MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. — There are plenty of known factors when the St. Louis Blues open training camp for the 2024-25 season Thursday morning at Centene Community Ice Center.
It’s known that Jordan Binnington and Joel Hofer will team up once again as the goalie tandem. Barring injury, etch that one in stone.
We know what the top end veterans will look like on defense, aside from Torey Krug (season-ending pre-arthritic condition in left ankle).
We know who will be battling for the forward positions, who the locks are and who the might-be’s will be.
There is one wildcard in all this, and should Dalibor Dvorsky find a way to woo and wow the coaching staff and the management team into feeling like the 19-year-old is ready to make his NHL debut to kick off this season, it will throw the forward mix into chaos.
Somebody is likely to lose a job.
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Dvorsky, the No. 10 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, had himself quite the season with Sudbury of the Ontario Hockey League last season with 88 points (45 goals, 43 assists) in 52 regular-season games and 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in nine playoff games.
It was quite the jump after a disastrous start to the 2023-24 season playing for IK Oskarshamn of HockeyAllsvenskan in Sweden (no points in 10 games).
Blues general manager Doug Armstrong was quite blunt when he said Dvorsky will have every opportunity to make the Blues out of camp this year at his end-of-season comments, saying, “The one player that looks like he’s going to push for a really good look in training camp is Dvorsky.”
So what happens if Dvorsky makes the team? Well, someone of the ilk of Kasperi Kapanen or fan-favorite Nathan Walker, or somebody else should probably be looking over their respective shoulders.
But what if he doesn’t? Armstrong did say the Blues will not rush Dvorsky, Zack Bolduc, Zach Dean or any of the other young hopefuls.
The door is open. It’s up to these players, namely Dvorsky, what they wind up doing with the door, pushing it in or having a hard time jarring it open.
The plan is for Dvorsky to be a top-six forward. The Blues won’t bring him along to get fringe minutes. It will be all or nothing.
St. Louis Blues
“It is a wide range. It’s a man’s league and I think we’re a competitive team,” Armstrong said Wednesday. “I think we’re going to push with the competitive teams now. It’s hard to break into the league in a commanding top-six role, but that’s where he’s going to play his NHL career at when he gets here, but we’re not going to thrust him into something he can’t succeed at. As many teams fail young players as young players fail teams, and we’re not going to fail him. We’re going to do what’s right for him and all of our young players putting them in position to have success over the long term, not just a short term blip there they can’t sustain and maintain.”
Dvorsky knows what’s at stake. He has replayed Armstrong’s comments over and over, and now that the time is here, “My mindset’s always the same. It’s the same as last time. Nothing has changed,” Dvorsky said. “I did a lot of strength training, lots of practice on the ice pretty much. I think I got stronger, faster. It was a really good summer for me.
“I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time obviously. … I just want to show what’s within me. Obviously I want to win. I want to help the team win. That’s what I do every single game, just try to be as good a player as I can for the team.
“I gained some weight, not fat, don’t worry. It’s been a good summer and I got stronger.”
Does Dvorsky need some seasoning in Springfield of the American Hockey League? Time will tell. But with seven preseason games and after playing in two games at the Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase this past weekend, Dvorsky will get plenty of looks.
“I think that his training camp, he’s going to get an opportunity to play in exhibition games, he’s going to play with better players,” Armstrong said. ‘But my experience shows me everybody enters camp with a different mindset. His is to make the team and this is his Stanley Cup. Some of the veteran players that are in their seventh, eighth, ninth camp, they’re prepared to play but they’re preparing with the mindset of October and then hopefully into May and June. He’s going to get an opportunity to play with our better players, he’s going to get an opportunity to show the skills that he has as a top six player, as will Bolduc. We’re going to put guys in positions we think that they will play in the NHL level and see how they do.”
Related: St. Louis Blues training camp primer: Doug Armstrong on making team better, where they’re better at now than before, do they end two-year playoff drought
Related: Torey Krug surgery complete; Oskar Sundqvist to skip preseason games recovering from ACL injury; Adam Jiricek to stay in St. Louis until rehab complete
Related: St. Louis Blues add six players on tryouts on eve of training camp
Related: Zack Bolduc determined to be full-time NHL player
Related: Zack Dean’s message to St. Louis Blues brass when training camp opens: ‘don’t forget about me’
