"There are a couple of players we have our eye on."

"We are considering moving up," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong revealed in an exclusive interview for stlouisblues.com. "We've talked to some teams that are in an area where they think they might want to move back and grab either two first-round picks or one of our firsts and our second-round pick, depending on how far we move up.

ST. LOUIS - The Blues will have two first-round picks when the 2017 NHL Draft begins Friday at United Center in Chicago.

Round 1 of the NHL Draft begins at 6 p.m. CT on Friday (NBCSN), while Rounds 2-7 will be held Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. on NHL Network.

Barring a trade, the Blues have seven picks: No. 20, 27, 51, 113, 130, 175 and 206.

"We're excited about picks No. 20, 27 and 51," Armstrong said. "We think we're going to get really good players there, but if there's a way to move up and get a player that we deem of real value, (we might)."

Armstrong said the team's scouts have been working hard preparing for the draft since August. Scouts have recently returned from the NHL Combine and are spending the last few days finalizing their prospect rankings

"(This draft) doesn't have the (Sidney) Crosby, (Alex) Ovechkin or (Auston) Matthews-type players at the top end, but we're still excited," Armstrong said. "It doesn't look like it has the depth of Robby Fabbri's draft where you might get a guy to fit in your Top 6. But that being said, someone is going to outperform the draft, they always do. It could be someone in the late first round or the fourth round.

"There's going to be a great player coming from this draft, and our job is trying to find one of them."

For complete coverage of the 2017 NHL Draft in Chicago, visit stlouisblues.com/draft