Zach Dean

[noted]

Yep.

He’s been listed as “day to day” for a few weeks now.

https://springfieldthunderbirds.com/roster

Thanks. I went there before post. Don’t see where it says he’s dtd, but just saw he’s been at 9 games for quite a bit now. Is it the same lower body injury as before or something else?

I’m not sure how old he is but I think we’re getting close to “cut bait” time with him

Hes only 22

I didn’t say were there yet, but it is getting close

Not really.

Sure it is. Especially if he can’t stay on the ice

In which direction do I blow kisses to Army this time?

The same direction when you said you were going to leave the board because you are always starving for attention…

[Harry York 37]

If he can stay healthy I'll be disappointed if 4C is all he develops into. I think he has the potential to be one of the top 3C's in the league if he can stay healthy and continue to develop. I think he'll be a player that can fill in on any line and play against any of the other team's top lines due to his speed and physicality. He also has some small area skill to make smart passes and plays that the Blues could use. I think he ends up being a 30-40 point mostly 3rd liner. Again if he can't stay healthy then that projection changes. In his limited NHL time I thought his biggest weakness was he needed to get stronger so he can play to his strengths. That should be easy to improve at in time if healthy.

I think you are dead right.

I only saw one game live last year, when Bolduc was on the top line and scored on the game's first shift at 11 seconds in.

Alexandrov and Dean both played. Alexandrov was noticeably athletic and almost "pretty" to watch, but he got bounced off the puck often. Dean wasn't pretty, but he was much more solid for his age and size.
It looks like he used all the downtime to beef up. Seriously in the clip, the opponent- who was flat-footed, hardly slowed him as he finished his follow-through and was spun around into the end boards... minus his stick.
Good work, Kid.

[DawgDad]

Thanks for the links. Good to see Dean back in and finding the net! While it would be great to see Dean push for a bottom-6 role the bigger story in that clip is Stenberg. The Dvorsky shot is NHL. It won't be long, those guys can play.

Which leads to roster construction. The Blues SHOULD be a competing team next season, a team expected to make the playoffs and make some noise. They are a puzzle with not so many pieces left to find. It's going to be interesting to see how they manage and leverage all this young talent, multiple guys who will be pushing hard for a spot with the Blues or elsewhere in the NHL.

[John Cocktoastin]

Here's the goal by Dean with a helluva set up by Otto Stenberg.

https://x.com/ThunderbirdsAHL/status/19 ... 4463122810


And a Dvorsky goal for good measure.

His snap shot reminds me of another I've seen a lot of lately.

https://x.com/ThunderbirdsAHL/status/19 ... 6700681516

Thanks, TBone.

Love those. Also - Dean blowing that guy up after he scores. Good stuff.

[Harry York 37]

Thanks for the links. Good to see Dean back in and finding the net! While it would be great to see Dean push for a bottom-6 role the bigger story in that clip is Stenberg. The Dvorsky shot is NHL. It won't be long, those guys can play.

Which leads to roster construction. The Blues SHOULD be a competing team next season, a team expected to make the playoffs and make some noise. They are a puzzle with not so many pieces left to find. It's going to be interesting to see how they manage and leverage all this young talent, multiple guys who will be pushing hard for a spot with the Blues or elsewhere in the NHL.

I think the bigger story is that Dean can play. He looks like a bulldozer.

I wager that few are very surprised that Stenberg is a high-end talent.


And- thanks as always for the great videos, TBone.

[seattleblue]

Very good that Dean is still viable. His injury issues have been hampering his development.
I saw most of this game but missed the third and thus his goal. Saw Dvorsky score again on the PP.

[seattleblue]

Stenberg is the real deal. Even before seeing that incredibly skilled assist which we will soon see for the Blues he was having a strong first two periods IMO. It was a feisty game lot of physicality certainly in the second period and he didn't shy away. Stenberg = Steen-brg, same letters same player pretty much.

My guy is Stancl. I worried I wouldn't be able to track him with blurry numbers but you know how you can tell instantly who a player is by their skating and motion on the ice, it's like that with him. He isn't imminent on the Blues but he has made huge progress in the skating that was the only worry about him (the entire rest of his game is v v nice). I'd like to see him get better at reversing his momentum. Meaning he's skating at a player (pressuring a defender with the puck as the defender kind of skates backward and regroups the play) and his momentum makes him sort of swoop past the guy instead of a sharper reverse.

[a smell of green grass]

Dean blowing that guy up after he scores. Good stuff.

I noticed that too. That was the prettiest part of that replay.

[STL fan in MN]

Glad Dean is back. It’s been a rough season for him. And looks like he contributed right away too which is nice. Hopefully he can get back on track. I also see 3C potential in him still. Tonight is the last game of the AHL season. Then the T-Birds will play a best of 3 series against most likely Providence.

[TBone]

Thanks for the links. Good to see Dean back in and finding the net! While it would be great to see Dean push for a bottom-6 role the bigger story in that clip is Stenberg. The Dvorsky shot is NHL. It won't be long, those guys can play.

Which leads to roster construction. The Blues SHOULD be a competing team next season, a team expected to make the playoffs and make some noise. They are a puzzle with not so many pieces left to find. It's going to be interesting to see how they manage and leverage all this young talent, multiple guys who will be pushing hard for a spot with the Blues or elsewhere in the NHL.

I think these playoffs will provide the answers as to where we may need shoring up. Specifically I wonder if we'll need to add a key player or two with more size. Winnipeg has lots of 6'2 - 6'4" 210 lb players while most of ours are in 6'0 - 6'1" 190-200 lb range - which is significantly smaller than we were in 2019.

Will their size advantage wear the Blues down over the course of a series or two? We're about to find out. LGB

[Harry York 37]

Thanks for the links. Good to see Dean back in and finding the net! While it would be great to see Dean push for a bottom-6 role the bigger story in that clip is Stenberg. The Dvorsky shot is NHL. It won't be long, those guys can play.

Which leads to roster construction. The Blues SHOULD be a competing team next season, a team expected to make the playoffs and make some noise. They are a puzzle with not so many pieces left to find. It's going to be interesting to see how they manage and leverage all this young talent, multiple guys who will be pushing hard for a spot with the Blues or elsewhere in the NHL.

I think these playoffs will provide the answers as to where we may need shoring up. Specifically I wonder if we'll need to add a key player or two with more size. Winnipeg has lots of 6'2 - 6'4" 210 lb players while most of ours are in 6'0 - 6'1" 190-200 lb range - which is significantly smaller than we were in 2019.

Will their size advantage wear the Blues down over the course of a series or two? We're about to find out. LGB

i agree. It was obvious that last game, we looked like we were trying to tiptoe in to shoot.

Russ made a good point that we didn't try to spread them out very much. There was little to no action behind their net. It gets ugly back there, and size does matter in the NHL. However, we need to make them move their slightly larger frames, and we can help out by getting the puck in deep and keeping it deep.