Will Blues try to incorporate Dalibor Dvorsky and Jimmy Snuggerud? Or keep their mojo going?

New York Times

24-03-2025

ST. LOUIS — Dalibor Dvorsky made his NHL debut Sunday night. Is he sticking around?
'That's a Doug Armstrong question,' Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. 'It's not a Monty question.'
Jimmy Snuggerud will play with the University of Minnesota in the NCAA Frozen Four on Thursday night, and if the Golden Gophers get eliminated from the tournament, he could be ready to sign with the Blues.
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That's a Jimmy Snuggerud question, but he won't be ready to answer that until the Gophers' season is over, and he hopes that will be after a championship at the NCAA hockey tournament in St. Louis on April 10 and 12 at Enterprise Center.
Remember not too long ago when all that seemed to matter with fans was when Dvorsky and Snuggerud were getting here? Well, that's still important, but after the Blues won a season-high sixth straight game on Sunday — 4-1 over the Nashville Predators — and if the club continues to play well there may not be as big of a rush to see them in the lineup.
Don't read that wrong. Certainly, Dvorsky and Snuggerud could be penciled into the third line and improve the Blues' skill level. But considering how the players who've been on the roster all season have come together, that camaraderie may be hard to break up with the team that's 12-2-2 in its last 16 games and playing its best hockey at the moment.
'That's the time you want to do it — you want to feel good,' said Blues defenseman Justin Faulk, who had a goal and an assist Sunday and has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in his last nine games. 'It's good, it's not enough, we know we need to win more games. There's a big task ahead of us here. We've got to keep focusing on playing good hockey and making it tough on opponents, especially at home. We know Montreal is coming in, they're playing well and it's going to be a tough game on Tuesday, but we're up for it.'
You only get one rookie lap.
Enjoy tonight, Dalibor Dvorsky! pic.twitter.com/z7JHO9OUhg
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 23, 2025
Sunday's win gave the Blues 81 points, and they remained in the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. But they're still in a desperate situation — just four points ahead of the Calgary Flames (77), who have three games in hand, and the Vancouver Canucks (76) and Utah Hockey Club (75), who have two games in hand.
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After playing six games in the last nine days and seven games in the last 11, Montgomery's group will take Monday off before hosting the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday at Enterprise Center.
Will Dvorsky still be with the Blues then? The 19-year-old center, who was the Blues' first-round pick (No. 10 overall in 2023) has played well enough for a call-up. He had 20 goals and 43 points in 57 games with AHL Springfield this season, which is tied for the third-most goals and fifth-most points among rookies in that league.
'The American Hockey League is the toughest league to score in just because the schedule is not favorable,' Montgomery said. 'Besides that, he's improved in the areas you need to work on when you're a talented offensive player. You need to work on pace, puck protection, getting above pucks and being responsible defensively. All of those areas have improved.'
But Dvorsky was called up because Pavel Buchnevich missed his second straight game with what the club is calling a day-to-day situation. It's not known whether he's sick, or if there are any lingering effects from the heavy hit he absorbed from Nashville's Michael McCarron last week. He was seen leaving the rink after Sunday's game.
'Buch is good,' Montgomery said. 'He's not himself right now, like feeling healthy. We all get viral infections and stuff.'
Meanwhile, as part of a pre-planned maintenance schedule, Oskar Sundqvist wasn't supposed to play Saturday against the Chicago Blackhawks or Sunday against Nashville. But with Buchnevich out and no other healthy forward, Sundqvist was forced to play Saturday, and then he was able to sit out Sunday when Dvorsky was called up.
Montgomery had never been on the ice with Dvorsky or seen him skate. But the coach put him in as the third-line center and told him before the game, 'Do what got you here. Play to your strengths.'
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Dvorsky, who is wearing No. 54 for the Blues, took his first shift just 1:54 into the game. It was an offensive-zone face-off against McCarron, which he lost, but that's not what he'll remember.
'It was so fun,' said Dvorsky, who became the 12th Slovakian to play for the franchise. 'I'll never forget it.
Then late in the first period, Dvorsky helped set up a power-play goal that gave the Blues a 2-0 lead. He pulled the puck off the wall in the offensive zone and made the first of three passes by the unit that led to the goal by Alexandre Texier.
'I liked him … really good,' Montgomery said. 'He made plays, moved pucks on first touch. That play he makes on the power play, which leads to the goal, that's high-end. It's a good start to his career. He knew what he was going to do with the puck before he got it. That's usually a sign for really good hockey sense.'
Dvorsky had 10:40 of ice time, didn't have a shot attempt and was 2-for-5 on faceoffs.
'He was smart and patient with the puck,' said Blues center Robert Thomas, who had three assists in the game. 'I thought he showed a lot of poise with it. He made a couple of really good backhand passes, and that power-play goal, he's under pressure and he makes a calm play to Boldy (Zack Bolduc). To have that kind of patience, especially in your first game, is really impressive.'
Faulk recalled another sequence with Dvorsky that impressed him.
'There was a play that won't show up on tape, but I'll explain it,' he said. 'In the second period, there was a play where the puck was getting chipped into the neutral zone and all he did was hold up their third man that was trying to join the rush. He just held him up a little bit and made it a 2-on-2 (instead of) a 3-on-2.
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'That's a play that shows you have some hockey smarts. It's tough to learn that. A lot of guys are just worried about the puck, trying to make plays. It's a selfless play. It doesn't help himself at all. But it makes the (defensemen's) job and everyone else a lot easier. I was really impressed to see a play like that happen in his first game.'
After the game, Dvorsky said that he felt comfortable.
'I had to adjust to it a little bit,' he said. 'The pace is faster. The players, the opponents, are better. It's a little different. But it was awesome. I enjoyed every second of it. It was amazing.'
After the game, he was presented with the team's MVP award, given after each win, Kelly Chase's shoulder pads, which are about 20 years older than Dvorsky, who was born in 2005. The night was made even better because his dad, who is also named Dalibor, was visiting his son in Springfield, Mass., and was scheduled to return home to Slovakia, but extended his stay so that he could be in St. Louis on Sunday and see the debut.
'Amazing timing that I got called up at this time,' Dvorsky said.
These shoulder pads are older than Dalibor Dvorsky pic.twitter.com/2UWZZJqL71
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) March 24, 2025
But Montgomery indicated that Sundqvist would be back in the lineup against Montreal, so there's a chance Dvorsky could be returned to the AHL. The team has 10 games remaining, and if Dvorsky were to play in nine more, it would count as one year toward the three-year, entry-level contract he signed in 2023 and thus wouldn't 'slide' to next season.
Meanwhile, Snuggerud, who was the Blues' first-round pick (No. 23 overall) in 2022, could be joining the Blues when his college season comes to an end. If Minnesota beats the University of Massachusetts on Thursday, the Gophers will advance to the quarterfinal round on Saturday.
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After hosting Montreal, the Blues travel to Nashville on Thursday and Colorado on Saturday before returning home for a three-game homestand.
If Snuggerud, 20, is eliminated from the NCAA hockey tournament and enticed to sign his entry-level contract with the Blues, it will almost assuredly mean joining the NHL team and playing before the end of the season. But all that remains to be seen.
The matchups are set!
We'll take on UMass on Thursday night in Fargo on ESPN2.
Let's make it another Maroon & Gold takeover in North Dakota ⤵️
Season Ticket Holder 🎟: https://t.co/sLXZX24AYhNon-Season Ticket Holder 🎟: https://t.co/FRQIJWOn7j pic.twitter.com/DFnO3Nqx2l
— Minnesota Men's Hockey (@GopherHockey) March 23, 2025
Few would have thought that when Dvorsky and Snuggerud were ready to play the Blues would be in this position and playing so well.
Nathan Walker had the Blues' sixth fight in their last five games on Sunday and later got a 10-minute misconduct. Bolduc got a five-minute major for cross-checking and a game misconduct penalty after sticking up for Thomas when he was hit by the Predators' Nick Blankenburg. Thomas and Jake Neighbours slashed Kiefer Bellows after he took a couple of whacks at Bolduc.
'Yeah, guys are bought in, standing up for each other,' Faulk said. 'It's good. No team can come in and push us around. Teams like to see what they can get away with and guys are standing up for each other. The guys are playing as a team and that's what you need.'
(Photo of Dalibor Dvorsky controlling the puck against the Predators: Jeff Curry / Imagn Images)