LOS ANGELES • In 2006, when the Blues staggered to the bottom of the NHL standings, Jarmo Kekalainen was starring at a massive challenge as the team's director of amateur scouting.

A new collective-bargaining agreement was in place, putting more emphasis on the draft, and the Blues were about to arm him with a slew of picks. The only advice from the club: Don't mess up.

"One big-time hockey guy told me that the hardest job in hockey is being an enforcer and the second hardest job is an amateur scout," Kekalainen said.

The second-guessers have been plentiful the past four years, but as Kekalainen sits down at the draft table tonight for his final run with the Blues before leaving to become a general manager in Finland, he says he's proud of the work that he has performed.

"I think we've done a good job," Kekalainen said. "We've got a great staff and they work their tails off. The easiest thing to do is to pick the bad picks of the amateur staff. You can take the best scout in the world and you can find some horrible mistakes. There's so many players to see and there are only so many days."

Kekalainen began his career with the Blues in 2002, but it wasn't until four years later that the spotlight found him. The club hit rock bottom with a record of 21-46-15 in 2005-06 and received the No. 1 pick in the draft.

Kekalainen, who is as detailed as they come, did extensive homework before selecting defenseman Erik Johnson. Johnson had a respectable rookie season before a knee injury sidelined him in 2008-09, but he bounced back last season, showing signs of a huge upside with 39 points.

In the meantime, however, Chicago's Jonathan Toews, who went No. 3 overall, has built on his credentials. In his third season in the league this year, he won a Stanley Cup, took home playoff MVP honors and captured an Olympic gold medal.

Some suggest today that Toews was the better pick.

"I still think Erik is going to win a Stanley Cup in the future and then nobody is going to make that comparison any more," Kekalainen said. "If five years from now, we're looking at Toews winning four Cups and us winning none, then it's a different story. Then I've got to look in the mirror."

In 2007, the Blues armed Kekalainen with more picks. They traded Keith Tkachuk and Bill Guerin, giving the club three in the first round. Kekalainen remembers being ecstatic.

"It's like if you're a goal scorer and you get in between the hash marks, your eyes light up," he said. "That's where you want to be with the puck. If you're a scout, and you put in days and days at the cold rinks, you want to have a lot of picks."

The Blues offered all three picks to Chicago for the No. 1 overall pick that year, which they would have used to select Patrick Kane.

The 'Hawks declined, took Kane themselves, and the Blues instead walked away with forward Lars Eller (No. 13), defenseman Ian Cole (No. 18) and forward David Perron (No. 26).

Perron netted 20 goals in his third season with the Blues, Cole is on the verge of making the club, and Eller was a key piece in the trade last week that landed Montreal goalie Jaroslav Halak.

"A year ago, there wouldn't have been too many hockey people that would have said Eller would get us a No. 1 goalie in the NHL in a trade," Kekalainen said.

In 2008, the Blues had the No. 4 overall pick and took defenseman Alex Pietrangelo. He has yet to play a full season with the Blues, but figures to make the club this season.

"I think Pietrangelo will be a star," Kekalainen said. "I think he's got great upside, exceptional hockey sense, and he's a very ambitious young man who wants to make a big contribution."

Kekalainen added defensemen David Rundblad and Brett Ponich to the mix last year, creating a stable of blue-liners. He has mixed in a couple of goalies with Ben Bishop and Jake Allen.

Hockeysfuture.com has ranked the Blues as having the top group of prospects in the NHL.

"That's the best feedback that you can get in this job, when people that do this job say that you've done a good job," Kekalainen said.

On Monday, he'll return to Finland to start his new job with Jokerit of the Finnish League. But Kekalainen has already penciled in his first trip back to North America.

"I'm going to run the New York Marathon on Nov. 7, and the Blues play that night, so I'll be watching," Kekalainen said. "I'm proud of the guys we picked and I can't wait to see them grow."