{"id":33665,"date":"2018-08-01T08:00:08","date_gmt":"2018-08-01T12:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=33665"},"modified":"2018-07-31T22:55:12","modified_gmt":"2018-08-01T02:55:12","slug":"st-louis-blues-prospects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2018\/08\/01\/st-louis-blues-prospects\/","title":{"rendered":"TSP: Top St. Louis Blues Prospects"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the 2018 Top Shelf Prospects series.\u00a0 As we go through the Summer of 2018 LWOH will be featuring a team-by-team look at the top prospects in the NHL. We will be following the order of the first round of the NHL draft (as if there were no traded draft picks) and you can find all the articles here<\/a>.\u00a0 Since we had an\u00a0extensive NHL Draft preview<\/a>, we will not be reviewing the players who were drafted in the 2018 draft, as there have been no games since then, and our reports on them will not have changed.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"What we will be doing is linking you to those articles, as well as taking a look at prospects that were acquired before this year\u2019s draft; their progress, and their chances of making the 2018-19 roster of the NHL team in question. We will also bring you one sleeper pick \u2013 a player who was either drafted in the 4th-round or later, or was an undrafted free agent signing who we pick as our dark horse to make the NHL. For those wondering, the cut-off for what is or isn\u2019t a prospect is typically about 50 NHL games played (including playoff games) or is 25 years old. These are not hard or fast rules though, and we may make some exceptions depending on the circumstances.<\/em><\/p>\n

St. Louis Blues Prospects<\/h1>\n

The St. Louis Blues<\/a>\u00a0were one of the best teams at the start of the 2017-18 season. They were the best team in the league in December. However, it would not last. Injuries, goaltending issues, a faltering power play, and a lack of secondary scoring all conspired to see the Blues tumble down the standings. When the season ended, they fell one point short of the playoffs, losing out to the Colorado\u00a0Avalanche<\/a> in their final game of the season.<\/p>\n

The disappointing end to the season led to a summer of change. The Blues went into the free agent market signing David Perron<\/a><\/strong>, Tyler Bozak<\/a><\/strong>, Patrick Maroon<\/a><\/strong>, and Chad Johnson<\/a><\/strong>. They also made a huge trade<\/a>\u00a0to acquire Ryan O’Reilly<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0from the Buffalo Sabres<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2018 NHL Draft\u00a0Picks:\u00a0Dominik Bokk<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Scott Perunovich<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Joel Hofer<\/strong>,\u00a0Hugh McGing<\/strong>,\u00a0Mathias Laferriere<\/strong>,\u00a0Tyler Tucker
\n<\/strong>Graduations: Vince Dunn<\/a><\/strong>, Ivan Barbashev<\/a><\/strong>, Oskar Sundqvist<\/a><\/strong>,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Top Prospect: Robert Thomas<\/h2>\n

Centre — shoots Right
\nBorn July\u00a02nd, 1999 —\u00a0Aurora, Ontario
\nHeight 6’0″ — Weight 188 lbs [183 cm \/ 85 kg]
\nDrafted by the St. Louis Blues in the 1st round, #20\u00a0overall at the 2017 NHL Draft<\/p>\n