General manager Doug Armstrong has pulled off some trades in the past few years and picked up additional draft picks, notably in the 2023 draft.
You can certainly draft a skilled player at the midpoint of the first round. Realistically, any first-round pick, especially around the sixteenth selection, is expected to become a difference-maker and maybe even earn All-Star appearances in the future.
The development, skills, and career of Robert Thomas support this argument.
With the futures of Snuggerud, Dalibor Dvorsky, Theo Lindstein, and Otto Stenberg unknown, adding another mid-first-round pick could be exciting and lethal for the Blues.
The keywords here are “could be.” First, there is no guarantee that the four players already drafted will play in the NHL for the Blues, nor can we predict their NHL success.
Being a first-round pick comes with such expectations, but the draft is unpredictable, and players can underperform in their performance due to injuries and various other factors.
Nevertheless, the “what if” scenario matters here. The 2024 pick could be a steal and resemble Robert Thomas’s All-Star play. Having even two or three of the last three years’ top picks perform at a level similar to Thomas in the future would make the Blues a very dangerous team.
A trade is highly unlikely, but we can’t count it out yet. Armstrong’s hiring of Drew Bannister most likely reinforces the idea that he is planning for a youthful future.
