ST. LOUIS — Blues fans have been hearing about Jordan Kyrou for what feels like forever.
He's still just 22 years old, but has been in the Blues' system since the team drafted him in the second round of the 2016 draft.
The talent and speed have always been apparent, but now he's getting a chance to show what he can do with the training wheels off, under the tutelage of Craig Berube. And it's showing up in the win column for the Blues.
Kyrou has the game-winning goals in the Blues' two wins so far in 2021. And his top-shelf snipe over Sharks' goaltender Devan Dubynk to go ahead in the third period Monday night was a thing of beauty.
It's not an overstatement to say Kyrou is likely the fastest player on the ice every shift he plays, and he's capitalizing on what he's good at.
"Speed and skill. He gets opportunities because of that," Berube said after Monday night's game. "I was glad to see him get one. He had a lot of opportunities, hit a post and had a couple other good shots. He did a good job. He's just got to manage the puck a little better at times, and that'll come. Coming out of junior hockey you're always used to making plays and in the NHL you've got to manage it a little bit. But he did a good job. He showed a lot speed and made a lot of nice plays and could've had more than one goal."
We've seen flashes of Kyrou's offensive prowess on display over the past couple of years, but he's had a hard time cracking the lineup on a roster as deep as St. Louis'.
Now, he's been using that elite speed to help him on the defensive side, too, which is something Berube has been waiting for. Kyrou didn't just have a great goal to give the Blues the lead, he also had an impressive defensive play on the back check to get himself into position to score the go-ahead goal.
"He can do that all the time with his speed and he's really starting to get it and figure that out," Berube said.
"Good defense leads to offense. So I really feel like I've been working hard at that, getting back quicker and being hard on the forecheck and defensively as well so it definitely helps with the overall game," Kyrou said.
"Every day I just continue to work on that. Like I said before that's Chief's big thing, right? Just compete and be tenacious on the puck and that's one thing I've really learned a lot and really bringing to my game I feel like."
The Blues will take offense wherever they can get it, and right now it's the young gun Kyrou with the hot hand.
Unlike previous flashes we've seen, don't expect number 25 to be leaving the lineup any time soon.
"I'm feeling good. Just got to keep it up and keep pushing the pace," Kyrou said.
