For the Blues, this year’s World Junior Championship is another chance to showcase the depth of their prospect pool, as the club will have a team-record nine prospects playing in the tournament.
For top prospect Dalibor Dvorsky, it’s an opportunity to make history.
Dvorsky, selected 10th during the 2023 draft by the Blues, will be playing in his fourth World Juniors for Slovakia, with a chance to rise up the all-time Slovakian leaderboards.
In his previous three tournaments, Dvorsky has played in 14 games (not including two that were played during the WJC that was later cancelled) and if he plays in the maximum seven games this year, he will tie Tomas Kopecky for most WJC games ever played for Slovakia. He’s got 11 points in the WJC, and if Dvorsky matches his six-point output from last year, he would enter the top-five all-time in Slovakian World Juniors scorers.
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Dalibor Dvorsky maneuvers at the Blues’ development camp on Monday, July 1, 2024, at Centene Community Ice Center in Maryland Heights.
Of course, there was a question whether Dvorsky would even play in this year’s World Juniors.
Dvorsky, 19, is currently in his first year of professional North American hockey, playing in the AHL for Springfield. He’s been arguably the Thunderbirds’ best player with a team-leading 10 goals and 21 points. Historically, it’s been hit-and-miss whether teenagers playing professionally in North America participate in the tournament.
“This is something that we feel very adamant about is letting our prospects decide if they’d like to play in this tournament,” Blues assistant general manager Tim Taylor said. “We encourage it because this is something that’s center stage for the hockey world, especially with kids their own age, see where they’re at.
“He’s going to get a lot of confidence coming from this tournament. He’s had a great first half in the AHL, really finding his feet as a top player in the AHL. He’s scoring some big-time goals for our team in Springfield. He’s a big player, we put a lot of responsibility on him.”
Dvorsky headlines a group of nine Blues prospects playing in the tournament, which is the most in the NHL. Also participating are Juraj Pekarcik (Slovakia), Adam Jiricek (Czechia), Jakub Stancl (Czechia), Adam Jecho (Czechia), Ondrej Kos (Czechia), Otto Stenberg (Sweden), Theo Lindstein (Sweden) and Colin Ralph (United States).
The tournament begins Thursday in Ottawa as Sweden and Slovakia open at 11 a.m. CT on NHL Network.
Last year, the Blues had seven players in the World Juniors, which was a club record at the time. Dvorsky, Pekarcik, Stancl, Stenberg and Lindstein return again this year. Jiricek also played in last year’s World Juniors before he was drafted by the Blues, but his tournament was cut short by a knee injury.
What does this crop of prospects show Blues fans?
“It shows them that we’re heading in the right direction, that we have a plan and the plan seems to be going in the right direction right now with these nine players,” Taylor said. “We’re hoping that these players obviously make the Blues and the NHL in years to come. We feel confident enough that with our development staff and our amateur scouting staff that these players are players that will thrive within the Blues organization.”
Dvorsky is potentially the most important part of the Blues’ ongoing transition to a younger core, as he was the highest-drafted player by the organization since Alex Pietrangelo in 2008. He’s produced both last year with Sudbury in the OHL and this year with Springfield in the AHL and long-term figures to fill a hole as the No. 2 center behind Robert Thomas in St. Louis.
Taylor said the Blues were looking to see how he responds to being “the guy” for Slovakia and would “like to see him dominate there, to be quite honest.”
“I think that players have notoriously come back from these tournaments that have played pro, and they see that it’s not an easy league in the AHL, and then come back and play in this tournament,” Taylor said. “They develop so much more growth in their game being the leader, being that person that’s counted on, and then they have a really good second half. That’s what we’re hoping happens with Dvo.”
In Springfield, Dvorsky has played consistently on a line with Aleksanteri Kaskimaki (19 points) and Marcus Sylvegard (18 points), and the three AHL rookies are first, second and third on the Thunderbirds in scoring.
Taylor said Dvorsky’s faceoff ability has grown this year.
“These young players come in and it’s not that they’re good at it, they just don’t understand how important it is,” Taylor said. “Now, he’s understanding. He’s been put in big situations. Shorthanded, we’ve put him out in key situations for faceoffs. Up a goal, down a goal, he’s a guy that’s on the ice. He’s really excelled at it, and we want him to get better.”
