Category: Sports News

For the second time in its franchise history, the Senators were involved in a draft day deal that involved a swap of first-round picks with the Nashville Predators.

In 2008, the Senators infamously moved up from the 18th overall selection to Nashville's 15th overall pick to draft Erik Karlsson. Hopefully, the good vibes will continue since that trade worked out well. Although, there is still time for Chet Pickard to pan out.

On Friday night, the Senators moved the 21st overall selection for the 23rd overall pick and the 67th overall selection. They used their first-round pick to select defenceman Logan Hensler out of the University of Wisconsin.

Hensler is a right-shot defenceman who is listed at 6'2" and 190 lbs, and he was a product of the USNTDP. In 32 games for the Badgers, the freshman contributed two goals and 12 points. Hensler's offensive production was relatively modest for a player some analysts projected at the beginning of the season to be one of the first defencemen taken in the 2025 NHL Draft.

Our own Tony Ferrari touched briefly upon this in his 'Final Draft Rankings':

"After a slow start to his freshman season at Wisconsin, Hensler began to showcase the quality that had some believing he could be the second-best defender in the draft coming into the year. Hensler is a mobile, right-shot blueliner who showed he can be a responsible, two-way defender as the season wore on. On most shifts, he plays mistake-free hockey, but every once in a while, Hensler shows the puck skill and playmaking ability to be a catalyst from the back end."

Hensler is described as a big and mobile defenceman, which is an incredibly difficult asset to acquire around the league right now.

"You don't have enough defencemen," Senators head scout Don Boyd explained after Hensler's selection. "You can never have enough defenceman. Right-(shot) defenseman are a premium.

"To select him, (there's) so much room to grow and so much potential. I think there's more offense in his game than if you look at the numbers this year, he's a real good skater. He moves pucks."

There is a good reason for optimism for more offence because Hensler demonstrated at the U17 and U18 levels with the USNTDP that he can produce. In 121 games across two seasons, he recorded nine goals and 60 points.

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There is also the added context of Hensler experiencing collegiate hockey as a true 18-year-old freshman while playing for a retooling Wisconsin program that finished second last in the Big Ten. Playing on a weaker team against older and more physically developed competition can be a challenge for any young player. Therefore, the hope is that with time and more development, Hensler can apply the consistent two-way performances that scouts grew accustomed to while he was on the USNTDP.

"The team itself in Wisconsin may have struggled a little bit," acknowledged Boyd. "He's part of the rebuilding program there. We've known him for a long time at a high level of competition."

There is confidence from Boyd and Hensler himself that he can unearth that potential in his sophomore year.

"We do (have confidence)," Boyd stated confidently with a grin. "He's going to get a lot of ice time. His coaches say he's going to get a lot of ice time. The character of the kid is tremendous."

"I'm a two-way, mobile defenseman," Hensler said while describing his skills to the media following the conclusion of the 2025 NHL Draft's first round. "I use my skating to my advantage to get up and down the ice. I also have an offensive side to me that this upcoming year will definitely be unlocked.

"I think this next year will be huge for me, just confidence-wise. I think we've got a lot of skill coming in this year for Wisconsin and I'm so excited and ready to develop (my offensive side of the game)."

One of the players who will arrive in Madison, Wisconsin, next season is Senators prospect Blake Montgomery. 

Hensler believes his offensive production will continue to grow but also wants to play on the penalty kill and develop into a complete two-way player.

On the defensive side of the game, Boyd stressed how Hensler's skating ability allows him to close quickly.

"Defensively, he can he can meet the rush and stop it," stated Boyd. "He can get a puck. He can go back and get pucks very quickly, turn and move it up the ice very quickly.

"The fact of the matter is that he's, he's a right-handed shot that's that's a real good skater and can move pucks, and we have to have people with that kind of skill to get the puck out of our zone."

Interestingly, when asked which player he would model his game after, Hensler quickly dropped the name of a player Senators fans will be familiar with.

"It is Jake Sanderson. I think we have very good skating. I think just a big piece I'm trying to take is just how simple and efficient is. He's overall an elite defenceman. That's a goal I'm chasing and I think I can reach it."

That would be music to Senators fans' ears. The strongest teams seem to build from the net out and with the addition of Hensler to a group of under-30 defencemen that already includes Jake Sanderson, Thomas Chabot, Tyler Kleven, and Carter Yakemchuk, the Senators are in great shape.

By Graeme Nichols
The Hockey News/Ottawa
Banner image credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

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The Vancouver Canucks added an intriguing prospect to their organization during the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, as they drafted center Braeden Cootes with the 15th overall pick. The Seattle Thunderbirds captain recorded 63 points in 60 games during the WHL season, before guiding Canada to a Gold Medal at the U18s. A two-way center who has what seems like a never-ending motor, Cootes became the first WHLer in over a decade to be drafted by the Canucks in the first round. 

After the selection, General Manager Patrik Allvin met with the media to discuss Vancouver's newest prospect. Cootes had long been rumoured as a player who the Canucks had interest in, as he was even taken out for dinner by team representatives during the 2025 NHL Scouting Combine. Ultimately, Allvin and his management group decided that Cootes was an ideal pick for Vancouver, as they selected him with the 15th overall pick in this year's draft. 

"Braeden Cootes, captain in Seattle, our guys were very excited about him leading up to the meeting today," said Allvin. "And we had a couple of guys that we were hoping were going to be available at 15. You never know when you're picking there, but when we're getting closer to the pick there, and Braeden was a guy the scouting staff was definitely very excited, and so am I to get a right-shot center, captain of Team Canada's Gold Medal team in Dallas earlier. And believe there is upside for him to be a mid-six center." 

Cootes' leadership was one of his attributes that really stuck out this season. He was the youngest captain in the WHL and wore the "C" for his country at this year's U18s. According to Allvin, his ability to be a leader was one of the many reasons why the Canucks were keen to add him to the organization. 

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"Well, I think his demeanor of being fairly mature 18-year-old here. How he led Seattle through a tougher year and were able to get them in the playoffs and how he was able to get a Gold Medal for Canada down at the U18. I think he's a leader by example, on and off the ice, and our staff was really impressive with him during the process of their due diligence, meeting him in Seattle and in Buffalo as well."

Vancouver Canucks 2025 NHL Draft Target: Braeden CootesThe Vancouver Canucks enter the 2025 NHL Entry Draft with a pick in each round. Leading up to the draft day, we at The Hockey News will be profiling a different prospect who the Canucks could take with each of their picks. Today's prospect is Seattle Thunderbirds center Braeden Cootes, who Vancouver could select 15th overall.

As for on-ice play, Cootes is the exact type of player Vancouver needed to add to their prospect pool. He is a right-shot center who can transition the pucks well and plays in every situation. As Allvin explained, players like Cootes are not easy to acquire, which is why the organization is pleased with their selection. 

"Well, I think that along with his position, where he plays, and being a right-shot center, which is extremely hard to get in the league, and for a young player like him, what he brought to the team in Seattle and around Hockey Canada too, is impressive, young man. So, definitely for us, we felt that we have a lot of good younger defensemen in our system, so adding forwards and centers was important for us."

In the end, the Canucks made the right decision by adding Cootes to their organization. He is one of the hardest working prospects available in this draft and, as Allvin pointed out, has the potential to develop into a middle-six center. Overall, this is a prospect fans in Vancouver should be excited about, and can keep tabs on as he is expected to return to the WHL next season. 

Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, be sure to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum.

The brand-new Montreal Canadiens’ player, Noah Dobson, spoke to the media on Friday night for the first time since the trade was made and explained that it was a no-brainer for him to sign a long-term contract with the Habs, even though he hadn’t played for them yet. He called it an honour to have the opportunity to play for the best hockey market in the world and added he was excited to be joining a team with so many talented players on the roster.

The blueliner was impressed by what’s been accomplished in Montreal yet and the steps they’ve taken this year, which made it impossible for him not to be excited. He comes with a great attitude and a willingness to learn and improve his game, words that will likely be music to the ears of coach Martin St-Louis. The player praised the coach’s reputation and the team’s positive attitude, as well as the joy they experience coming to the rink and spending time together as a group.

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In the last season, he said it was a tough one personally and for the New York Islanders, given their difficulties in producing offensively. Speaking of the Canadiens’ blueline, he said there were many good players back there, and it would be a question of seeing who the coaches felt would be the best fit. He hasn’t given thought to his likely partner yet.

About the pressure that comes in this market, he said it wouldn’t be any harder than the pressure he puts on himself every day to perform. He also added that Montreal has always been his favourite away game and that he’s looking forward to stepping on the ice wearing the Tricolore’s jersey.

Dobson explained that once his agents started talking with the Islanders’ organization, both parties were unable to find common ground, and they decided to look for a trade instead. he had nothing but good things to say about the Islanders’ organization. He added that he had a great time on Long Island and would miss it, as well as his teammates.

Finally, he called the last few days crazy, since he knew something was in the works. Things started picking up this morning, which was a brand-new situation for him, and he’s also getting married on Monday. He was informed about the trade by Isles’ GM Mathieu Darche, but was also contacted by Kent Hughes, Jeff Gorton, and St-Louis.

This trade is huge for the Canadiens, not only because of the kind of player they acquired on the ice, but also because Dobson wanted to come to Montreal. He chose to commit long-term to this town and market, despite the challenges and taxes. What that says to me is that the league is starting to notice what the Canadiens are building, and that players are willing to be on this organization.

Photo credit: Christopher Creveling-Imagn Images

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After drafting top winger Porter Martone over center James Hagens at the top of the 2025 NHL Draft, the Philadelphia Flyers will have to wait a little longer to find the No. 1 center of their future.

In fact, the Flyers themselves even insisted they needed centers after electing to choose Martone over Hagens.

So, what compelled them to do that? The answer, according to Flyers GM Danny Briere, was as simple as Martone being the better, more impactful player.

"We said it all along, yeah, we would've preferred a center, but we felt we couldn't pass up on the chance to bring a difference-maker like Porter Martone to the team," Briere explained at the end of the first round of the NHL Draft.

The 18-year-old Martone, already a captain of Canada's U18s and his Brampton Steelheads, finished second only to Michael Misa in goals (37 to Misa's 62) and total scoring (98 points to Misa's 134) amongst draft-eligible forwards in the OHL this year. 

Flyers Draft Porter Martone: Pick Grade, Instant ReactionThe Philadelphia Flyers hit a home run Friday night, picking winger Porter Martone sixth overall atop the 2025 NHL Draft.

Martone's future Flyers teammate and draft classmate, Jack Nesbitt, finished seventh in goals (25)  amongst OHL draft-eligibles and sixth in points (64). That's to give an indication as to how good Martone really is at his age with his natural talents and leadership.

"If there's one thing I would say, it's, in this draft, in the first round, [Martone is] pretty close to being the most ready out of that group," Briere continued. "To be able to select him at six, I don't want to say steal, but we had him higher on our board.

"We felt if Porter was there at six, even though he wasn't a center, that it would be really tough to go by him. . . Porter, in that range, was the one guy we felt we just couldn't let go by."

So, that's the story of how Porter Martone overtook James Hagens and ended up on the Flyers by the end of Friday night.

Briere knows how many right wings the Flyers have just as much as you and I, which should illustrate just how highly this team and these scouts valued this player.

It should be noted that Martone is an Oct. 26 birthday, too, which means he'll be 19 years old fairly early into the 2025-26 season.

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Martone aspires to make the team out of camp, while Briere, cautiously, wouldn't completely rule out the possibility of his newest top draft pick playing NHL games at some point.

After all, a barely 18-year-old Jett Luchanko played four NHL games at the start of last season.

So, by that logic, Martone is closer to the big leagues than we think both from a time perspective and from a skill perspective. Come this time next year, would there be any value in him playing nearly a full OHL season as a 20-year-old? Probably not.

This is a rare occasion where an early birthday and talent intersect to a team's advantage as the Flyers gear up to take the next step in their rebuild.

2025 NHL Draft grades roundup: How expert rate Bruins' James Hagens pick originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

If someone told you a year ago today that the Boston Bruins were going to select Boston College center James Hagens in the 2025 NHL Draft, it would have been easy to assume that the B’s had the No. 1 pick.

But the Bruins were lucky enough to land the Eagles star with the No. 7 overall pick in the first round of Friday’s draft in Los Angeles.

Hagens tallied 37 points (11 goals, 26 assists) in 37 games for BC last season. Even though a point-per-game scoring rate as an 18-year-old in Hockey East is pretty impressive, Hagens didn’t dominate at the level of other recent high draft picks from college, including 2024 No. 1 pick Macklin Celebrini. Hagens’ lack of size at 5-foot-11 also might have factored into his draft slide.

But there’s no doubting his offensive talents. Hagens is an elite playmaker, an excellent skater and an underrated goal scorer. He’s been a first-line player at every level he’s played, and he certainly has the potential to fill that role at the NHL level someday.

“You look back at James’ track record, he’s been a prolific point producer,” Bruins general manager Don Sweeney told reporters Friday night.

What did the experts think of the Bruins taking Hagens at No. 7 overall? Here’s a roundup of grades.

The Athletic: A-

“The Bruins had a clear need for high-end talent in their farm system and a pressing need for top center talent. In Hagens, they address both. He’s an electric skater, puck handler and passer. He becomes the clear top young talent in their organization, and despite how he’s been picked apart at times for his size and physicality, he projects as a potential top-line forward.” — Corey Pronman

USA TODAY Sports: A

“It wasn’t that long ago when Hagens was considered the top prospect in this draft class. Despite his small size, Hagens has incredible skill and will likely end up as one of the better centers of this draft due to his creative and explosive play. This definitely feels like a steal for Boston, that’s for sure.” — Mary Clarke

Bleacher Report: A-

“This is a huge win for the Boston Bruins who, let’s face it, have not done a great job drafting in recent years. The Bruins are also in the middle of a rebuild (retool, whatever you want to call it), and having a brilliant facilitator like Hagens as a piece of that is a big step forward. You can trust him anywhere on the ice. Boston needs that.

“Although Porter Martone’s potential and high ceiling got him our third spot over Hagens, I feel more confident that Hagens will reach his ceiling. He was the consensus No. 1 last summer, but being No. 4 on our board is not a slight on him, just commentary on how much impressive work we’ve seen from the three players ahead of him this season. He’s going to be an excellent player with development and time.” — Hannah Stuart

For Ken Holland, the Kings’ decidedly old-school general manager, new isn’t necessarily better. Take the NHL draft, for example.

Holland presided over more than a quarter-century of drafts with the Detroit Red Wings and Edmonton Oilers, and they were generally held in one place, with everyone from the executives doing the drafting to the players being drafted on site.

On Friday, for the first time in a non-pandemic environment, the draft was conducted semi-remotely, with the top 93 draft-eligible players and their families filling some of the seats in the half-empty Peacock Theater in Los Angeles while team representatives made their selections from their home markets.

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And whatever the league was attempting to accomplish with the decentralized format, other than saving on travel, it didn’t work.

After each pick was announced on a giant video board that took up two-thirds of the theater’s massive stage, players made their way up the aisle to be greeted by Commissioner Gary Bettman. They then pulled on a team jersey and hat before being led into the "Draft House" — a small virtual reality room in the center of the stage — for what amounted to a congratulatory Zoom call with the club’s brass.

The young men were celebrating the biggest moment of their lives yet they came off like Dorothy speaking to the Wizard of Oz. Much of it was awkward, especially when James Hagens, the eighth selection, was left waving at Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney after the audio in the Bruins’ war room in Boston went mute. That was just one of multiple technical glitches that included echoes and timing delays that left players and executives talking over one another.

When it became obvious the painfully slow-paced event would plod past 4½ hours, the Draft House was closed to some teams.

Brady Martin, the fifth pick, didn’t even bother to come to L.A. So when Nashville announced his selection — via a celebrity video taped at a golf course — the NHL showed a video of Martin working on his family’s farm. Russian goaltender Pyotr Andreyanov wouldn’t even get that treatment. When he was announced as the 20th overall pick, the NHL had nothing to show, making Andreyanov the first no-show of the no-show draft.

Matthew Schaefer, a 17-year-old defenseman from Hamilton, Canada,, who was taken with the No. 1 pick by the New York Islanders, said being part of video draft did not spoil his big day.

“I'm just honored to be picked,” said Schaefer who cried, alongside his dad and brother, when his name was called. “I dreamt about it my whole life. It’s such an honor. Especially the first pick overall.”

For Holland, however, none of that counts as progress.

“I’m old and I’m old fashioned. So I like the old way,” said the Kings general manager, whose view was shared by other GMs around the league. “You draft some player in the sixth round and all of a sudden you hear ‘yay!’ way up in the corner. It’s him, it’s his family, and they’re all excited to hear [his] name announced by an NHL team.

“This weekend, to me, is about the young players.”

Aside from the technical difficulties, the actual draft went largely to form. The Ducks, as expected, took Roger McQueen, an 18-year-old forward from Saskatchewan, with their top pick, the 10th overall selection. The Kings, meanwhile, traded their first pick, No. 24 overall, to the Pittsburgh Penguins. After moving down seven spots they took right-handed-shooting defenseman Henry Brzustewicz, 18, a Minnesota native, with the penultimate pick of the first day.

Round two through seven of the draft will be conducted Saturday.

The Ducks, who had a top-10 pick for a seventh straight year, see the 6-foot-5 McQueen as a raw talent who can develop into a top-line center.

“He has a big body. But what goes along with that is his skill and skating ability,” said general manager Pat Verbeek, whose team has 10 picks this weekend.

For the Kings, this draft was the first public move in what could be an intense couple of weeks. Defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and winger Andrei Kuzmenko are unrestricted free agents and the team would like to re-sign both before they hit the open market Tuesday.

“If we re-sign Gavrikov, there’s not going to be a ton of change,” Holland said. “If we don’t, then there’s going to be change.”

Gavrikov, 29, emerged as a solid presence on the blue line, playing a career-high 82 games and posting the best goals-against average of the 17 defensemen to play at least 1,500 minutes. Former Kings GM Rob Blake made Gavrikov a contract offer last March, said Holland, who has since sweetened the deal twice. Replacing him, the GM said, could require a couple of signings.

Kuzmenko, 29, reenergized the offense after coming over from Philadelphia at the trade deadline, with the Kings going 17-5 and averaging nearly four goals a game down the stretch.

“We like Kuzmenko. Kuzmenko likes it here; he likes his role,” Holland said. “I’m talking to him. I talked two, three, four times this week with his agent. So we’ll see.”

Signing both players would put a big dent in the Kings’ $21.7 million in salary-cap space.

“We have a lot of cap space but it doesn’t take much and it’s gone,” Holland said. “We’ve got to figure out how we want to spend our money and they need to figure out how much money they can get.”

Aside from Gavrikov and Kuzmenko, the Kings don’t have many loose ends to tie up. The team is confident it can get forward Alex Laferriere, a restricted free agent, to agree to a short-term deal and it has to decide whether to re-sign David Rittich, an unrestricted free agent, as the backup to starting goalkeeper Darcy Kuemper.

Two players who could be moving on are forward Tanner Jeannot and defenseman Jordan Spence, both of whom are looking for more ice time and may have to leave to get it.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

ST. LOUIS – The St. Louis Blues were left out of the Friday trades in the NHL but added what they hope is their next version of a pure goal scorer.

The Blues selected right wing Justin Carbonneau with the No. 19 pick of the 2025 NHL Draft on Friday in Los Angeles, hoping they will one day in the not-too-distant future have a quality franchise-grown player become the next Blues great.

Carbonneau, 18, is 6-foot-2, 205 pounds who had 89 points (46 goals, 43 assists) in 62 games for Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. His 89 points were second in the league.

Carbonneau scored 77 goals the past two seasons and had 148 points in 130 games.

“I’m not a big crying guy, but all the emotions that went through my head when I heard my name, I thought about my parents, my brother, everybody that was here with me,” Carbonneau said. “My guys, my teammates in Blainville. I’m grateful to have them here every single day. They shoot me some texts about the draft and can’t wait to just call them and meet my family too. I cried a bit thinking about all that, but right now, it’s just pure happiness.

“It’s cool to be drafted and it’s a great opportunity, but to be honest, I didn’t really cry because of the rank or whatever. I think the team first of all, it’s incredible to be in St. Louis. Second of all, I talked about it, but to see my family like this, also proud because they have done so much for me over the last few years. They got early at the rink and sometimes you don’t listen to them when you’re younger after a game and all that. They helped me a lot along the way. Their thing is just my teammates in Blainville, it’s cliché to say things about my teammates, but I would not be here without them today. They help me every single day to be a better teammate, a better player, a better scorer, better leader every single day. There’s different guys being there that help me be the player and the person I am today for the last three years. When I got drafted, it made me think about that. Some good flashbacks. It was emotional, but it was pretty good.”

Carbonneau is a shooter and stick handler, and doesn’t shy away from doing the things that have netted him 77 goals at the junior level the past two seasons.

“I destroyed my whole house when I was younger shooting pucks,” Carbonneau said. “I was walking with some roller blades all day since I was like five years old. My floors, I had to change it too. It’s been something I’ve been working on since I was young, just shooting the puck, walking around with some roller blades, all those things. I think my skills came from a long time ago, but I still work on them every single day.”

And this is why the Blues had Carbonneau ranked high on their draft board.

“He's a goal scorer,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. “He's someone that enjoys the fruits of his labors of scoring goals, someone I think in a league that is going toward goal-scoring, he brings us another element when you stack that on some of the guys that we have right now. He's a good complement with [Jimmy] Snuggerud, [Jordan] Kyrou and [Zack] Bolduc, ‘Buch’ and ‘Holly’ who can score goals. You add another player to that.

“Our goal is to be a three-line scoring team and this gives us an opportunity. Now saying that, I don't expect him to be filling the net with regularity for a few years, so guys will mature out and do other things. It just gives us another option in another area that's hard to do.”

This is the moment Justin Carbonneau became a St. Louis Blue. #NHLDraft#stlbluespic.twitter.com/CbBVdQHIvP

— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) June 28, 2025

Carbonneau said he fits in the mold of an Adrian Kempe of the Los Angeles Kings and Travis Konecny of the Philadelphia Flyers, guys that like to play between the dots and play physical to get there. Carbonneau has some football background in his profile.

“I think his size, speed and shot,” Carbonneau said of Kempe. “I think I bring that, and Konecny, his mindset. I’m not scared of anyone. I score goals in the paint and dirty areas. He’s 5-8 or 5-10, and he shoots the puck and he goes to the net and doesn’t care about getting hit or slashed or whatever. It’s always his mentality, something I want to bring too.

“I wouldn’t call it maybe a career, but I just play football. I used to play running back. I stopped a few years ago, but I just like the contact, like on the ice a little bit. I like to get hit, I like to throw some hits. It’s a part of my game. I play inside (the) dots, I don’t play outside. Yes, I score goals and I make plays offensively, but I do it the right way. I do it strong on my stick and I can relate to my running back when I played. I had some fun playing football.”

Playing strong-minded and a between-the-dots player has always been in Carbonneau’s DNA.

“I think that I always had it in me. I play with a lot of fire,” he said. “I’m not really scared of anyone. I know that the 6-8 guys are stronger probably than me and bigger, but I’m going to still try, I think I always had that in me. Goals are scored in those areas. Outside dots, yes, you can score some goals, but you’re not going to score 50 goals from outside the dots, you’re going to score inside the dots. You have to find ways to get there and I use my body and my speed to get there. It’s important if you want to score goals like a goal-scorer like me.”

Armstrong said that the Blues considered moving up as well as moving back in the draft, especially if Carbonneau was off the board as the last player the Blues had in their block of players they had considered where they picked.

“The top 10 went, not in the exact order we had them, but the spray started after 10,” Armstrong said. “I think the mock drafts had him somewhere (Nos.) 14-18, so we thought that he would be a little bit of a stretch but he might get to us.

“I think it was a difficult year to move up because we didn't have a second, third or fourth. We don't have a second next year because we had to trade it to get a second this year, so the game plays on. If we were going to move up, we were going to have to use our pick, plus someone that we've drafted that we've already put money into develop and it would've had to take us to a different block. We didn't see that. We did talk to a couple of teams that if a player in our block wasn't there, and ‘Carbo’ was the last player in our block, if he wasn't there, we would've considered moving back, but only a couple of slots. When you're looking at 19, we wouldn't have gone to 27 or 28. We might've been able to go to 22 or 23, and acquire a late second or a third and cross your fingers that you don't lose three guys in five picks. We didn't have to do that because at 19, there was a player that we were excited about in our block.”

Carbonneau had met with the Blues prior to the draft at the combine, feeling it would be a good spot for him to land but also open to wherever he went and whoever took him.

“I spoke with the Blues this year,” he said. “I spoke with the mental coach a few hours this year to kind of get with my mindset and all that, and at the combine, I had a good meeting with them too. Some good talks and good people in St. Louis. It’s going to be fun to meet them the next few days.”

Carbonneau will be in St. Louis beginning Monday for a four-day developmental camp, then the two sides will decide on where he will play next season. His choices are Boston College or back in junior.

“We've always tried to listen to the player and tell him that we're in this for the marathon and what does he think is best for him -- how is he going to mature,” Armstrong said. “I've never in my experience as a manager asked a team to trade a player or told a player where to go because if it doesn't work out, he puts it on your plate. These guys, they're young men, 18-19 years old. They have to do what they think is right for them. We know that he wants to be an NHL hockey player, there are different avenues to do it, and we're going to support whatever he does. Like we did with ‘Snuggy,’ we wanted ‘Snuggy’ to turn pro -- he knew that, we knew that. He wanted to go back and as soon as he said he was going back, our attention turned to him having the best year he could have at Minnesota and I think it worked out. We gained his trust by not trying to strong-arm him and he rewarded us with a great season at Minnesota, turning pro and being ready. So what we try and do is work with them, but allow them to make their own decisions.”

Carbonneau said he’s open-minded.

“That’s one of the topics to talk with the Blues,” he said. “It’s Boston College, great option for me next year to develop with older guys and all that. Or Blainville. But my goal is to bring a Stanley Cup. Maybe not next year, but I’ll get there. When you have the mindset and you’re willing to do it, I’m not worried about it. If I play in Blainville, same thing. Winning a Cup with a championship team. Two good options, but some talks that I’m going to do with St. Louis and decide in the next few days.”