Dalibor Dvorsky: "It's all up to me"

MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Doug Armstrong was recently asked heading into the 2024-25 season, if the general manager had to predict who would be the St. Louis Blues' second-line center going into it, who would it be?

He said he spoke to Pavel Buchnevich about it during the time he was consummating what would amount to be a six-year contract extension for the 29-year-old. And he mentioned captain Brayden Schenn, that it would be one of those two.

Then he paused for a split-second, "Or Dvorsky."

Armstrong chucked, but not in jest. He was actually being dead serious.

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Yes, it could very well be 19-year-old Dalibor Dvorsky, the 10th pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, who after getting his season off to a disastrous start in Sweden a year ago, set the Ontario Hockey League on fire with the Sudbury Wolves.

Armstrong has been heaping Dvorsky's praises for months, so much so that he threw Dvorsky's name into the mix at the end-of-season media session that the Zvolen, Slovakia native would get every opportunity to go from junior to the NHL.

Dvorsky was told these comments last week at development camp, his second visit to St. Louis after participating last year, and although he was appreciative, the message is clear, and the objective is simple.

"It sounds great (but) it's all up to me," Dvorsky said. "I'll do my absolute best every time I'm on the ice to prove to the coaches that I belong on the team. It sounds great, but's all up to me and I'll do my best every time I'm on the ice.

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"It's amazing. I love to hear it honestly from him especially. It gives me even better motivation to make the team. That's my goal coming into camp, so even here, I want to do my best on the ice. Coming into main camp, same thing. It sounds really good and it's all up to me. I believe that I can make it if I play my best."

Dvorsky holds all the cards in this. He could seriously throw a wrench into this whole situation, when it appeared the Blues could have been set with the addition of Radek Faksa from the Dallas Stars, giving them plenty of guys that can play center, including Robert Thomas, Schenn, Buchnevich, Faksa and Oskar Sundqvist, even Nathan Walker, and Zach Dean if he gives it a serious run himself.

But should Dvorsky alter the plans heading into the season, the Blues will know it, and they will be very accepting of it. Or else they wouldn't have opened the door.

"He's looked good. He's added some muscle. He's another guy that's really going to push for training camp," Armstrong said. "I love reading what he said, 'This is on me.' That's what you want. He's looking in the mirror now and saying, 'OK, we'll see.' The AHL, 'We'll see.' And he's not cocky about it. He's not demanding about it. He's just saying, 'Alright, we'll see.'"

The Blues had a plan of what they wanted to do with Dvorsky after he left development camp last year. They were putting him in the Swedish Hockey League to play in a pro league, loaning him to IK Oskarshamn.

To say it was an unmitigated disaster would be an understatement.

Through 10 games, Dvorsky did not have a point and was a minus-6. By the end of his brief stint, IK Oskarshamn had pushed him down the lineup and out of it altogether. These clubs are not interested in developing someone else's prospects. If they don't get results, the consequences are paid, whether at fault or not. They don't care.

Armstrong and the Blues quickly jumped into action and brought Dvorsky to North America, put him in junior hockey.

It would be the best decision made for all parties when Dvorsky finished with 88 points (45 goals, 43 assists) in 52 regular-season games and had another 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in nine playoff games.

"That's hockey," Dvorsky said. "Sometimes things don't go the way you want, but the transition here was really good. I got used to everything in North America really quickly. It was a really good move."

The solid play also led to being a factor for Slovakia at the World Junior Championships in Sweden (six points; three goals, three assists in five games) despite the Slovaks being eliminated in the quarterfinal, 6-3 against Canada.

"I think it was a really good year for me coming to Canada and to North America and getting used to the smaller rink and everything. I think it was a great season for me," Dvorsky said. "Things don't go the way you want in hockey, but that's the nice part of it is you get to learn from those things. I just learned from a lot of stuff there (in Sweden) and I think I'm a much better player now than I was."

Things started so well for Dvorsky, he began with an eight-game point streak with the Wolves and 25 of the first 28 games. In the 52 games he played, Dvorsky never went consecutive games without a point.

"It's never about one player. It's never about me," Dvorsky said. "I got really good teammates and coaches that helped me back in Sudbury. I feel like I adjusted really well. My billet family was great. All these things came together. It made me feel comfortable on the ice. I also feel the smaller rink fits me really well. All these things got together and I think that's the reason.

"I have a good shot. I think in the o-zone I can shoot from everywhere and it's a scoring chance or rebound or something. My puck protection as well. I think quickly and the game is quick as well. I can make plays, so I really like the small rink."

Dvorsky came to camp last week 6-foot-1, 201 pounds, and the Blues noticed the emphasis on improving strength training and being a bigger physical player.

"He's stronger, that's for sure," Blues assistant general manager Tim Taylor said. "Last year's situation when he started over in the (SHL), he wasn't playing a whole bunch and Doug made a quick reaction and got him over here. Everyone raved about his play this year. He had a great year, he's a driven kid. He's going to come over in August and being around the team and skate with them and be around them. He wants to give himself every opportunity to make the lineup, but at the end of the day, he's still 19 years old, he still needs to grow. This is up to him. We're going to allow him to prosper here and give him every opportunity and he's excited for it. He's just so driven. You see out here in games and practices, when things don't go his way, he gets a little frustrated, but he's just such a driven kid, which we love."

This will be Dvorsky's first NHL camp with the big boys, and he could make it a memorable one with the kind of showing the organization will be looking for in order to determine if Dvorsky is NHL-ready or not yet.

"I'm definitely coming early, sometime in August," Dvorsky said. "... Me and some other guys, we’ve already talked about it. We'll come in earlier, before the rookie camps, so that we get used to everything. It's all up to how I do on the ice and how I do on the off-ice testing, so I just want to come the best prepared that I can."