"I Want All I Can Take" - Jake Neighbours Feels There's More For Him, St. Louis Blues After Breakout Season

No. 26 pick in 2020 NHL Draft had breakout season with 27 goals last season, feels like there's more to strive for

By Lou Korac

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Jake Neighbours understands that he took solid and progressive steps in his first full NHL season last year.

The No. 26 pick in the 2020 NHL Draft got a taste of life in 2021-22 with nine NHL games before grabbing more of a piece in 2022-23, playing in 43 games but finding things tough with 10 points (six goals, four assists).

But last season, Neighbours found his calling, camped out around the net front for a breakout year with 27 goals and 11 assists in 77 games.

There are those that would be pleased to put up similar numbers, and for Neighbours, the goal scoring isn't a low number. The Blues would take that kind of production on a regular basis.

But striving to be better, the 22-year-old wants more.

"I want all I can take. That's what you want as a player," Neighbours said. "You want to be out there every situation in a game, be one of those key chess pieces for your team. I'm still young, still learning and still gaining experience. The more I can get out there and learn and in the moment and play, it's only going to help me."

Neighbours has shown the commitment that he wants -- and deserves -- more opportunity. He will be a fixture in the Blues' top six this season, and he's prepared himself to be at his best.

Neighbours is up to 204 pounds, up from last season's 201, but he's made himself bigger and stronger in the upper body in order to continue to get to those hard areas in and around the net while taking continuous punishment from opponents' D. 

Neighbours has worked with Doug Crashley of Crash Conditioning Ltd the past nine years but got back to doing that more extensively this summer after two summers of extended hockey.

"My last two summers, I wasn't able to get a lot of time in the gym," Neighbours said. "I was in the Memorial Cup the year before until late June (in 2022) and then last year, I was at the World Championships until early June. Just having four months this year being in the strength room and lifting weights I think did me some good. I put on some muscle mass and I haven't put on any weight, but just kind of skimmed some fat and put on some muscle mass. I think that's just the product of a long summer and the opportunity to put on a little more muscle.

"I think also I'm still young, and you still want to develop your body and continue to get stronger as you get older, make sure you're in good shape. That's just part of it too."

Neighbours has quickly earned the respect and admiration of his older, more established veteran teammates for his work ethic and commitment, quickly becoming a favorite in the locker room.

"When he was young guy, I always loved him," Blues forward Pavel Buchnevich said. "He's fun to be around and he wants to learn, wants to listen to older guys and what we think about the game. Great to see those guys be successful like he did last year. Hopefully he will be same Jake. We all love him and he'll produce even more."

Captain Brayden Schenn can take plenty of credit for helping mold Neighbours into the player and person he is after taking him in as an 18-year-old.

"He's trying to be the best he can be," Schenn said. "I think that just comes with experience and learning. You kind of pick up things, whether it's guys around you or talking to different guys around the league. He's doing everything he can, whether it's after practice or video or whatever. He's a smart kid that wants to get better and learn. It's still a refresher for a guy like me because you see young guys that want to get better and try and fill their potential.

St. Louis Blues forward Jake Neighbours (63) made his living in and around a goalie's kitchen last season, to the tune of 27 goals, and the 22-year-old is looking to build off a breakout year.

"We talk all the time about everything. He's over for dinner lots and he's good to my kids. He's become a good friend just throughout the years, I guess it's been five years and I got to know him pretty good. I enjoy spending time with him."

Neighbours had a shooting percentage last season of 18.6 percent, which is terrific considering that the league average was 10.3 percent. But when you consider that 130 of his 145 shots on goal last season came from the high slot and the tops of the circles in, including 79 in the high danger slot and 13 from the blue paint, it's not a surprise.

"If you look at 'Jakey,' the goals he scores are all around the blue paint," Bannister said. "It's not really perimeter shooting or anything like that. I know the shooting percentage is high, but the shooting percentage is high is because he's around the net. When 'Jakey's game started to dip, he wasn't getting to the net as often and then we saw when he gets to the net, he has success. It's really not that hard, which for a player like him, he's got to be direct, he's got to be hard on pucks and he's got to get to the blue paint.

"At this level right now, that's where you're going to score goals. That's something that he's going to continue to work on and we're going to push and harp on him to get there because he's really good when he gets there."

And with the additions this offseason of players that can help now (Ryan Suter, Radek Faksa, Mathieu Joseph) and in the future (Dylan Holloway, Philip Broberg, Alexandre Texier, P.O. Joseph), there's more motivation for Neighbours to increase his production to get the Blues back to where they want to be -- in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

"Yeah, we're bigger now too. Our D-corps has gotten bigger, adding some size up front with Faksa, 'Matty Jo' has a lot of experience in the playoffs, bigger guys that have a lot personalities," Neighbours said. "I definitely think we'll be harder to play against, a better checking team and that obviously involves physicality but it also involves being disruptive.

"I'm just trying to improve all aspects of my game. Obviously I was good around the net last year and found a high goal total, but obviously I want to advance more in making plays, setting my teammates up, getting more looks that way and then just making sure I was putting on some more muscle, taking off some fat and just getting faster. It seems that I'm moving a bit quicker this year, which is great. Just looking to build off that."