Dean gets huge opportunity to try and cement a opening night roster spot by playing with Buchnevich, McMichael; Montgomery really impressed with Fowler, Carlo; Finley line will provide plenty of beef; Binnington gets entire game
MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- When training camp started, let’s be honest: how many of you had Zach Dean at or near the top if the list as those that would be around towards the end of camp with a legit chance at making the St. Louis Blues roster to start the season?
But here is the 2021 first-round pick in the NHL Draft by the Vegas Golden Knights, traded to the Blues for Ivan Barbashev, right in the thick of it, and an opportunity of a lifetime to make his first NHL roster with another solid game when the Blues (0-2-0) host the Chicago Blackhawks (1-0-1) in the third of four preseason games at Enterprise Center today at 7 p.m. (Matrix Midwest: Spectrum Ch. 186, DISH Ch. 31, Over-the-Air Ch. 32.2, 32.3, stlouisblues.com, Blues app, ESPN 101.1-FM).
This will be Dean’s third game in as many preseason games, and it’s obvious: the Blues like what they see and want to put him with skill players tonight and see how the 23-year-old handles playing on the top line with Pavel Buchnevich and Connor McMichael.
“He’s been very noticeable in his speed,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said of Dean, who has one assist in two games. “His speed is a quality that we lack a little bit up front, that natural people that can flat-out just fly and create, I call an anxiety on defensemen and goalies off the forecheck or off the rush.
“I didn’t know that much (about him). I did know that he was a first-round pick to Vegas, I know he was in the Barbashev trade. Everything has been more off ice than I’ve known about him than on ice. Unfortunately for him, I don’t know that he’s played more than 45 games in a season. There hasn’t been a lot of opportunity to see him, but he’s shown really well this year. I love his attitude, I love the way he’s playing.”
There’s been a plethora of players, including those playing tonight in Dillon Dube, Oskar Sundqvist, Nathan Walker, Aleksanteri Kaskimaki, Dylan Peterson, Jack Finley and Otto Stenberg that are fighting for what appears to be two forward slots and Dean has been right there, if not elevated himself above all of them with his camp thus far.
“The camp coming in, you know it’s short,” Dean said. “You obviously think about that coming in and in the practices and in the games, just try to do what I can. I think I have some skill and when there’s plays to be made, I try and make those but I also play hard, I like th be physical. I think that’s something I’ve definitely brought into my game, especially last year and stuff like that a little bit more, getting hits and stuff like that. It’s the fun part too. You feel more engaged and stuff like that, and depending on the game part, some games go one way. If you’re not contributing that way, then you start being a little more physical. I think that’s just kind of the mindset that I’ve had and camp’s been fun.
“My game over the years, you have to round out your game in certain ways but as you become a pro, I feel like that happens a lot more often than not. I think it’s a good opportunity and we’ll see tonight how I do with that. It’s just exciting.”
It’s been quite the challenging ride for Dean, who has played in just 47 regular-season games the past two seasons for Springfield of the American Hockey League due to injury and being in the NHL’s Player Assistance Program in the first half of last season.
But things finally returned to normal for Dean with a strong finish to the Thunderbirds’ season that culminated with a three-series run in the Calder Cup playoffs and normal summer of training.
“It was a really good summer,” Dean said. “I got to spend a lot more time back home too, which was nice. I got to see all my family. After the season, that takes away from the hockey a little bit, then you get right back into it. It was just good to have a full summer of training and I feel really good.
“It’s fun. It’s a competitive camp. We don’t really talk about that, but it’s known. It’s good. We’re all really good players. We’re just trying to make the team. It’s fun, it’s competitive, that’s what it’s really all about.”
Tonight presents an opportunity for Dean, who has played in nine NHL games (in 2023-24 with the Blues) to see what kind of impact he can make offensively.
“It’s a good opportunity to play with those guys,” Dean said. “They’re really great players. I’m really looking forward to it. It should be fun tonight.
“We’ll see what happens. Focus on the game tonight. I think I’ve had a pretty good camp so far and I’m just going to try and do what I can do.”
And the reason why Montgomery put Dean there?
“Center with speed just to see what that looks like with McMichael and Buchnevich,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for the kid to hit a home run.”
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Montgomery wants to see more desperation and urgency in the Blues’ game after a pair of 2-1 losses to the Dallas Stars in the first two preseason games of the year.
Yes, they’re preseason games, and yes, lineups have been mixed and matched, but with only four preseason games, including Saturday’s finale in Chicago before the regular season begins Oct. 2 in Dallas, it’s go time.
“I’m not that happy to be honest,” Montgomery said. ‘I don’t think there’s enough desperation or urgency in our play. We’re not playing fast enough. Offensively, I like a lot of the O-zone stuff, but outside of that, we just need to continue to get better.”
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Two players Montgomery has liked has been the veteran defensive pairing of Cam Fowler and Brandon Carlo, each who will make his season debut tonight.
“The most pleasantly surprising, I would say the D-pairing of Fowler and Carlo have been exceptional, and they’ve both been very good at what they’re very good at,” Montgomery said. “Fowler’s put a real emphasis on defending hard and it’s showing.”
Why?
“Carlo’s the most vocal guy on the ice in practice,” Montgomery said. “That allows you to play faster. When someone’s telling you to go, or, ‘I got 'em, I got 'em,’ it just makes your job easier. You don’t have to guess, you just do your job, and how vocal he’s been, especially in the D-zone and at defending the rush, has been very noticeable and looking forward to seeing that (tonight) for the first time in the game.”
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There will be some mass and beef when the Blues use a bottom six pairing with Ross Johnston (6-foot-5, 235 pounds), Finley (6-6, 233) and Peterson (6-4, 209).
Montgomery has indicated recently that he would like to see Finley change momentum in a game and it’s not been there yet and this perhaps is that opportunity to see if a trio with this much mass can create some havoc.
“That’s what we want to see,” Montgomery said. “We put that big line together on purpose. Let’s see what kind of impact they have on the game, now they influence the game, how they build momentum for our team.”
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Blues Projected Lineup:
Pavel Buchnevich-Zach Dean-Connor McMichael
Jake Neighbours-Dalibor Dvorsky-Dillon Dube
Nathan Walker-Oskar Sundqvist-Aleksanteri Kaskimaki
Ross Johnston-Jack Finley-Dylan Peterson
Theo Lindstein-Colton Parayko
Cam Fowler-Brandon Carlo
Calle Rosen-Adam Jiricek
Jordan Binnington will start in goal and play the entire game; Georgii Romanov will be the backup.
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Blackhawks Roster:
Forwards: Oliver Moore, Anton Frondell, Ryan Greene, Dillon Boucher, Connor Mylymok, Nick Lardis, AJ Spellacy, Roman Kantserov, Landon Slaggert, Patrick Kane, Sacha Boisvert, Frank Nazar.
Defensemen: Sam Rinzel, Kevin Korchinski, Connor Mackey, Ethan Del Mastro, Wyatt Kaiser, Artyom Levshunov.
Goalies: Arvid Soderblom, Drew Commesso.
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