The St. Louis Blues begin their training camp on Sept. 19 and finish on Sept. 22. The camp will include players from their NHL roster, American Hockey League (AHL) roster, and range of prospects. Players can show off their skill and worthiness through camp practices and pre-season NHL games, which will determine the final roster for October to play on the Blues for the upcoming 2024-25 regular season.
The guys 👇 #stlblues
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) September 5, 2024
Even if some players don’t make it at the beginning of the season, it can also be an opportunity to showcase their skills to make the roster near the end of the season, when the Blues usually give some players a regular season trial run. That said, let’s look at the top three players who will make the Blues’ main roster at some point throughout the 2024-25 regular season.
3. Leo Loof
Leo Loof has only played one season in the AHL, but he’s played a lot at the professional level in Europe between 2019 and 2023. In the 2019-20 season, he played his first and only game that season with Färjestad BK of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). In that one game, he didn’t get any points. In 2020-21, Loof played nine games and couldn’t produce any points. It wasn’t until 2021-22, in his debut season with Ilves in the Finnish league Liiga, that he produced points, getting 10 in 49 games. Once he reached his last season in the Liiga in 2022-23, he produced 16 points in 55 games.
Related: Blues & Blackhawks Standouts at Prospect Showcase
Based on these stats, Loof was changing his game to improve offensively. However, he’s played more of a physical game and focuses on that. At 6-foot-1 and 179 pounds, he’s got a decent frame for a defensive defenseman and should be able to gain more skill at using his size to his advantage.
A primary concern may be how the Loof was projected to pan out during the 2020 NHL Draft when the Blues selected him in the third round (88th overall). While he can play well defensively, he must also improve his puck skills. Other than that, he is on a great track right now.
In his first season with the Springfield Thunderbirds in the AHL, he scored seven points in 58 games, continuing to show his physical skill on the ice, which the Blues need on their main roster. As much as Loof has made great strides in his game, I don’t see him being an immediate roster option at the beginning of the season. Still, he could get a shot at the Blues lineup near the end of the season or as an emergency call-up if there are any injury issues within the lineup.
2. Dalibor Dvorsky
Last season in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL), Dalibor Dvorsky had a great start to his debut season and finished it with 88 points in 52 games, which put him within the top 20 in the league for points. Of those 88 points, 45 were from goals, and he finished fourth in the league in goals. In 2024, Dvorsky also had a great run in the World Junior Championship (WJC) with Slovakia, completing the tournament with six points in five games.
The Blues need to look out for Dvorsky’s ability to handle the puck and hockey IQ to make great plays for his team in training camp. With Tom Kurver’s Prospect Showcase going on from Sept. 13-15, it will be an excellent opportunity to warm him up for the Blues preseason roster. I think that Dvorsky is one of their best offensive prospects, so there is a lot of anticipation that he will get a spot on the roster, especially since he was a top-10 draft pick in 2023.
Considering the skill set he provides, there is a good chance he could get to play top-line minutes if he makes a great impression during the first few games of the NHL preseason. The Blues need a player worth putting on special teams, mainly the power play, where his playmaking skills would be most beneficial.
His maturity level to play in the NHL may prove him not ready to some; however, the way he’s quickly progressed in the OHL after playing in the Swedish HockeyAllsvenskan in the prior year of his hockey career shows that he can adapt to any situation.
1. Zachary Bolduc
Last season, Zachary Bolduc made a decent impression on the Blues roster near the end of the season when he was called up in February. Through his 25 NHL games last season, he put up nine points with five goals and four assists. It wasn’t until April that he started to go on a more consistent point run and looked more comfortable on the ice. This upcoming season, he could be called up early and has shown he can be a reliable option.
However, this upcoming preseason will be a chance to show if he has made a great stride in his game and prove whether he is truly ready for the NHL level. Bolduc mentioned recently in the media that he is “ready to do whatever it takes to be in the lineup at the beginning of the season.”
Last AHL season, in his debut season in the league, he put up 25 points in 50 games before receiving a call-up, got sent down again, and returned to the Blues lineup in April for the remainder of the 2023-24 NHL regular season.
I think Bolduc will be the strongest candidate for an NHL roster spot, but it will either be as a depth call-up for injury situations or a late-season call-up like last season. On the other hand, forward prospect Jimmy Snuggerud will be playing with the Blues after his final season with the University of Minnesota, and he could be sharing the same line with Bolduc, which could benefit both of them.
What It Should Come Down to for a Final Roster Decision
Ultimately, by how the roster looks, the Blues have filled in some gaps, especially defensively, with the addition of Philip Broberg and several others over the offseason. However, it doesn’t mean the Blues can’t experiment with their younger players, and the season always has an unpredictable turn of events that occur, so it will not restrict the team from calling up their most promising prospects.
For now, commencing with the Prospect Showcase and training camp, the goal will be to make notes and see which players are noting for a potential call-up in the future. So far, how the Blues have done things with prospects has worked out great. Their development process isn’t anything to worry about, with players like Scott Perunovich, Joel Hofer, Tyler Tucker, Matthew Kessel, and Jake Neighbours, to name a few, making great strides in their game to make a good impression on the roster in the last three seasons. With more players to put to the test in their prospect depth, the Blues can better prepare for their team in the long run.
