The St. Louis Blues had a definitive plan going into the 2017 NHL Draft. They wanted to improve their team immediately and for the future as well. They did both quite well in the end.
The Blues looked to the forward lines early in the draft. They made a big deal, acquiring Brayden Schenn.
Before that, they brought in a two-way playmaker in Robert Thomas. Then, after the duo of trades, the Blues picked up another forward.
This time they looked east and selected Russian Klim Kostin. Kostin is so highly rated that fans are hoping it can be a repeat of 2010 when the Blues got Jaden Schwartz and then lucked into Vladimir Tarasenko.