University of North Dakota standout Jordan Schmaltz has made the decision to forgo his senior year with the school’s illustrious men’s hockey team to try and crack the Blues roster as early as 2015-16. Here’s a layout of his contract as well as a little insight into when fans can expect to see Schmaltz rock the Note.

Schmaltz Contract

Schmaltz, the 25th overall selection in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, inked a 3-year entry level deal with the Blues on Thursday after an impressive developmental run through the USHL, NCAA and prospects camps with St. Louis. His contract is pretty standard among young guns, and while specifics of it aren’t yet publicly available, he will probably receive similar compensation to Dmitrij Jaskin, who’s got one year left on his entry-level deal. That contract nets him around $772K per season, depending on how long he’s up with the big boys. This contract will give Schmaltz the opportunity to showcase his talents to the organization, and earn a spot with the main roster.

Top Prospect

Impressing scouts and other hockey organizations across the nation is nothing new for Schmaltz, who has been a key player on almost every team he’s ever skated with. He’s a Gold medal winner with Team USA (2010 World Hockey U17 Challenge), was named a 2011 USHL First-Team All-Star while pacing all defensemen in points (13G, 31A, 44P) and has led the University of North Dakota men’s team to two consecutive Frozen Four appearances over the past 2 seasons. During that span Schmaltz was able to show he has playoff scoring upsides by leading the way to the Frozen Four, and by averaging a .583 points per game (12GP, 2G, 5A, 7P) while with the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL.

To round out this already impressive resume Jordan Schmaltz was also able to improve upon his stats each year while with UND, capping it off with a 28-point run in just 42 games played (which was good enough for 3rd on the entire team). That’s  enough punch to get fans excited, but Jordan is far from done impressing folks at this point in his life.

What His Future Holds

He’s ready to get to that next level, and earn his spot on the Blues through hard work, dedication, and continued development. He’s sure to be a top-4 mainstay for the Note in the near future, which depending on summer moves and injuries next season, could be as early as this year. He’s been an offensive threat with defensive upside similar to current Blues standout Kevin Shattenkirk, and even has the hockey IQ to see plays before they develop similar to Duncan Keith and Drew Doughty.

He was hands down the top prospect at last year’s Blues Development Camp with his smooth skating, quick transitions and deceptive scoring touch which made him standout amoung the club’s top 2014 NHL Draft picks Robby Fabbri and Ivan Barbashev. Both of those players have a shot at cracking the Blues roster this coming season. There’s no doubt that Schmaltz’s future is bright, and given his previous developmental track, he should be a real contributor in Chicago this coming season. I’d expect him to be a part of the Blues by 2017-18 at the very latest.

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