Dalibor Dvorsky has a shot at making the Blues roster out of training camp.
As we wait for the start of training camp, I thought I’d give what I consider to be the Blues’ top 5 prospects going into the 2024-25 season.
Dalibor Dvorsky, F
The headliner surely is Dalibor Dvorsky, who the Blues picked in the first round of the 2023 NHL Draft. Last year he played for the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL, putting up a whopping 88 points in 52 games. He is ranked over at The Hockey Writers as the league’s 49th overall prospect. He is the best forward prospect the Blues have had in a long, long time. There will be an opportunity for him to break camp with the team, but that might be a tall order. Not because of the way he plays, but because the team has an abundance of forwards vying for spots. If he doesn’t make the team, he probably won’t be far off
Zack Bolduc, LW
Playing in 25 goals and scoring 9 points last season, Zack Bolduc will look to build on that with a full-time role among the forward corps in 2024. He was drafted in the first round in 2021. He did not light it up in the AHL, but still showed the skill for which he was drafted during his time with the Blues. He is not guaranteed a roster spot, but he most likely has a more inside track than Dvorsky.
Jimmy Snuggerud, RW
There was a moment last year where the Blues thought that Snuggerud, their 1st-round pick in 2022, might make the jump from college to professional hockey. But he opted to return to the University of Minnesota for another year. It will be his junior year there. He is on record as saying he feels he has unfinished business with the Gophers. He is a high-end prospect, and when he does come into the NHL, his ceiling is a top 6 winger.
Otto Stenberg, C
Stenberg was drafted last year, the second of the Blues’ two first-round picks (Dvorsky being the first). He is only 19 years old. The past couple seasons he has played in the Swedish Hockey League. In May of this year he signed his ELC with the Blues. He is not likely to make the team when it breaks camp, but will continue his development with the Frolunda HC in Sweden.
Zach Dean, C
Dean was the prospect acquired in the Ivan Barbashev trade with the Golden Knights. He is another first-round draft pick. He has played in 9 games with the Blues, all of them last season. He recorded zero points. Dean put up big-time points when he played in the QMJHL in 2020-2023, but when he transitioned to the AHL, his production tailed off. He had 14 points in 49 games. So he hasn’t had really a full season in the AHL. That could happen this year. He is a long shot to make the Opening Night roster.
I rate these as the top 5 prospects in terms of contributing meaningfully in the near future. There are several other prospects, all drafted over the past few years, that could be impactful, but likely not in the short term.
The fact that all of these are forwards is exciting. The Blues have leaned heavily to drafting forwards in recent seasons, although they departed that this year by drafting Jiricek in the first round, a defenceman.
Open Ice Notes 