The St. Louis Blues history isn’t filled with quality draft picks. Almost all of their hall-of-fame worthy players, like Chris Pronger, Keith Tkachuk or Al MacInnis, were acquired in high-end trades. In Bleacher Reports list of the 15 best Blues players in history, only three came to the Blues via the draft (Bernie Federko, Mike Liut, Brian Sutter). The team’s entire history is riddled with that trait it seems. For every decent player they get in the draft, they trade for at least five players much better.

With the draft taking place on Thursday and the Blues projected picks not seeming very elite, it might help to take a look at the most notable years in the team’s dismal draft history.

Analyzing the Best Years for the St. Louis Blues in the NHL Draft

1974 NHL Draft

The 1974 NHL Draft wasn’t nearly as exciting as some of the years we’ll look at. It is, however, very noteworthy for the Blues. None of the players picked became Blues legends or made it to the Hall of Fame, which puts the Blues draft struggles into perspective. The first noteworthy draft didn’t come until eight years in and the team only had two good picks.

A Disappointing Duo

The 1974 draft brought the team Mike Zuke (Fifth Round, 79 Overall) and Bob Hess (First Round, Second Overall). The two were the first players to score more than 100 points in a Blues jersey, after being acquired through an NHL draft. It took the team 52 different picks but they finally kept two players around long enough for them to break the 100 point barrier while in St. Louis.

1976 NHL Draft

Bernie Federko, Mike Liut, and Brian Sutter were the three best Blues players to come out of the draft. Ironically, they all came out of the exact same draft. In yet another showing of their draft struggles, they were only able to get Blues legends in one draft.

Still, the Blues had one of the most successful drafts in NHL history in 1976. They drafted two legendary Blues and one future hall-of-fame player. The three players combined for 1773 points, with seven coming from goaltender Liut.

Bernie Federko

Federko (First Round, Seventh Overall) is clearly the best player to ever done a Blues jersey. He holds the franchise record for countless stats and seems unbeatable at this point.

Brian Sutter

Sutter (Second Round, 20th Overall) ended his career with four seasons of over 70 points and a total of 636 in 779 games. He was a staple of the Blues for his entire 11 season career. He ranks in the top five of almost every offensive stat for the team, as well as games played and penalty minutes. Sutter also had the longest run as the team’s captain.

Mike Liut

Liut (Fourth Round, 50th Overall) was with St. Louis for six seasons and totalled a record of 151-133. His negative stats, like leading all Blues goalies with the most losses in a season, ultimately end up giving him a bad reputation. Despite having a few poor stats throughout his career, Liut also leads the franchise in games played, wins, and countless other stats. He also won countless accolades in only his second NHL career, including the league MVP as voted on by other players.

1982 NHL Draft

The 1982 NHL Draft housed the single best pick the St. Louis Blues ever had. They had nine picks in ’82 and only one player played more than eight games with the Blues. In fact, only one player played more than 50 NHL games in their entire career; and he was the latest pick of the three who managed to play a single game.

Doug Gilmour

That player is, of course, Doug Gilmour (Seventh Round, 134th Overall). Doug Gilmour is one of the best players in NHL history, playing an amazing 1474 NHL games and tallying an even more impressive 1414 points. He was a speedy goal scorer and a great agitator in the defensive zone.

Gilmour’s story is a fun one to reflect on. He fell to the seventh round of a weak draft class, despite putting up 119 points in the OHL in the season prior to his selection. No teams had confidence in Gilmour, including the Blues even after they drafted him. They didn’t sign Gilmour until over a year later when Gilmour started making plans to play in West Germany as apart of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.

Gilmour is single-handedly the Blues biggest steal in the draft. In 384 games as a Blue, he had an amazing 354 points. This included his first of three 100-point seasons. For a deeper look into the Blues biggest steal in the draft check out ‘St. Louis Blues: Biggest Win and Loss in the NHL Draft‘.

2010 NHL Draft

After a too-long streak of terrible drafts, the Blues found some footing. In 2010, they made one of the best trades in team history to secure the 16 overall pick. The draft-day trade sent the regrettable 2009 first-round pick, David Rundblad, to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for the pick. The move was simple, but its effect on the team’s future was drastic.

Vladimir Tarasenko

Vladimir Tarasenko (First Round, 16th Overall) was the ultimate return for Rundblad. Four years later and Rundblad is struggling for minutes in the KHL while Tarasenko is one of the best shooters in the league. He’s played 421 NHL games since making his NHL debut in January of the 2012-13 season. In those, he’s had 350 points, 178 of them being goals. His goal scoring ability is only rising, too. Since Tarasenko’s sophomore season of 2014-15, there’s only one player who has managed to score as many goals as he has. That player is Alex Ovechkin, who has won the Maurice Richard Trophy three out of those four seasons.

Tarasenko has had three seasons of over 70 points and is the Blues star player. His goal scoring and playmaking has become a crutch for the team. He led the team in points in 2014-15, 15-16, and 16-17 seasons and was only five points away from doing it again this year. The trade the Blues made in 2010 has ended up changing the course of their franchise.

Jaden Schwartz

Tarasenko wasn’t the team’s only good pick in 2010. Jaden Schwartz (First Round, 14th Overall) was also picked up by the Blues prior to them calling Tarasenko’s name. Schwartz was ranked 28th amongst North American skaters and undervalued because of his 5’10” stature. He’s made up for his height, and showed his worth, in his 380 NHL games since then. Schwartz has become an obvious choice for the top line left-wing position. His offensive mindset and quick, aggressive playing style have made him one of the best in the league. Earlier this year, Schwartz was voted the second most underrated player in the league by his peers.

Schwartz has recorded four seasons of over 50 points, out of his six so far. He was on track to easily break that number again in the 2015-16 season before he was plagued with various lower-body injuries. He’s an offensive powerhouse for the Blues, plain and simple, and is shaping up to become one of the team’s best draft picks ever.

Main Photo: GLENDALE, AZ – MARCH 31: Vladimir Tarasenko #91 of the St. Louis Blues reacts as he skates to the bench during a break from the third period of the NHL game against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on March 31, 2018 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)