The Blues' prospect system is highly underrated, showcased by The Athletic's latest top 100 NHL drafted prospects ranking
Yesterday we talked about where the St. Louis Blues top two prospects Jimmy Snuggerud and Dalibor Dvorsky ranked in The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler’s top 100 drafted NHL prospects ranking.
Today, we’re going to look at the other three prospects who made the rest of the list, highlighting the strength the Blues have in their prospect system.
At No. 86 on Wheeler’s list is Swedish forward Otto Stenberg. The Blues drafted Otto 25th overall in 2023 with their second first-round draft pick, which they received from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Ryan O’Reilly and Noel Acciari.
Wheeler mentioned that he feels that it is only a matter of time before he starts to produce more consistently in the SHL. Stenberg played 31 games for one of the top Swedish hockey organizations Frolunda, recording three goals and six points in 31 games.
However, he was a standout on Team Sweden at the 2024 World Juniors, finishing third on the team in points with nine, five of which were goals.
Confidence is a beautiful thing in hockey. Stenberg carried over his performance to Sweden’s second-tier men’s league HockeyAllsvenskan, where he was loaned to play for BIK Karlskoga for the second half of the season. He recorded 16 points in 21 combined regular season and qualification games with Karlskoga.
“He’s a smooth skater. He’s got smooth hands. And he’s patient under pressure. With the national team, he has always found ways to elevate, manufacture offense, and contribute on special teams. Everybody loves a worker with skill and opportunism. That’s his game,” said Wheeler.
Stenberg, 19, may only be one to two years away from appearing in the NHL and a big year in Malmo in the SHL in 2024-25 will certainly increase his NHL readiness.
The Blues’ first-rounder in 2024, Adam Jiricek, cracked the list despite having missed half the season with that significant knee injury.
It’s important to remember that going into the season, Jiricek was viewed as one of the top defensemen available in the draft. Back in September, TSN’s Craig Button had him ranked as high as No. 6 on his early draft rankings.
There’s a real possibility that the Blues snatched a phenomenal pick at No. 16 last month. When Adam is on his game, he’s a fleet-footed skater who is incredibly hard to catch on breakouts or when walking the blueline in the offensive zone. He moves effortlessly in all four directions and the hope is that his skating has not suffered a setback from his knee injury.
While playing against men in the Czech Extraliga, and playing in a limited role, Jiricek didn’t get the chance to have as much freedom and show off his offensive tools. There are rumors that the right-shot Czech defenseman could be headed to the OHL to play for the Brantford Bulldogs next season, which would allow him the freedom to showcase his offensive ability.
Blues fans should be patient with Jiricek’s development. It’s important for the player and the organization to work his confidence back up and start performing at a high level again. He’s still 2-3 years away but has the size, skating, and assertiveness to become a top-four defenseman in the NHL.
The last Blues prospect to appear on Wheeler’s list is Swedish defenseman Theo Lindtein at No. 94.
Lindstein, 19, was the third first-rounder in the 2023 draft, acquired via the New York Rangers’ pick, which St. Louis obtained when they traded away Vladimir Tarasenko and Niko Mikkola.
The left-shot defenseman has accumulated several accolades in his hockey career. He secured a gold medal at the 2022 IIHF Men’s U18 World Championship and followed it with silver medals at the U18s and the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in the subsequent year.
Moreover, he was part of Sweden’s silver medal-winning team at the 2024 World Juniors and was voted onto the tournament’s all-star team (eight points in seven games led all defensemen).
Lindstein spent the 2023-24 season playing for Brynas IF in the HockeyAllsvenskan, putting up 15 points in 49 regular season games, and four points in 13 qualification games on the way to winning the league championship and earning a promotion to the SHL for the 2024-25 season.
“He is an unspectacular but solid two-way defenseman. His game isn’t flashy, but he plays very sure of himself, makes his decisions quickly, executes, and defends at a high level. There’s just reliability and detail to his game out there,” said Wheeler.
Theo is prepared to re-enter the SHL with Brynas after playing 32 games for them in the top Swedish league in his draft year before they were relegated. He was averaging 16 to 20 minutes a night last year with the team and there’s no reason to believe that ice time should drop. Now, can he continue to show progression in his offensive game?