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Written June 11th, 2025
Grading Overview:
Grading Overview:
The grades given are, of course, subjective. Instead of focusing the grading on what they did stats-wise this year, I am more worried about expectations. Are they taking steps in the right direction to become an impact player for the Blues? Now, is this probably unfair? Of course it is. However, it is important to give some credit to some of the guys who don’t get mentioned often for making tremendous strides while also calling attention to some flaws others may have. Below is the broad criteria of how I am judging each prospect. It’s a subjective grading system, but one that can at least be justified for each prospect.
A – Exceeded Expectations
B – Met Expectations
C – Below Expectations
D – Presence on ice impacted the team negatively
F – Better off not even being on the ice
Theo Lindstein
Theo Lindstein
LHD
Age – 20
Draft – 1.29 23’
Current Team – Brynas IF
Summary:
Lindstein exploded onto the scene last year, having a terrific WJC performance and a great club showing. With that came heightened expectations coming into the 24/25 season. Did Lindstein live up to those? Probably not. However, let's look at his season as a whole. Brynas won promotion last season and moved from the HockeyAllsvenskan (Sweden's second tier) to the SHL (top tier). With this move, Lindstein was forced to face stronger competition. Competition that has driven his other classmates (Stenberg and Dvorsky) out of the league entirely and into North America. However, Lindstein did not suffer the same fate, actually playing the majority of SHL games this season. He was a very strong contributor to Brynas' playoff performance, playing 17 games and scoring 3 goals and 2 assists. WJC, he was coming off of an all-star performance in 2024, so many were expecting the same thing in 2025. However, Lindstein decided to take a more defensive approach in this tournament, allowing other Swedish defensemen like Axel Sandin-Pellika and Tom Willander to showcase their offensive skills. Will the stats show that Lindstein improved this year? Not at all. However, I did see improvements in hockey IQ and positioning, specifically, which I enjoyed seeing. As of writing this, it has not officially been stated where Lindstein will be playing next season, but it's almost certainly going to be in Springfield after leaving Brynas in the offseason.
Concerns:
Consistency will be the top one, especially as he continues to play against tougher competition. I would like to see Lindstein develop a bit more physically as well, and with that, his physicality on the ice. This should be noted, though, that teams in the SHL play on an Olympic-sized rink, so as Lindstein comes to America and plays in the smaller rinks, this physicality might appear due to simple proximity.
Grade: B
Reason: Starting off with a grade that will probably be a bit controversial, as many will see this as a down year for Lindstein. However, the guy played in the SHL the entire season, plus playoffs. If that doesn’t give you any respect for what he did, I don’t know what will. I’m also going to give him the statement that I will probably be using a lot in this article, defensemen and goalies take more time to develop, of course, we will see Lindstein have more holes in his game, a lot of these younger guys still have them. Overall, we saw huge improvements when guys like Kaskimaki, Stenberg, and Dvorsky went from Scandinavia to North America, and I expect the same improvements next season with Lindstein. If he fails to impress next year, though, then I might get off the Lindstein hype train. As of now, though, I still see Lindstein as the Blues' top defense prospect.
Adam Jiricek
Adam Jiricek
RHD
Age – 18 (19 on June 28th)
Draft – 1.16 24’
Current Team – Brantford Bulldogs
Summary:
So whenever the Blues drafted Jiricek, it was clear that Jiricek didn’t have many deficits in terms of playing, his one big issue was injury, primarily his knee. He had one goal this season, and that was to simply stay healthy. That goal looked to be in doubt as Jiricek would come back from his initial injury on November 1st but immediately pick up another injury 4 games later on the 6th. This new injury would cost him a little over a month, as he would make his return on December 13th. Thankfully, after this, he played for essentially the rest of the season, which is a huge positive. Stats-wise, Jiricek finished the season with a +10. This number would’ve looked better if it wasn’t for a January 25th awful performance against Barrie in which Jiricek would suffer a -5 in a 6-3 defeat. Offensively, Jiricek showed improvement, scoring his first club goal since 2023 and putting up roughly half a point per game in the regular season. He did struggle a little bit in the playoffs, though, besides one great game on April 13th against Oshawa, where he scored a goal and put up a +5. WJC-wise, Jiricek looked good playing all 7 games and recording 5 assists, most to other Blues prospects. Overall, though, pretty good season.
Concerns:
Injuries will always be a concern for Jiricek. He got through it this year; the next big question will be what happens next year. Another knee injury could always be the end of Jiricek's career. I would also like to see him put on some more weight, as 179 pounds just doesn’t fit a 6’3’’ frame. Finally, as Jiricek matures, I would like to see the offensive numbers continue to rise. This isn’t as pressing for a defenseman, but it would still be a nice part of his game if he can figure that out.
Grade: B+
Reason: The Big question was could he stay healthy, and for the most part, he did. I also loved his WJC performance. The offensive production raises his score from a B to a B+.
Lukas Fischer
Lukas Fischer
LHD
Age – 18
Draft – 2.56 24’
Current Team – Sarnia Sting
Summary:
Lukas Fischer entered this year as the youngest Blues prospect and one of the youngest in the entire league, so this year has been called a “free development year”. However, you still like to see progress, and I think Lukas Fischer accomplished that significantly. He was declared the captain of the Sarnia Sting in the preseason, something that should never be overlooked, as it demonstrates leadership characteristics. Overall, Fischer took a huge step in the goal-scoring category this year, scoring 15 goals, the most he has ever scored in his career, including in AAA. He also passed his previous season's point mark in 17 fewer games. Defensively, still some concerns, but for the first half of the season, he was playing pretty good. Only in mid-February, after the OHL trade deadline and huge changes in the Sarnia defensive room, left Fischer with a new de partner, is when you saw a drastic decline in the +/-. Sarnia was also simply a bad team, which doesn’t help that look either. In terms of his time in Springfield, it was bad, but he is just simply not ready for that yet, so I’m not holding that against him.
Concerns:
Puck handling is a big thing when I watch Fischer's game; it seems to get sloppy at times. Like Jiricek, Fischer still needs to build into his frame a bit more. I would also like to see Fischer get a little bit tighter on the boards. Discipline is the other big one. This is now a back-to-back season in which Fischer has put up around 80 PIMs, and that is something you simply can’t do in the majors unless you’re the team's “goon”.
Grade: A-
Reason: Are there still some concerns with Lukas Fischer? Of course, there are. However, this was a terrific offensive jump for Fischer this year, and I still haven’t seen anything major weaknesses in his game that make him a true liability on the ice. I hope Lukas Fischer can find a more competitive team next season.
Quinton Burns
Quinton Burns
LHD
Age – 20
Draft – 3.74 23’
Current Team – Kingston
Summary:
Another OHL captain here with Burns also being named captain this preseason. You know, I truly just need to say this about Burns to help understand how amazing of a season this was for him. In 2023/24, Kingston was a below-average playoff team, and Burns had a -19 +/- and a -5 in the playoffs. Flip the script into 2024/25, Kingston is slightly better but still a pretty average playoff team, and Burns ended his season with a +45 in the regular season and a +6 in the playoffs. If we just look at the regular season, that is a 64 +/- raise over one season. This +45 put Burns 5th for defensemen and 11th for the entire OHL. 3 of the 4 defensemen above him play for either Windsor or London, the clear-cut top two teams in the OHL. In one season, Burns turned into a top-line shutdown defenseman for Kingston thanks to his improvements, including positioning and physicality. The offensive numbers were still impressive, just under 50 points this season. He even improved his discipline a bit this year, which was the number one thing I wished for this preseason. Overall, we’ve been talking about Burns simply being a top-end AHL defenseman, but we may need to consider that he possibly has a bigger ceiling.
Concerns:
I know Burns likes to fight, but I’m still not a fan seeing triple-digit PIMs the last three years, so discipline could still use some work, although improvements were made this year. Other than that, I’m happy.
Grade: A+
Reason: What an improvement this year, not sure where he will end up next year, but he earned his ELC in August, so there’s a possibility he might end up in Springfield. No matter where he ends up, though, I’m hoping these defensive improvements we saw this year are not a one-time thing.
Matthew Mayich
Matthew Mayich
LHD
Age – 20
Draft – 6.170 23’
Current Team – Clarkson University
Summary:
So overall, there isn't too much of a change here for Mayich. The biggest applause I will give him is that his playmaking significantly improved this season, even though Ottawa was a bad team this year, missing the playoffs for the first time since Mayich started his career. Probably the biggest defensive improvement has been his blocking ability, and he has gotten tougher around the boards. The bigger thing we need to do in terms of Mayich is talk about the contract. Now, contract rules are much more complicated than what I am about to state, but basically, all NHL teams must sign prospects who were drafted out of the CHL by June 1st, 2 years after the draft date. For this case, Mayich's rights would’ve technically run out on June 1st, 2025. However, NCAA players have a longer time to be given an ELC, and Mayich signed with an NCAA club, Clarkson, a couple of weeks before the initial June 1st deadline, so no one is really sure if Mayich is still technically a Blues prospect or not. For this grading system, I’m assuming he still is under the Blues umbrella, but I don’t expect the Blues to give him an ELC since if they really wanted to, they would’ve been safe and completed it before June 1st.
Concerns:
Penalties are Mayich's biggest concern. He had his highest amount of penalty minutes in his CHL career this season. He has made strides in a multitude of defensive categories, but there are still questions as to whether or not these skills will continue to develop specifically for positioning.
Grade: B-
Reason: Improvements were made even with Mayich playing on a bad Ottawa side. Would’ve liked to see slightly more improvements, specifically on defense, but the offensive playmaking improvements make up for it. It is still tough to get excited about a guy who doesn’t look like he will be a Blue for much longer.
Will McIsaac
Will McIsaac
RHD
Age – 19
Draft – 5.145 24’
Current Team – Spokane Chiefs
Summary:
McIsaac will always hold a special place for me as he was the first guy I have ever mocked to the Blues correctly and with the correct pick. What made me even more excited is how the fifth-rounder has burst onto the scene this year. Something I have nailed a lot of defensemen for during this article is being underweight for their size. This is not an issue for McIsaac, who is already over 200 pounds. Even with this size, McIsaac moves very well and has great hockey IQ. The only person who really beat McIsaac this season was Gavin McKenna. McIsaac also improved his stick checking significantly this season and looks like a contender for being a very good shutdown defenseman. If we take a look at the +/- side of things, his +46 ended up being the highest on the team. Offensively, McIsaac showed improvements in the playmaking area of his game. However, I’m not sure whether that is because Spokane improved so much offensively this season, bringing in guys like Andrew Cristall, or if it was simply McIsaac's improvements. We just have to wait and see on that front, but the defensive improvement is significantly more important than the offensive one.
Concerns:
Transitions could still use some work. He’s quick enough to get back and defend most skaters; he just hasn’t figured out how to stop the speedsters yet. That’s about it for concerns.
Grade: A
Reason: McIsaac has shown that there is a chance he could be a very good bottom 4 NHL defenseman in a couple of years, which is extremely exciting. Spokane is going to lose some of its offensive stars this offseason, so it’ll be interesting to see whether or not McIsaac's improvements are real or not.
Colin Ralph
Colin Ralph
LHD
Age – 19
Draft – 2.48 24’
Current Team – Michigan State
Summary:
At 6’5’’ 227lbs, Ralph was the biggest skater in his draft class according to combine metrics. He took a very different route compared to most of the other prospects we’ve talked about, committing to St. Cloud State University after a very short stint in the USHL. Bad news for Ralph, St. Cloud was by far the worst team in the NCHC, and it wasn’t even that close. For that reason, it is kind of hard to get a good read on how he played this season. Defensively, though, everything looked good. Had some great physicality this year and had one of the highest +/- on the team despite being one of St. Cloud’s youngest players. This defensive upside has attracted some attention as Ralph was able to transfer to a major player last season, being the Michigan State Spartans. With this move, not only will more Blues fans be able to easily watch Ralph’s game, but also Ralph will be facing some more consistent levels of higher competition. It’ll be a sink or swim season next year, but Ralph has all the physical tools to keep up.
Concerns:
Offensive skills could use some work, but as a defensively focused guy, you can’t ding him too much for that. Board play is the main knock I’ll give him, and I wish he would be more dominant during puck battles, especially considering his size. Explosiveness while skating is also something I hope improves.
Grade: B-
Reason: Mainly due to the expectations grading system. It is hard to say you were an amazing defender when your team was dead last in the conference. I expect a really good sophomore season out of Ralph next season, especially being surrounded by other high-upside players.
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