So when a year later, they waste little time breaking that record with nine this year, which also includes it being an NHL high, it speaks wonders.
The group includes four representing Czechia, two each on Sweden and Slovakia and one representing defending gold medal winner USA.
They include …
* Czechia: Adam Jiricek (2024, first round), Jakub Stancl (2023, fourth round), Adam Jecho (2024, third round) and Ondrej Kos (2024, third round).
* Sweden: Otto Stenberg (2023, first round) and Theo Lindstein (2023, first round).
* Slovakia: Dalibor Dvorsky (2023, first round) and Juraj Pekarcik (2023, third round).
* USA: Colin Ralph (2024, second round).
Five of the seven from last year (Dvorsky, Stenberg, Lindstein, Pekarcik and Stancl) are back looking for gold, something Jimmy Snuggerud, (2022, first round) was able to accomplish with USA. Aleksanteri Kaskimaki (2022, third round) also played last year for Finland.
But to top last year’s number and represent the top number for the NHL leaves little doubt that the Blues feel there is a strong prospect pool.
“Nine is a big number for an NHL team,” Blues assistant general manager Tim Taylor said. “You’ve seen the amount of draft picks we’ve had over the past couple years and the high end type of players that we’ve drafted. I’m real excited for every one of these kids to be quite honest. We have Theo and Otto coming back as second-year players with Sweden that got to the finals last year and lost to USA. We’ve got Dvorsky playing his first year of pro hockey at the AHL level has had a good first half here. Looking to see how he responds to a big tournament where he’s the guy now. He’s got to be the man. Looking forward to these different personalities and how they infuse themselves with their teams and seeing how they react in this situation.
“This is one of the biggest tournaments these players will ever play in representing their country. I’m really excited for every single one of them. I mentioned a couple names, like Stancl, his second year back at it; Pekarcik, second year back at it. Kos, Jecho, Jiricek. Jiricek got hurt last year, so it’s really his first year. Those three first-timers and obviously you’ve got Ralph for Team USA. We’re really excited to see how they respond, playing against their peers and playing in the best tournament they’ll play against their own age group. Exciting to see them.”
The tournament will take place in Ottawa beginning with Sweden against Slovakia at 11 a.m. (CT) and run through the medal games Jan. 5. NHL Network will televise all but two games live in the US and TSN Networks will televise all 28 games in Canada.
But now that all eyes will be on Blues prospects at the biggest stage they’ll play on, it’s a chance to enhance the organization’s trust in the player individually but as a collective group to perform well.
“It obviously shows them that we’re heading in the right direction, that our path, that we have a plan and the plan seems to be going in the right direction right now with these nine players,” Taylor said. “We’re hoping that these players obviously make the Blues in the NHL or in the years to come. We feel confident enough with our development staff and with our amateur scouting staff that these players are players that will thrive within the Blues organization and we hope one day that they’re holding up a Stanley Cup again for this organization.
“You’ve got Theo and Otto and Dvorsky as first-round picks. And Jiricek is a first round pick, Pekarcik a third round, Ralph a second round, you go on with it with Stancl, Kos and Jecho, they’re good players. They’re real good players and at the end of the day, you hope all nine make it. Odds say that you will get 3-4 I guess, but at the end of the day, we feel that all nine have a chance to make the NHL and this is just another step. There’s steppingstones in all their career and this is a step in the right direction for them to play in big-time games and a big tournament like this where everyone and all their countries are watching and obviously in Canada where it’s going to be sold out in all these venues. This is a real good steppingstone to all their careers and what’s ahead of them. We hope it’s all nine guys that play with the Blues and one day hold up the Stanley Cup for us.”
