MARYLAND
HEIGHTS. Mo. — There’s
a method to what the St. Louis Blues want to do with some of their
young talent – especially first-round talent – that they’ve
selected in the past few years.
If
those players feel they’re ready to break through and become NHL
players, they are going to have to A) earn the job, and B) take a job
from some else, already an established player.
So
for the likes of Dalibor Dvorsky (first round, 2023, No. 10 overall),
Otto Stenberg (first round, 2023, 25th
overall), Theo Lindstein (first round, 2023, 29th
overall), Adam Jiricek (first round, 2024, 16th
overall), and Justin Carbonneau (first round, 2025, 19th
overall), those players are being given opportunities with veteran,
high-end players to see how they fit and fare.
“We
want to give everybody the opportunity to play with NHL players, but
we also want to give our NHL players and some of the younger ones
especially the opportunity to make people better,” Blues coach Jim
Montgomery said after the first day of training camp. “It’s part
of what we want to do as an organization is anytime someone comes
into fold, comes into family, we’re going to try and make them
better. You had a lot of two veterans with one young guy so that they
could talk to them and communicate with them because they know the
drills, they know how we want to play, they know our identity so that
they can help the young guys you saw out there like Carbonneau and
d-men as well.
“They’ve
got to show that they can make plays at the NHL level and they’ve
also got to show that they’re reliable, trustworthy without the
puck, playing the right way, getting above pucks, reloading, knowing
where your stick should be knowing where you should stop, all those
little things that add to victories.”
On
Thursday, Stenberg was skating with Robert Thomas and Jimmy
Snuggerud; Dvorsky was with Pius Suter and Jordan Kyrou; Carbonneau
was with Brayden Schenn and Dylan Holloway; Lindstein was paired with
Justin Faulk, and Jiricek was paired with Philip Broberg.
And
for Dvorsky, who is open to playing on the wing even though he’s a
natural center, he was on Suter’s wing the first day.
“We
felt that with the players we acquired in the summer that we got deep
down the middle, so this is an opportunity to see the young man …
he’s gifted,” Montgomery said of Dvorsky. “He scored two
beautiful goals today. So offensively, he’s gifted. It’s easier
to focus on what you’re good at as a winger than a center.”
Make
no mistake about it. Management won’t hesitate to give one of these
younger players a job out of camp – if they earn it.
“Well,
we saw some of that in Minnesota,” Blues
general manager Doug Armstrong said of the Tom Kurvers Prospect
Showcase, getting a leg up in seeing some of these players.
“It’s going to be the hockey sense, it’s going to be the
competitiveness in certain areas. My expectation is for Jim to have a
very good training camp. A lot of battle drills, how they can compete
in that. They’re going to get exhibition games. The way we’ve
organized the first few days of training camp, we have two veteran
players … Carbonneau’s with a good line. All these guys are with
first-round picks, these guys that should have the skill level from
when they were drafted and we’ll take a look at that with that
group, but there’s always someone that pops up underneath that
wants to get your attention too.
“Training
camp is very important for a lot of guys this year. We have six
exhibition games. We usually have a few more than that, so everyone’s
going to have to put their best foot forward. If you’re not here on
Oct. 9th
doesn’t
mean
you’re
not going to be here on Nov. 9th. It’s easy for me to say it’s up
for people to accept, but we’re in this for the long haul of
continuing to get better. Contracts won’t exclude you from being in
the NHL if you’re good enough.”
Young Rising Blues Forward: “I Want To Be A Top Player In This League One Day”
MARYLAND
HEIGHTS, Mo. — Don’t
mistake Dylan Holloway the wrong way. The St. Louis Blues forward is
beyond grateful to be healthy and skating 100 percent for the first
time since what turned out to be an ugly injury that derailed a
fantastic first season in the Gateway City.
Blues’ Jake Neighbours Set To Miss First Three Days Of Training Camp
St. Louis Blues winger Jake Neighbours will miss the first three days of training camp to attend to a personal family matter.
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