The St. Louis Blues have five picks in the first three rounds of the 2023 NHL Draft. After that, they have four picks in the final four rounds, giving them ample opportunity to add quality prospects to their pool.
Related: Blues 2023 First-Round Draft Targets: Tom Willander
This year, the Blues will have four chances to find a draft gem after the third round. Here’s a look at three gems selected by Doug Armstrong, who has been the Blues’ general manager since 2010. I consider a draft gem to be a player drafted outside of the first three rounds who greatly outperforms expectations.
Sammy Blais – 2014 NHL Draft – 6th Round, 176th Overall
Sammy Blais is one of many gems from the 2014 Draft. Players such as Viktor Arvidsson, Devon Toews, Igor Shesterkin, and several others were taken outside of the first three rounds in 2014. Blais made his NHL debut with the Blues in the 2017-18 season and become the epitome of a power forward.
Blais was a big part of the Blues’ bottom six throughout their Stanley Cup run in 2019. He played a heavy-hitting style that fit perfectly with head coach Craig Berube’s system. However, after that run, he dealt with numerous injuries. He played just 76 regular-season games between the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons. In the offseason before the 2021-22 season, the Blues traded Blais to the New York Rangers for Pavel Buchnevich. It did not work out at all for Blais in New York. He suffered a torn ACL in his first season and played 54 games in two seasons for the Rangers with zero goals.
To his benefit, the Rangers included Blais in the trade for Vladimir Tarasenko. With that, Blais made his return to the Blues and has looked like a completely different player. He played the final 31 games of the season in 2022-23, scoring nine goals and 11 assists. He also had a shooting percentage of 23.1 and threw 119 hits.
He signed a one-year extension with the team worth $1 million for next season, and he will be a valuable part of the lineup. It’s safe to say that the Blues have gotten a lot from their sixth-round pick in 2014.
Niko Mikkola – 2015 NHL Draft – 5th Round, 127th Overall
The Blues drafted two defensemen in the 2015 Draft, including Niko Mikkola, who was drafted early in the fifth round, and both worked out fairly well. Before taking Mikkola, they drafted Vince Dunn in the second round. Dunn and Mikkola played key roles on the back end before their time in St. Louis came to an end.
Mikkola debuted in the 2019-20 season and played 35 games in his first two NHL seasons. He became a larger part of the blue line in 2021-22, although he was inconsistent, playing 54 games with 13 points. His 6-foot-4 frame made him a perfect fit for the Blues’ third pair at the time, and he played well in the 2022 Playoffs. However, 2022-23 didn’t go well for Mikkola, or anybody on the Blues’ blue line this season, despite high expectations. His numbers were fine. However, the Blues eventually dealt him to the Rangers in the Tarasenko trade.
He’s a free agent this summer, so it was a smart move for Armstrong to get value for him when he could. Overall, Mikkola had a solid run in St. Louis, and the Blues got plenty out of him as a fifth-round pick.
Ville Husso – 2014 NHL Draft – 4th Round, 94th Overall
Ville Husso was the 94th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2014 Draft, which had a quality goaltending group led by Shesterkin, Thatcher Demko, Ilya Sorokin, and Husso. The Blues didn’t have Husso as long as they would have liked, but he had a terrific run in St. Louis.
Husso didn’t break into the NHL until he was 25 years old, making his debut in the 2020-21 season. His first season was not good. He only appeared in 17 games, but he had a save percentage (SV%) of .893 and a negative goals saved above average (GSAA) of minus-6.6. He redeemed himself with a terrific 2021-22 season, becoming the Blues’ starter in parts of the season when Jordan Binnington struggled. In 40 games, Husso had a record of 25-7-6 and a .919 SV%. He was phenomenal.
He was set to become a free agent before this season, so the Blues traded his rights to the Detroit Red Wings. Husso signed a three-year deal with a salary cap hit of $4.750 million with the Red Wings and struggled in parts of his first season in Detroit. He went 26-22-7 with an SV% of .896. I believe the Blues would have tried harder to re-sign him if it weren’t for Binnington’s long-term contract. Either way, the Blues got a lot out of a fourth-round goaltender in a short time.
It wouldn’t surprise me to see current Blues prospects drafted after the third round turn into gems at some point. Alexey Toropchenko could be considered a draft gem already. Armstrong has been a solid drafter overall, and the 2023 Draft will be a major opportunity for him.