable Mention
Defenseman: Tyler Tucker
200th overall, 2018

As an honorable mention, we have the rugged-tough Blues defenseman Tyler Tucker, who was chosen 200th overall in the 2018 draft. Tucker has played 52 games for the blue, white, and gold over the last two years and has the size, physicality, and defensive acumen to one day be a regular in the lineup.

The Blues aren’t expected to re-sign left-shot defenseman Marco Scandella and as the roster stands right now, Tucker has an opportunity to be on the team’s third defense pair come opening night.

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Next up in our new series will be tomorrow with the best sixth round draft picks in Blues history.