The Blues have remained in the NHL’s upper tier during general manager Doug Armstrong’s highly successful tenure.
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Jeff Gordon
The Blues have remained in the NHL’s upper tier during general manager Doug Armstrong’s highly successful tenure.
Remaining there for much longer will be challenging.
They must get key young veterans to take the next step in their careers, and they must redouble their player development efforts to keep cost-efficient talent coming.
If they don’t, they will face a major falloff in the not-so-distant future.
EP Rinkside ranks the Blues prospect pool at 26th in the league. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman ranks the team’s pipeline at 29th — down from 24 in 2021.
His grading did not include 24-year-olds Jordan Kyrou, Scott Perunovich and Logan Brown or 23-year-olds Robert Thomas, Klim Kostin and Alexei Toropchenko, so it’s not like this franchise is devoid of youth.
But the point is well-taken. After making blockbuster trades to build a Stanley Cup champion, the Blues aren’t brimming with emerging talent.
That was evident at the Traverse City prospects tourney when the Blues contingent suffered a couple of lopsided losses.
Forwards Jake Neighbours and Zachary Bolduc will the prospects of interest when the Blues open training camp Thursday. The Blues need both to grow into Top 9 roles within the next few years to offset the inevitable salary cap casualties.