The St. Louis Blues selected defenseman Quinton Burns from the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the 74th overall pick in the third round. Burns is the second defenseman taken by the Blues in the 2023 Draft after Theo Lindstein was selected 29th overall.
Quinton Burns, Defenseman (Pick No. 74) (6-foot-1, 185 pounds)
Central Scouting Ranking (North America): 34th / THW Ranking (Horn): 135
Burns was the first Canadian player selected by the Blues in this draft after they drafted a Slovakian and two Swedish prospects in the first round. Burns also played in three games at the 2023 World Junior Championships, a common theme for the Blues draft picks thus far.
Related: 2023 NHL Draft Guide
It’s clear that the Blues are looking to beef up their prospect pool in this draft, especially on the blue line, and this is a great draft for that.
Overview: What Burns Does Well
Burns played a lot of minutes and handled the tough assignments in the OHL. He’s also good in transition, with the ability to bounce or spin off checks and find the best options with his passing decisions.
One of his greatest strengths is his ability to box out in front of the net, which the Blues have been missing for a few seasons. Overall, he’s viewed as a solid defensive defenseman with quality offensive instincts; he scored 29 points in 54 games for the Frontenacs last season.
Overview: What Burns Needs to Work On
His two-way game needs some development, but he is already a good skater, and he can use that ability and his physicality to help develop his game. While he’s a good passer and skater, he could use some work on improving his shot, which would help him become a dual threat in the offensive zone. Burns also needs to improve his confidence as a shooter, but that’s both a common and fixable issue for a defenseman.
Scout and Draft Analyst Thoughts
“Burns’ main attribute is his defensive IQ, as he’s always putting himself in position to break plays and be engaging on the puck carrier in order to force a turnover. He has a long reach to disrupt plays, get into passing lanes and makes himself available to exit the zone and breakout cleanly. He’s smart positionally and can anticipate plays very well. He can be physical along the boards and uses his size to gain the advantage to win a battle for the loose puck.”
Peter Baracchini, The Hockey Writers
“Burns is a strong-skating defenseman who plays very hard. He’s a punishing physical player, and a strong defender who will make a lot of stops versus pros. The debate on Burns will be exactly how much offense he has. If you see good enough sense he could play, but I haven’t observed much puck play or vision to be convinced especially as an average sized player.”
– ‘2023 NHL Draft ranking: Connor Bedard leads Corey Pronman’s tiers of the top 142 prospects,’ The Athletic NHL, May 30, 2023
Burns’s Overall Upside
There’s a lot to like about Burns’s game; however, I don’t see him as more than a quality third-pairing defenseman in the NHL. If he does improve his two-way game and gain more confidence in his shot, it will be a different story. This is a smart pick by the Blues regardless of upside because they have a solid track record of developing defensemen outside of the first round – recent examples include Niko Mikkola, Vince Dunn, Jake Walman, Colton Parayko, and Joel Edmundson. The bottom line is that Burns is a quality offensive talent with room to develop and grow his skillset over the next several years in the Blues’ system.
