SB Nation St. Louis - NHL Draft 2011: Blues End Draft With Eight Picks

A Quick Look At How The Blues Did At The 2011 Draft

2011-06-26T12:00:53Z

Looking back at the picks that the Blues made yesterday at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, something stands out - smarts. Not necessarily the smarts of the scouts (though those are apparent) but generally the smarts of the players. While reading through various profiles scattered across the web, the praising of the on-ice awareness, ability to find a way to the net, and general hockey sense of all of the players is reassuring.

Take the Blues’ first pick in this draft, Ty Rattie. Some pooh poohed him and said he’d "fall to the second round." Of course, when Bleacher Report’s who is saying a player is overrated, a reader must always take that with a grain of salt. Rattie was ranked 17th overall among North American skaters, and according to HockeysFuture.com:

He is the epitome of a player with a "nose for the net". What makes Rattie most valuable is his obvious thought process on the ice. He is not a powerful skater, yet he seems to be able to hang on to the puck when it matters most. A versatile forward and a consistent special teams player.

That is exactly what the Blues were looking for. Once you get past the pop-up ads on Bleacher Report and get to the obligatory slideshow, the biggest argument against selecting Rattie is his size, as though he is incapable of putting on muscle mass. The Blues very well knew going into this draft that they were not going to draft a league ready player, and they’re fine with this. Rattie is a cog that will prove useful to the team in the future, which is the point of the draft.

The Blues’ last pick of the draft, I was assured by a Finnish friend, might just be the steal of the later rounds. Teemu Eronen plays for Jokerit Helsinki. You might remember that as the club that former Blues drafting czar Jarmo Kekalainen left to become the GM of. If you don’t think that this pick was passed on to the Blues by Jarmo you’re insane. The kid fits the Blues’ d-man description to a T: smart, good from the blueline, can set up plays, and is good on the powerplay. He’s not big and bulky, but he can see the ice and understand what he needs to do.

Another apparent trend is strength. Demitrij Jaskin is quite the big boy, at 6’3’ and 198 lbs already. Joel Edmundson will be a defender that can protect and clear the crease, and considering that he is 6’5" and 191 lbs, can only get bigger - and hopefully more aggressive.

Where the Blues impressed most are their two goaltending selections. Jordan Binnington (@binnnasty on Twitter) was the Most Outstanding Goaltender in the Memorial Cup tournament, apparently has a wicked snark (read his Twitter posts) and is interested in Ultimate Fighting. He’s a solid 18 year old goalie with tons of potential. While he needs to bulk up, there’s no need to rush a goaltender. Look at Tim Thomas.

The other goaltender selected was Niklas Lundstrom out of Sweden. All you have to do is look at his stats for his play in the U-18 WJC and the fact that he was awarded the best goaltender award for the tournament while leading Sweden to a silver medal, and any concerns about goaltenders in the pipeline should melt away.

The Blues, despite not having a first round draft pick, still finished the draft strong and with some picks that can do the farm teams some good at some point. If any make the big club, as always, remains to be seen - but if another annual injury-fest happens in a few seasons, they'll have some solid reinforcements to call up.

The St. Louis Blues Select Teemu Eronen With The 192nd Pick

2011-06-25T18:25:16Z

With their final pick of the 2011 draft, the St. Louis Blues selected Teemu Eronen of Jokerit Helsinki. Eronen is a large defenseman that needs some development, but at 5'10" and 185 lbs, you can't expect him to be a huge towering hulk, even after maturity. He's a mild offensive threat, good on the powerplay, and he can set up goals as well. He had 11 assists in 48 games last season with Jokerit.

As an aside, former Blues drafting guru Jarmo Kekalainen is now the General Manager of Jokerit. Draw your own conclusions from that.

Buried in here (shield your eyes from the massive amount of ads and try to translate the Finnish) is a fairly sweet goal from the blueline by Eronen:

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The St. Louis Blues Select Ryan Tesink With The 162nd Pick

2011-06-25T18:04:40Z

With their 6th round pick, 162nd overall, the Blues chose Ryan Tesink of the Saint John Sea Dogs. Tesink had 8 goals and 27 assists in 59 games. Most notable, is that in 59 games he had 38 penalty minutes. Also notable is the fact that he finished with a +26 for the season. He scored a goal for the Sea Dogs en-route to their Memorial Cup win in 2011.

He figures that he contributes more through working hard every shift than through scoring, and that contributed him being ranked high in the ranks of North American skaters.

There're a few goal clips buried within here somewhere.

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The St. Louis Blues Select Niklas Lundstrom With The 132nd Pick

2011-06-25T17:28:39Z

The Blues drafted another goaltender with their fifth round pick by drafting Niklas Lundstrom. Lundstrom comes out of Sweden, and he posted a 2.14 GAA and a .911 SV% in the U-18 WJC, and he had a 2.29 GAA and a .914 SV% in overall international under-18 play. In the U-18 WJC, he had the best GAA and led Sweden to their silver medal.

This is the Blues second goaltender pick in this draft, choosing Jordan Binnington 88th overall.

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The St. Louis Blues Select Yannick Veilleux With The 102nd Pick

2011-06-25T16:50:21Z

The Blues have dipped into the QMJHL for their 102nd pick overall in the 4th round. Jannick Veilleux has two seasons under his belt with the Shawinigan Cataractes, scoring 3 goals and 6 assists in nine games and finishing with a -17 in 2009-2010. Veilleux improved in 2010-2011, scoring 19 goals and 29 assists in 68 games. He has a brief three fight fight card at hockeyfights.com, but can also score:

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The St. Louis Blues Select Jordan Binnington With The 88th Pick

2011-06-25T16:40:20Z

Adding to their goaltender depth with the 88th pick, the Blues drafted Jordan Binnington of the Owen Sound Attack. He has a lot of development ahead of him (his stats read him weighing 156 lbs at 6'1", so he's a stringbean in pads) but he's also got a huge skill set to work with. He was named the Most Outstanding Goaltender of the 2011 Memorial Cup, posting a 1.42GAA and a .951 SV% in that series. During the regular season he had a 3.05 GAA and a .899 SV% with a record of 27-12-1-4. According to his NHL.com bio, he's interested in Ultimate Fighting, presumably to clear his own crease when defensemen let him down.

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Blues Acquire Evgeny Grachev From New York Rangers For 72nd Overall Pick

2011-06-25T16:15:21Z

The Blues traded away their 72nd pick overall to the New York Rangers for Evgeny Grachev. Grachev, 6-3 and 202 lbs, was drafted by the Rangers in the 3rd round (75th overall) in 2008. Basically, what the Blues did, was got a player significantly closer to the NHL level instead of a prospect that they'd have to look after in the minors for several seasons. Grachev is big, can skate, and at his size doesn't get shoved off of the puck easily. He played eight regular season games with the Rangers, finishing with no goals, no assists, and a -3 rating. He managed 12 goals and 16 assists in 80 games for the Hartford Wolf Pack in 2009-2010 and an impressive 40 goals and 40 assists with the OHL's Brampton Battalion.

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The St. Louis Blues Select Joel Edmundson With The 46th Pick

2011-06-25T15:58:56Z

The Blues finished their second round picking with a bang, selecting massive defenseman Joel Edmundson of the Moose Jaw Warriors. Edmundson, at almost 18 years of age, sis 6-5 and 198 pounds. When his frame fills out, he'll have the potential to be terrifying. Which is entertaining, because he lists Jordin Tootoo as a hero.

He's not fleet of foot, obviously, nor is he a scorer, but if a crease needs to be cleared, he's your guy. Also, he can throw down. His hockeyfights.com page is already fairly lengthy, with seven fights (three videos) from last season.

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