St. Louis Blues General Manager Doug Armstrong currently has three selections at the 2025 NHL Draft, which begins with Round 1 on Friday at 6 p.m. CT (ESPN, ESPN+) and continues with Rounds 2-7 on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT (NHL Network, ESPN+).
Armstrong and his team of scouts are expected to make their first pick at No. 19 overall.
“At 19, we think there is a good tier of players we can get,” Armstrong said.
But, as the Blues continue to build their team for long-term success, Armstrong did not rule out making a move to help the roster when the puck drops again in October, but only if he’s confident that player would be part of the group for awhile.
“It’s definitely in consideration, but it’s always in consideration,” Armstrong said of potentially trading his first-round pick. “What I don’t think we’re going to do is deviate from our course — I think we could trade (pick) 19 for a player that is one year away from [unrestricted free agency], and then hope you can sign him, but if you can’t, then you have a player one year away from unrestricted free agency (that could leave)… We won’t be trading for a guy that has one year left unless we know 100 percent we can get him signed.”
Outside of the first round, the Blues are slated to pick in Round 5 (No. 147 overall) and Round 6 (No. 179 overall).
A handful of moves over the years has left the club short on picks this summer. Most notably, the Blues’ second and third-round picks were sent to Edmonton as compensation for the offer sheets given to Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway last year. An additional third-round pick went to Ottawa in exchange for Mathieu Joseph, while the fourth-round pick went to Columbus for Alexandre Texier. The seventh-round pick went to Detroit in a March 2023 trade that brought Jakub Vrana to St. Louis.
“I don’t know if we’re out of (our rebuild),” Armstrong said when discussing his approach to the Draft this summer. “Some described to me the Holloway/Broberg additions last year probably expedited our thought process by three years because we added two more guys into that age group. It is different (not having many picks), but we believe the value in Broberg and Holloway was worth the second and third, so that’s just the price of doing business.”
Armstrong and his team will conduct the Draft from Enterprise Center this season as the League moves to a de-centralized format. The Top 50 prospects will be invited to Los Angeles for the NHL Draft event at Peacock Theatre, and picks will go on stage to receive their jersey before being taken to a studio to meet Armstrong and the rest of his scouts virtually.
Armstrong said his approach remains taking the best player available at the time of his pick.
“One thing that really hasn’t changed is how you build a team, and that’s through the middle of the ice — centermen, defense, goalie,” he said. “Wingers are extremely important but they seem to become more available than centermen or D… you don’t want to take a half or full letter grade-lesser player just because of a positional need because the positional need changes, especially with 19 (year-old players). You’re looking at three or four years before this year’s draft players are going to make a difference.”
