NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As the first round of Wednesday’s NHL draft unfolded, it became more and more clear that things were breaking correctly for the Blues.
The end result?
The Blues selected Slovakian forward Dalibor Dvorsky with the No. 10 pick, a 6-1 and 205-pound player that lives in the interior at the net-front, and a prospect that was thought of as unlikely to reach St. Louis after the first nine picks of the evening.
Dvorsky’s pick represented a big step in fortifying the Blues’ prospect pipeline, which is heavy on top-end wingers, but lacked depth at center and on the blue line. Dvorsky immediately becomes one of the Blues’ top prospects.
The selection was the Blues’ highest since they took Alex Pietrangelo at No. 4 overall in 2008.
It was the first forward that the Blues took in the top 10 since 1988, when St. Louis drafted Rod Brind’Amour with the ninth pick.
Entering the night, there was some mystery about who would be available for the Blues to pick.
Would controversial Russian winger Matvei Michkov be there at No. 10 as concerns attached to him caused him to drop down draft boards? Would undersized but productive forward Zach Benson from the WHL slip to the Blues because of a lack of height? When would the first defenseman come off the board, and was there a chance that David Reinbacher reached the Blues? Would Ryan Leonard dare drop into St. Louis’ lap?
The answers came early on Wednesday night in Nashville.
Montreal took Reinbacher at No. 5, making the Austrian the first defenseman to be picked. Russian defenseman Dmitri Simashev followed Reinbacher at No. 6 to Arizona. Michkov did not make it past Philadelphia at No. 7. Leonard was scooped up by Washington at No. 8.
As the picks in the top nine came off the board, the Blues’ picture came into focus. At No. 10, they would have a few options to choose from.
It could have been Oliver Moore, the American center widely regarded as the best skater in the draft. It could have been Gabriel Perreault, who broke the United States National Team Development Program’s scoring record last season. The Blues could have chased help on the blue line with Axel Sandin-Pellikka or Tom Willander. They even had a chance to pick Benson.
In the end, it was Dvorsky.
Dvorsky played for AIK in the second tier of Swedish professional hockey last season, and had 14 points in 38 games. He is expected to play for IK Oskarshamm in the SHL next season.
In making the selection at No. 10, Blues general manager Doug Armstrong stood pat with his club’s draft position, opting not to trade up or down, and instead picked Dvorsky. Armstrong mentioned to reporters before the draft how difficult it would be to move up in the draft’s top five picks. And a move down into the teens could have netted the Blues more assets.
“We don’t want to fall out of the top 10 on our list,” Armstrong said Wednesday afternoon before the draft. “That could be 13, 14. If you go from 10 to, say 16 or 17 or 18, the likelihood of all 10 of those guys being there is small. If you believe in mock drafts, four guys are going to be for sure gone in the top five.”
Despite the highest pick in 15 years, the No. 10 selection might not have been the most consequential thing to happen to the Blues on Wednesday night. That might have been the Blackhawks making it official by taking Connor Bedard with the first selection of the night.
Bedard is widely hailed as the best prospect since Connor McDavid or Sidney Crosby, and Chicago has Bedard right after Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews completed their Blackhawk careers. In winning the lottery and then picking Bedard, Chicago may have changed the fortunes of teams around the Central Division, including the Blues.
