Zach Dean has entered the nhl assistance program

[The Average Gatsby]

Another set back for dean. Hoping for the best.

[theograce]

Good chance he will never play at this point

[STL fan in MN]

Wow. Didn’t see that coming but whatever he’s dealing with, hopefully this gets him the help he needs and back on the right track.

Obviously not good news as this is an important season for him but going to hold off judgment for now. We all battle things in life so for now, my stance is good on him for getting the help he needs.

[Nublues69]

I feel sorry for the kid. When i was 18 i got robbed and shot almost died. It took me a while to recover about 6 months to a year for pain and full healing. I got percs and oxys. I was drinking on them and i became addicted to them. I stopped playing hockey or really caring about much. Then after about 8months my life long doctor cut me off and i went through a with draw nightmare. When it was all over i realized how dangerous those drugs mixed with alcohol can be. to this day i will not take an opioid. I take aleve and advil thats it.

So my heart goes out to him and i hope he recovers before his career is over

[bluetunehead]

This is sad to hear. Hopefully he gets the help he needs.

[callitwhatyouwant]

yea super bummer. As per all these things, it stays quiet until the player decides to talk about it. Could be a variety of things. Either way, it now makes more sense why the room filled up with that Lucic signing. Dean was slotted as the most ready 4th line style of player from the young group. Now there's a bit of vet insurance policy while the other young guys play for that middle 6 spot.

[STL fan in MN]

yea super bummer. As per all these things, it stays quiet until the player decides to talk about it. Could be a variety of things. Either way, it now makes more sense why the room filled up with that Lucic signing. Dean was slotted as the most ready 4th line style of player from the young group. Now there's a bit of vet insurance policy while the other young guys play for that middle 6 spot.

You think the Blues signed Lucic to a PTO because they knew this news on Dean was coming? I highly doubt they knew it was coming. Just hours ago, the Blues included Dean on their list of players for training camp. That’s now not happening obviously. He was also one of 12 forwards on the roster for the Prospect Showcase here in MN set to start in 2 days. If they had any inkling he wouldn’t be there, they either would’ve sent someone else instead or at least sent 13 guys instead of the minimum of 12 to give themselves a buffer.

[theograce]

Best case scenario he will be 24+ years old with no NHL experience. Not good

[Harry S Deals]

yea super bummer. As per all these things, it stays quiet until the player decides to talk about it. Could be a variety of things. Either way, it now makes more sense why the room filled up with that Lucic signing. Dean was slotted as the most ready 4th line style of player from the young group. Now there's a bit of vet insurance policy while the other young guys play for that middle 6 spot.

It still would have been a tall hill to climb for Dean to make the 4th line out of camp, doable but with Walker, Toropchenko, Budjstad, Sunny etc already here with contracts i think Dean would have centered the 2nd line in Springfield hoping for a big year

[callitwhatyouwant]

yea super bummer. As per all these things, it stays quiet until the player decides to talk about it. Could be a variety of things. Either way, it now makes more sense why the room filled up with that Lucic signing. Dean was slotted as the most ready 4th line style of player from the young group. Now there's a bit of vet insurance policy while the other young guys play for that middle 6 spot.

You think the Blues signed Lucic to a PTO because they knew this news on Dean was coming? I highly doubt they knew it was coming. Just hours ago, the Blues included Dean on their list of players for training camp. That’s now not happening obviously. He was also one of 12 forwards on the roster for the Prospect Showcase here in MN set to start in 2 days. If they had any inkling he wouldn’t be there, they either would’ve sent someone else instead or at least sent 13 guys instead of the minimum of 12 to give themselves a buffer.

Not saying it's fact, but I certainly believe it to be a reasonable assumption if there was word around that Dean was turning into a flight risk whether it be because of some addiction people noticed, depression over a loved one, whatever the case may be. The team might have said "we are moving forward to see if he can manage," but also be aware that it's possible that there's too much going around.

[STL fan in MN]

yea super bummer. As per all these things, it stays quiet until the player decides to talk about it. Could be a variety of things. Either way, it now makes more sense why the room filled up with that Lucic signing. Dean was slotted as the most ready 4th line style of player from the young group. Now there's a bit of vet insurance policy while the other young guys play for that middle 6 spot.

You think the Blues signed Lucic to a PTO because they knew this news on Dean was coming? I highly doubt they knew it was coming. Just hours ago, the Blues included Dean on their list of players for training camp. That’s now not happening obviously. He was also one of 12 forwards on the roster for the Prospect Showcase here in MN set to start in 2 days. If they had any inkling he wouldn’t be there, they either would’ve sent someone else instead or at least sent 13 guys instead of the minimum of 12 to give themselves a buffer.

Not saying it's fact, but I certainly believe it to be a reasonable assumption if there was word around that Dean was turning into a flight risk whether it be because of some addiction people noticed, depression over a loved one, whatever the case may be. The team might have said "we are moving forward to see if he can manage," but also be aware that it's possible that there's too much going around.

Personally, I didn’t see Dean as having much of a shot of earning a spot in camp regardless so I see pretty much zero connection between him and the Blues giving Lucic a shot. But will admit I obviously also don’t know all the details surrounding Dean and what the Blues knew and when. But the evidence seems to point to them being caught off guard by this news.

[sdaltons]

Yikes. Sorry to hear. Makes worrying about a sport feel silly. Hope he gets the help he needs.

[danno]

glad he's getting help, but I didn't really think he was going to push for a NHL roster spot in camp considering the players that we brought in during the off-season

[BalotelliMassive]

Assuming pain pills from injuries - here's hoping he's skating sooner than later. Get well Deaner.

[hockey jedi]

There are things more important than hockey. Hopefully, Zach gets the help he needs.

[STL fan in MN]

Assuming pain pills from injuries - here's hoping he's skating sooner than later. Get well Deaner.

I tend to not speculate but given his injury and recovery, this wouldn’t be surprising. Opioids are no joke. Whatever it is, hopefully he can do what needs to be done, get back to where he mentally and physically needs to be and can resume his hockey career.