The St. Louis Blues were slightly questioned with their 26th overall selection in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, but their team of scouts knew what they were doing.
In 2020, the organization chose Jake Neighbours in the late first round, despite many public scouting outlets viewing him as an early second-rounder.
The criticisms the team received were that there were more talented prospects available to choose from like Brendan Brisson, Mavrik Bourque, and J.J. Peterka.
Well, outside of Peterka, Neighbours has outperformed the other two names, and last season established himself as a full-time NHL player who can play and perform in a top-six role.
Now it’s up to him to prove that there’s more to come from the former first-rounder.
Neighbours leapt into the NHL early in his development when he made the Blues’ opening night roster in 2021. He played nine games for the team before they decided to send him back to the WHL, avoiding burning a year off his entry-level contract.
In 2022-23, Jake again made the team out of training camp, but lasted only a month and was reassigned to the Springfield Thunderbirds in the AHL.
He played 43 games with the Blues that season scoring six goals and 10 points but spent most of the middle parts of the year bouncing between the big club and Springfield.
Related: St. Louis Blues end of season Q & A with Jake Neighbours
Well, those six goals increased to 27 last season, along with a 28-point uptick. An increase in ice time and more trust under Head Coach Drew Bannister proved rewarding for the Calgary, Alberta native.
Neighbour’s goal-scoring outburst was attributed to his performance on the powerplay.
Last year, Jake averaged 2:12 PP TOI/gp after averaging only one minute in the year prior. He tied Pavel Buchnevich, Jordan Kyrou, and Robert Thomas with the most powerplay goals with eight.
There’s no reason why he shouldn’t continue to be the net-front man on St. Louis’ powerplay.
Neighbours made a living at the top of the crease, scoring the majority of his goals from within 5-10 feet of the net. He displayed terrific hand-eye coordination to tip pucks past netminders on the man advantage, but his snap shot is the most dangerous aspect of his goal-scoring abilities.
Jake tends to cradle the puck from the toe of his stick blade to his heel to create a quick and powerful release. This enables him to elevate the puck over goalies from a short distance.
25 goals should be a reasonable expectation for the 22-year-old winger. The next step is to improve his playmaking (only had 11 assists last year) and his plus/minus rating (his career rating is -37).
One interesting statistic we discovered was that he scored the first goal of the game the most times among St. Louis players, achieving this seven times last year.
Neighbours didn’t just earn his top-six minutes by increasing his production. He earned it by bringing a physical edge to his off-puck play and acting as a forward who can disrupt breakouts by throwing the body.
Related: Neighbours carving old-school style into game, earning respect from teammates as a result
Jake is a throwback forward. He isn’t a great skater, average at best, but he’s tough-as-nails and provides energy for his team with his physicality and high-end competitiveness.
He ranked sixth in takeaways (39), fourth in hits (138), and fifth in blocked shots (45) amongst Blues forwards last season.
Jake is entering a crucial contract season. His three-year entry-level contract is coming to an end, and if he continues to develop as a key top-six productive power forward for St. Louis, he could earn a significant payday.
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