The good news for the St. Louis Blues is the preseason is over.
The bad news for those that were throwing their name into the hat for one last-ditched effort to try and perhaps win a job really never came to fruition after a 6-2 loss against the Chicago Blackhawks at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on Saturday to end the Blues’ preseason at 2-5-0.
The Blues iced a mainly American Hockey League squad, aside from a few mainstays that will make this roster, and Chicago didn’t bring all their top-heavy skaters but did feature Connor Bedard.
Without dissecting the game itself, let’s run through the takeaways from the skaters that are on the fringe that really needed a good showing to make the roster along with those that wouldn’t make the team out of camp but wanted to make a good impression before returning back to Springfield:
* Dalibor Dvorsky — The No. 10 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft scored his first NHL goal of any kind, and it culminated with going to the net and using the soft hands to lift a backhand by Arvid Soderblom at 7:30 of the second period to make it a 3-1 game.
We all know Dvorsky will start the season with the Thunderbirds and will be playing in plenty of important roles and important minutes. It was good for the 19-year-old to finally get on the scoresheet with the Bluenote, but it’s obvious his next step will be — and should be — in the American Hockey League.
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* Zack Bolduc — I was in the camp of Bolduc would not only make the Blues out of camp but he would start it in the top six.
Don’t think that will happen.
Aside from a few dust-ups with Bedard in this game, there just wasn’t much of an impact in a game where Bolduc’s offense should have been noticeable, and playing on a line with Dvorsky, I was expecting to see some fireworks from it that never materialized.
Depending on how the Blues decide to do this for their 23-man roster (14F/7D/2G or 13F/8D/2G) will decide Bolduc’s season-opening fate.
My gut tells me he will begin the season in Springfield and be one of the first, if not the first, call-ups.
Bolduc started camp well, really well, but surprisingly leveled off here at the end, which is disappointing.
* Zach Dean — Dean is what he is, a strong, hard-to-play-against center when at his best, he’s going to be that hard worker with the occasional chip-in of points.
His game wasn’t poor by any means tonight, but it wasn’t enough, like his camp, to warrant a roster spot at the NHL level.
He will begin…