The EliteProspects Rinkside 2020-21 Off-Season Prospect Pool Rankings: the No. 27-ranked St. Louis Blues

The St. Louis Blues have a type — players who hit. If they don’t hit, they opt for the next best thing — players who have the potential to one day develop into physical presences.

The ill-advised expenditure of significant draft capital on those bruisers has dragged the Blues’ prospect pool near the bottom of the league like an anchor, but they also won a Stanley Cup with a line-up full of drafted and developed talent.

Ironically, the driving force of the Blues’ system, Scott Perunovich, mostly bucks the trend of drafting physical bottom-pairing defenders and could-be grinders. Beyond the top-four, this prospect pool doesn’t hold much upside, but a few players could become serviceable bottom-of-the-lineup types.

The rise of Scott Perunovich has been nothing short of incredible. He went u