With the 11th pick of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, the St. Louis Blues select…

With a draft that sees the Blues hold twelve draft picks, three of which are in the first round, St. Louis has a variety of options in a very chaotic draft to say the least. Do they package picks together and move up? Use a pick or two to acquire a young player that fits the new core’s age range? Will they move any current players on the roster to get more draft capitol? The options seem endless and depending on the analysts, or armchair GMs, you ask you’ll receive a variety of opinions. 

The Picks

Prospect Pool

As far as needs go for St. Louis, you never want to draft based on current NHL team needs, but you have to look at the prospect pool. When we do this, the Blues are very light on centers, top pairing defenseman, high end scoring wingers, and right-handed defenseman in general. So keep that in mind when it comes to players available in their draft range. Another thing we have to keep in mind is recent draft trends. St. Louis has been very draft heavy in European countries recently and with new GM Alexander Steen at the helm, former European scout with the Blues, that could continue. 

Since the NHL dropped to a 7-round draft in 2005, the St. Louis Blues have only ever made double digit selections one time. Headlined by two 1st round picks, Robbie Fabbri and Ivan Barbashev, the 2014 draft saw St. Louis select 10 players. Why is that important? Well, it sets the stage for what to expect from new GM Alexander Steen in his first draft. Don’t expect Steen to use all those picks. There will inevitably be swapping of picks to move up, or even move back, in this year’s draft. 

Options

1. Trade Up 

This is a very intriguing option for many, especially when you see a familiar name at the top of this year’s draft class, Ivar Stenberg. Brother of rookie Otto Stenberg, Ivar is an ultra-talented, hard-working winger that could see an immediate jump to the NHL. He’s currently playing overseas for Frölunda in the SHL, the top European men’s league. He is not only holding his own, but getting consistent top line minutes and producing at a rate no 18-year-old has since the Sedin twins. He’s also not hurting himself by showing out at the World Championships right now at over a point per game in front of NHL GMs and scouts.

While this sounds great, what’s the cost and is anyone willing to make this a reality? If Toronto passes on Ivar at number one, then there is a chance that San Jose, who’s loaded with young forwards, is willing to move the number two pick for a king’s ransom. Unless you’re willing to part with picks 11 and 15, and then probably another piece, maybe a roster player or prospect or some combination of those things, then it’s probably not going to happen. 

While McKenna and Stenberg are kind of in a tier of their own, there are other great players that I believe would be worth moving up for depending on the price, but who would be willing to move back? A couple of spots that we should keep our eyes on are pick four with Chicago and pick nine with Florida. Will Chicago trade with St. Louis? If it’s worth it to them, but it would feel gross for sure. Do the Blues have a piece that Florida would want to help them right now to move back a few spots? Maybe Jordan Binnington is of interest with negotiations seeming to not be going great with Bobrovsky. I don’t know what will happen for sure, but I do know we will see trades on draft weekend, I do not believe there’s any chance St. Louis makes 12 selections in this draft.

Trade Pieces

Jordan Kyrou : Everybody’s favorite whipping boy, Kyrou has three 30+ goal seasons, three 70+ point seasons, and has four more years left on his contract at $8.125 million. Some see that as a bad contract, but with the increasing salary cap and a look at what 30 goal scorers are getting on the open market, that’s a very fair, if not good deal. A player like this should net you a return somewhere in the realm of a 1st round pick + a good prospect as a starting point. Kyrou does hold a full no trade clause and can veto any deal if he doesn’t want to go. At this point, it seems like both sides are ready for a fresh start, so we’ll see where that goes.

Jordan Binnington : The 2019 Stanley Cup Champion goalie who took the Blues where they had never been before as a rookie. Binner has certainly had his ups and downs over the years, but what we know about him is that when the lights shine the brightest, he shows up. The playoffs, the Olympics, and 4 Nations Binnington was lights out and carried when he needed to. The question is are the Blues ready to move on and hand the reigns over to Joel Hofer? If they are, can he return you a 1st round pick? Can he be part of a deal like mentioned earlier to help you move up in the draft? Binnington holds a 14-team no trade list, so he does have some say, but is definitely a movable piece this offseason.

Colton Parayko/Robert Thomas : These two belong in a category together because moving either of them is a sign that the Blues are ready to see a youth movement. Parayko was almost traded to Buffalo at the deadline and refused to waive. There were rumors that he preferred to stay in the Western Conference, but those rumors were denied by Colton, who said he loves St. Louis and doesn’t want to leave. As for Thomas, you don’t trade number one centers, you draft them. The only way Thomas gets traded is for a massive overpayment that sees a bonafide young stud center coming back the other way.

2. Move Back

Let’s keep this short and sweet, I don’t see the Blues moving back early in this draft. If they want to move into the second round where they have no picks, maybe they move that Colorado 1st and get some extra ammo to move back up later in the draft.

3. Stick and Pick

So let’s say the Blues don’t move any of those three 1st rounders, who are they taking? This is where the chaoticness of this draft comes into play. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you they know where someone will go. They have no idea. I see this draft having a few tiers in the first round, and like a lot of draft classes the players from about pick 15 to 40 are interchangeable, depending on team needs.

Pick 11 : There are usually players that fall for one reason or another: lack of size, bad skating mechanics, or not the greatest hockey IQ. So who are a couple players the Blues may see drop into their laps? 

C/RW – Viggo Björck. A tenacious, skilled, undersized center playing for Djurgardens in the SHL. Björck has worked his way up to playing on the top lines at times as a 5’9” center in the top men’s league in Sweden. He has an extremely high effort/compete level that makes it hard for even bigger players to take the puck off his stick and plays much bigger than his size. His high hockey IQ allows him to find open space and distribute the puck to his teammates in high danger areas. Speaking of high danger areas, Björck scores most of his goals by planting himself in front of the opposing goalie.

C – Tynan Lawrence. One of the few 17-year-olds to transition to the NCAA this season and he did so halfway through the season for Boston University. Lawrence is a big 6’3” center that plays a great two-way game, hounds the puck for turnovers in the offensive zone, and is an elite puck carrier. Not always the greatest shot selections or most creative, but again he’s 17 with a lot of room to grow and better linemates would definitely help him. So why would he fall? His transition to the NCAA started a little slow and didn’t see him light up the world like some thought he would. This is a player I see as a big, tenacious 3C as the worst case scenario. 

LW – Ethan Belchetz. A massive 6’5” winger who has a heavy shot and fairly deceptive release. He strives being around the crease to tip pucks and bang in rebounds and just about impossible to move from there. Oh yeah, he also has surprisingly soft hands for a giant. He doesn’t always have the quickest processing speed or greatest skating mechanics. So why is a player who scored 34 goals in 57 games not going top 10? Well skating is a big one, but he also broke his clavicle and missed a chunk of the season including the OHL playoffs. 

LD – Malte Gustafsson. A big 6’4” smooth skating defenseman who may be the best pure defender in this draft period, oh and he’s physical! He’s not going to walk the line or be a 20 goal scorer, but is good enough offensively. He’s also a good, not elite passer. Why does he drop this low? Honestly, I don’t know. He is never mentioned with the top group of defenseman in this year’s class and it makes no sense to me.

Pick 15 : Good news! Not only will at least one of these players fall, but it’s possible they slip even further and St. Louis gets a shot at them four picks later. If that isn’t the case, there are still some intriguing options. 

C – Oliver Suvanto. Another big center standing at 6’3” Suvanto is what I see as a prototypical 3C. He’s a big bodied 2-way center that is going to play with strength and a net front presence. He’s a great defender and one of the youngest players in this draft. He’s going to fall because of his skating and lack of offensive upside. If you want a 3C that will play a shut down role that will battle on the boards and cycle the puck than Suvanto is the guy for you, but I personally don’t want that with the second of three first round picks, I want to see the Blues take a swing for more upside than that.

W – Adam Novotny. A pure raw speed power forward who, as the season went on, played with energy and physicality. He’s not just a straight line bruiser though, he’s got skill that generates his own chances and can find open space to receive passes. A good puck carrier that can shake off pressure down low and is a great forechecker. He started the season off slow then came on strong at WJC and never looked back. Novotny can be a bit of a volume shooter and needs to tighten up some pass decision making. 

Pick 29 : This is where it becomes a real shot in the dark. Who’s left, what do the Blues prioritize, do they make a ceiling or floor pick? I’ll just throw a few names out there for you for both. Ceiling picks : Yegor Shilov, Mathis Preston, JP Hurlbert, Marcus Nordmark, Niklas Aaram-Olsen and Ryan Roobroeck for pure offensive upside…if it translates. Floor picks : Maddox Dagenais, Juho Piiparinen, Casey Mutryn, Jack Hextall, and Simas Ignatavicius for the safe, should make the NHL someday, but not likely above a 3rd line player at best. My dream is Ilia Morozov or Tommy Bleyl to fall here.

June 26th is quickly approaching for Round 1, until then we may get a few questions answered at the NHL Draft Combine May 31st-June 6th. Player interviews and athletic testing could be the final thing that puts a player over the top or drops them off the draft board completely. With such a chaotic draft and uncertainty, not only with where these players rank on every team’s board, but also the trade candidates St. Louis has, buckle up and enjoy the ride because it’s going to be exciting no matter which direction new GM Alexander Steen decides to go.