Chicago Blackhawks: 2019 NHL Draft grades for central division
St. Louis Blues
The St. Louis Blues are the Stanley Cup Champions. They were in dead last in early January. 31 out of 31. Then they inserted a rookie goaltender named Jordan Binnington and the rest, as they say, was history. They ended up making it to the postseason and rolling through some very tough series before defeating the Boston Bruins in seven games of the Stanley Cup Final.
So how do you improve the Stanley Cup Champions? You add depth and make sure that sustained success is your number one priority. Building teams through the draft is the key to that, not only in the NHL but professional sports in general.
The Blues didn’t have a first-round pick. They traded it to the Buffalo Sabres and it became the 31st overall pick because, you know, they won the Stanley Cup. And in return for that first round pick, they got Ryan O’Reilly who was their leading scorer in the playoff and regular season. Oh, and he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs and the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward.
That isn’t a draft day trade so it isn’t going into their grade. They took Nikita Alexandrov in the second round who would probably be a first round pick in any other year, so that was a solid pick. They took a goalie despite having a guy in Binnington who is going to get a payday and Jake Allen who already makes a lot of money but they always seem to draft at least one.
They really don’t care how anyone grades their draft because they are the defending Stanley Cup champions but someones gotta do it anyway. The Blues will be right back in the mix again next season as well.