After agreeing to a two-year, $2.5 million deal with restricted free agent (RFA) Alexey Toropchenko, the St. Louis Blues now have only $293,571 of available cap space. To go along with their 2022-23 in-season acquisitions of Sammy Blais, Kasperi Kapanen, and Jakub Vrana, the offseason additions of Kevin Hayes, Oskar Sundqvist, and Mackenzie MacEachern have their NHL roster nearly set. With little financial wiggle room, if the Blues are to make any further changes to the roster, it will have to come via their minor league system.
Their minor league system is generally regarded as being in the middle of the pack, deep with young forward talent, some depth at goalie, but not much in the way of defensemen. Still considered prospects, forward Jake Neighbours and goalie Joel Hofer are likely locks to start the season with the big club. Once you get past them though, the Blues do have some intriguing names that could take somebody’s job and crack the opening night roster.
For the purposes of this piece, I am classifying a prospect as a player who is under the age of 25 and has less than 30 games of NHL experience.
Zach Dean
- Center
- Age: 20
- 2022-23 regular season: Gatineau Olympiques – Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
- 50 games, 33 goals, 70 points, plus-39, 50.9 faceoff percentage
Acquired from the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for forward Ivan Barbashev, center Zach Dean plays a tough and physical two-way game that would mesh with head coach Craig Berube’s style of hockey. The former first-round pick was crucial to the Gatineau Olympiques’ run to the QMJHL semi-finals, leading the team in scoring with 26 points (10 goals) in 13 playoff games before being eliminated by the eventual champions in the Québec Remparts.
Dean fits the mold of a physical third-line forward. He’s known for his quickness, puck skills, and vision while also remaining sound defensively. Currently slotted into likely third-line roles should be some combination of Neighbours, Hayes, and Blais. If Dean were to wow the coaching staff at camp and force his way onto the roster, it’s possible Neighbours could find himself in the American Hockey League (AHL), or Blais could be moved into a fourth-line role.
Scott Perunovich
- Left-handed defenseman
- Age: 24
- 2022-23 regular season stats: Springfield Thunderbirds – AHL
- 22 games, two goals, 20 points, plus-three
Up until this point, Scott Perunovich‘s career has yet to gain any traction due to a myriad of injuries. His latest, a shoulder injury he suffered during the 2022-23 preseason that required surgery, cost him a legitimate shot at making the club out of camp. Since the Blues drafted the Hobey Baker Award winner in the second round of the 2018 NHL Draft, fans and the team alike have been anxious to see him wearing the blue note but have only been given glimpses of his talent.
To make the club out of camp, Perunovich will have to work his way through the flurry of defensemen the Blues currently have on one-way deals. Barring a trade, Torey Krug, Colton Parayko, Nick Leddy, and Justin Faulk are locked in for roles in the top four. Battling for the final two starting and the one-to-two bench spots are Marco Scandella, Robert Bortuzzo, Calle Rosén (two-way contract), Tyler Tucker, and Perunovich. For him to make the roster, out of camp, the Blues will either have to have parted ways with some of his competition or an injury or two would have to take place.
Related: 3 Blues Breakout Candidates for the 2023-24 Season
As a smaller left-handed offensive defenseman, Perunovich’s greatest skill is running the power play (PP). To get the best out of his skillset, he would need a role carved out for him where he’s not overexposed defensively in five-on-five while his game is allowed to flourish while on the man advantage. Last season, Krug and Faulk were the primary puck movers on the league’s 22nd-ranked PP unit. If Berube is looking to make a big change on special teams, deploying Perunovich in that role could be the move.
Zachary Bolduc
- Left-wing/center
- Age: 20
- 2022-23 regular season stats: Québec Remparts – QMJHL
- 61 games, 50 goals, 110 points, plus-52
Coming into camp last season, Zachary Bolduc had a legitimate shot to make the squad but was reassigned rather early on in the preseason to Juniors. Needless to say, he was very disappointed with his performance and the outcome that followed.
“I didn’t have the camp that I wish, and I didn’t have the camp that I could have had… In my mind, I didn’t show people in St. Louis who I am as a player.”
– ‘Blues prospect Zachary Bolduc ready ‘to make a statement’ after disappointing 2022 camp’ – Jeremy Rutherford – The Athletic – 07/10/2023
Back with the Remparts, Bolduc led the team in regular season scoring with 110 points, and was ultimately a key driver in them winning the Memorial Cup.
Where Bolduc could fit with the Blues would be on the wing of either the second or third line. Although he was drafted as a center, he’s played very little of that position over the last two seasons for the Remparts, serving primarily as a left winger. If he shows in camp and the preseason that he’s ready for an NHL role, I could see him making the team over someone like Neighbours, as Bolduc is more of a scoring threat, who has top-six potential.
Odds Not in Prospects’ Favor
The Blues’ big league roster is likely already set. General manager Doug Armstrong seems to be set on this team retooling for the 2023-24 season and will rely heavily on veterans, last year’s deadline acquisitions, and a bounce-back season from the entire defensive unit. For players like Dean, Perunovich, or Bolduc to have a shot at breaking camp with the club, they will have to steal someone’s job and hope for a little luck along the way.
