The Blues have been busy in recent days signing some of their prospects, inking Aleksanteri Kaskimaki and Juraj Pekarcik to contracts. They added to that list today, announcing that they’ve signed forward Jakub Stancl to a three-year, entry-level deal. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The 19-year-old was a fourth-round pick last June, going 106th overall following a good season in Sweden’s junior system. This year, Stancl played in 28 games with Vaxjo’s under-20 team, notching seven goals and seven assists. He also got into seven SHL contests, scoring once. Stancl was more impactful offensively at the World Juniors, however. He recorded four goals and two assists in seven games for Czechia.
St. Louis will have some options with Stancl next season. Since he wasn’t drafted out of the CHL, they can assign him to AHL Springfield if they want to get him acclimated to play in North America. They could opt to send him to major junior where WHL Kelowna holds his rights. Alternatively, they can elect to send him back overseas and keep him in Vaxjo’s system for another year. As long as he doesn’t play in ten NHL games in 2024-25, his contract will actually slide and will still have three years left on it heading into the 2025-26 campaign.