It was around the time Matthew Tkachuk turned 8 when a prospect from the St. Louis Blues, Lee Stempniak, moved into the family household. Stempniak was from Buffalo, had played college hockey at Dartmouth College, and Tkachuk’s father, Keith, wanted to help the first-year player make the transition to professional hockey.
The dreams were so much simpler then, Matthew Tkachuk recalls. Back then, he, Logan Brown, Clayton Keller and Luke Kunin were four kids playing youth hockey for the AAA Blues at Hardee’s Iceplex in Chesterfield.
The last 17-year-old pure offensive talent that I can remember dominating in the same way Clayton Keller did this past year was Patrick Kane. Both were tiny wizards with the puck. Both set NTDP scoring records.
It’s a banner year for the youth development in the city of St. Louis, which could see as many as three local products–Matt Tkachuk, Logan Brown, and Clayton Keller–all taken within the first ten picks of this year’s Draft, and another, Luke Kunin, also taken in the first round. But there is a fifth player from St. Louis that doesn’t get as much attention, but is also likely to be taken within the first 60-75 picks of this year’s Draft in NTDP forward Trent Frederic.
It was around the time Matthew Tkachuk turned 8 when a prospect from the St. Louis Blues, Lee Stempniak, moved into the family household. Stempniak was from Buffalo, had played college hockey at Dartmouth College, and Tkachuk’s father, Keith, wanted to help the first-year player make the transition to professional hockey.
Another member of the 2015-16 Junior Blues, goaltender Tommy Nappier, was ranked just outside the top 30 goalies in the final prospect ratings. And another skater who played for the 2014-15 Junior Blues, center Kevin Klima, also is in the final ratings for North American Skaters.
That player was of course, Patrick Maroon, whose very acquisition was a pleasant surprise from an Edmonton perspective and whose subsequent play proved to be more of the same.
Ben Bishop is set to become an unrestricted free agent a year from now and will be in line for a raise. He will be nearly impossible for the Lightning to accommodate as Nikita Kucherov, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Alex Killorn, Jonathan Drouin and Victor Hedman all need next contracts this summer or next.
When the draft begins Friday night in Buffalo, get ready to hear a lot about players from St. Louis with at least four potential first-rounders from here in Matthew Tkachuk, Swansea’s Clayton Keller, Logan Brown and Luke Kunin.
Matthew Tkachuk was one of the most talented prospects available for the 2013 OHL Draft, but slipped down to the perennial contending Knights due to fears over his steadfast commitment to Notre Dame’s hockey program.
