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(AP) - The Blues loaded up on defensemen at the NHL Draft in Pittsburgh, taking four of them in eight picks, including three on Saturday.

Following up on their first-round pick of Jordan Schmaltz at No. 25 on Friday night, St. Louis grabbed Colten Parayko in the third round.

He had 42 points last season with Fort McMurray of the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

Nicholas Walters of Everett in the WHL was the Blues' fourth round pick.

Walters had 18 points in 62 games a season ago, and Swedish defenseman Petteri Lindbohm was taken in the sixth round. St. Louis followed up the Lindbohm pick with another Swede, center Tyrel Seaman in the seventh.

They began Saturday by picking right wing Sam Kurker of St. John's Prep in Massachusetts. Kurker, who scored 32 goals and tallied 60 points in his senior season, will attend Boston University in the fall.

With an earlier pick in the third round, St. Louis took left wing Mackenzie MacEachern of Brother Rice High School in suburban Detroit.

Goalie Francois Tremblay, who played for Val d'Or of the QMJHL was picked in the fifth round.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)