The St. Louis Blues feel the organization has the right plan in place for a productive future, according to assistant general manager Tim Taylor.
The 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship will give fans a chance to see an NHL-high nine pieces of that plan in action.
For the second straight year, the Blues will have the most prospects at the elite international tournament for under-20 players.
"It obviously shows them that we're heading in the right direction, that our path ... 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 the next year and years to come."
The Blues had seven prospects at the 2024 WJC, and five of them will be back for the 2025 edition, which will be held in Ottawa from Thursday through Jan. 5. All games will be televised on NHL Network in the United States and TSN in Canada.
Among that group are St. Louis’ three first-round picks in the 2023 NHL Draft: Slovakia forward Dalibor Dvorsky (No. 10), and Sweden teammates Otto Stenberg (No. 25), a forward, and Theo Lindstein (No. 29), a defenseman.
Dvorsky had six points (three goals, three assists) in five games last year and will be playing in his fourth WJC.
The 19-year-old led Springfield of the American Hockey League with 11 goals and was tied for first with 21 points in 27 games when he left for the tournament.
"He's had a great first half in the AHL, really finding his feet as a top player in the AHL," Taylor said. "He's scoring some big-time goals for our team in Springfield, and he's a big player. We put a lot of responsibility on him. Looking forward to seeing what he has for the second half. We want to see what he could do here at center stage of a big tournament, and see him come back with lots of confidence. We'd like to see him dominate there, to be quite honest."
Stenberg and Lindstein had big roles in helping Sweden win the silver medal at the 2024 WJC. Stenberg was second on Sweden with five goals in seven games, and Lindstein led WJC defensemen with eight points (two goals, six assists) in seven games.
"At that age, not too many times do you get to experience having 18,000-20,000 people in a building that has the same atmosphere that you have during an NHL game," Taylor said. "The World Junior allows that full experience for these players. ... So it's another great opportunity for these guys to grow and learn, experience and go through these tough and hard times, especially in game situations like the tough ones they're going to play at the World Juniors."
Defenseman Adam Jiricek, selected by the Blues in the first round (No. 16) of the 2024 NHL Draft, sustained a knee injury in the first game of the 2024 WJC with Czechia that kept him out until he returned Nov. 1 with Brantford of the Ontario Hockey League. But in his fourth game back he sustained another injury, which sidelined him for five weeks. He returned Dec. 13, and two days later, in his second and final game before leaving for the WJC, scored two goals against Kingston.
"This is a big tournament for him," Taylor said. "He was really excited. Gave him some motivation from his last injury to get back, try and be ready for this tournament. ... I'm excited for him because he has put the work in, and it's been a long haul for him, over nine months of rehab from the first injury and another five weeks from the second one. He's excited to play, and I'm excited to watch him."
Jiricek will be one of four Blues prospects playing for Czechia, along with forwards Adam Jecho, Ondrej Kos and Jakub Stancl.
Forward Juraj Pekarcik will join Dvorsky with Slovakia, and defenseman Colin Ralph will play for the United States.
"There's steppingstones, in all their careers, and this is a step in the right direction for their development to play in big-time games and a big tournament like this, where everyone in all their countries are watching," Taylor said. "In Canada, it's going to be sold out in these venues. This is a real good steppingstone to all their careers and what's ahead of them. We hope all nine guys will play with the Blues and one day hold up the Stanley Cup for us."
The Nashville Predators and Seattle Kraken each will have eight prospects at the WJC, followed by the Buffalo Sabres with six. In all, 31 of the 32 teams will have at least one player taking part in the WJC; the Boston Bruins do not have a prospect in the tournament.
