Welcome back to Top Shelf Prospects, the column that brings you the next crop of professional hockey players. As we go through the summer of 2023, each day our LWOS Prospects Writers will bring you a look at one NHL team’s top prospects or other topical article. Be sure to bookmark the site, follow Ben Kerr, Kyle Pereira and Frederik Frandson on Twitter, and spread the word for the site that will bring you analytical and critical profiles and scouting reports! You can find all the articles here as well as our extensive NHL Draft preview. Today, we look at the 2023 St. Louis Blues Top Prospects. 
For those wondering, the cut-off for what is or isn’t a prospect is typically about 50 NHL games played (including playoff games) or 25 years old. However, these are not hard or fast rules, and we may make some exceptions depending on the circumstances.
2023 St. Louis Blues Top Prospects
1.) Dalibor Dvorsky
Drafted 10th overall, Dvosky tops the list of Blues prospects. Dvorsky has good size and uses it to play a power game in the middle of the ice. He uses his body and his reach to protect the puck and extend offensive zone possession. Dvorsky is good at working the cycle game and can control plays down below the hashmarks. When a teammate is open, he can make a tape-to-tape pass through a tight opening. Dvorsky has good vision and excellent anticipation. He anticipates where teammates and opponents are going and makes smart plays both with and without the puck.
Dvorsky excels as a goal scorer. He has a very good wrist shot and an excellent release. He also has a good snap shot and one-timer. Dvorsky’s release is deceptive and can create issues for goalies. His defensive game is also very advanced for his age.
2.) Jimmy Snuggerud
The Blues top pick in 2022, Snuggerud had an excellent freshman campaign at the University of Minnesota. Snuggerud is a pure sniper. He finds soft spots in the defence and gets himself open to take a pass. When the pass comes, he loves to fire a one-timer on the net. His shot is powerful and accurate. He also has the ability to adjust to a pass that isn’t quite on the mark, shifting his feet and still getting a powerful shot off. Snuggerud also has a strong and accurate wrist shot. His quick release allows him to fool goalies and score in transition or when sneaking in on the power play. Snuggerud uses his size and strength to get to the dirty areas of the ice. He can also score goals in tight with his quick hands, and ability to pounce on rebounds and get deflections.
3.) Zachary Bolduc
Drafted 17th overall in 2021, Bolduc remains amongst the Blues top prospects. Bolduc has an excellent wrist shot, snap shot and slap shot. He is accurate and shows good power. His wrist shot and snap shot also feature a decent release but there is a bit of room to improve. Bolduc loves to shoot and will take shots from anywhere on the ice. With his good shot, he can score from the perimeter on junior goalies. That said, he’s not afraid to go to the dirty areas of the ice and can score from inside the home plate area as well. He might even shoot a bit too much, to the detriment of his passing skills and making plays to drive the net at times. He can continue to improve his stickhandling.
4.) Joel Hofer
Coming in at 6-foot-5, Hofer has the ideal size that NHL teams are looking for in a modern goalie prospect. He skates well, which allows him to take advantage of that size. Hofer comes out to the top of his crease, cutting down angles, and taking advantage of his size to give shooters very little to look at. He also skates backwards well, which prevents forwards from being able to deke him in one-on-one situations. Hofer’s positioning is very strong, his angles are spot on and he rarely gets caught out of position. He tracks the puck well. However, Hofer could use some work on his lateral movement. He could stand to get side to side in the crease better.
5.) Scott Perunovich
An undersized defenceman, Perunovich brings an offensive element from the blue line. Perunovich creates offence through poise and creativity. He has the puck-handling skills to extend plays and wait for a teammate to get open. When they do, he can make tape-to-tape passes through tight areas. Perunovich has excellent vision and hockey IQ. He is a true power-play quarterback. When he has the puck in his own zone, Perunovich has a variety of weapons. He can skate the puck out of danger and start the rush himself. He can also make a long home run pass to a streaking teammate, looking for that breakaway. Perunovich will need to continue to work on his defensive game.
6.) Zach Dean
Dean joins the Blues top prospects after being acquired in the Ivan Barbashev trade. Dean is an excellent skater and marries this with very good stickhandling ability. He can make plays while moving at top speed. Dean’s highlight reel contains several outstanding goals. He is very creative with the puck and will cut to the tough areas, dangle around a defenceman and get to the net. That creativity helps Dean in the transition game. He is very good at leading the rush and generating good zone entries. His quick hands also help Dean to be a goal scorer in tight. However, he can work on his shot. It has decent power but could be even harder if he can continue to pack muscle on his frame. The bigger issue is his accuracy though, as Dean has too many shots blocked or miss the net.
7.) Otto Stenberg
The second of the Blues three picks in the first round of the 2023 Draft, Stenberg is a skilled forward who plays an effective 200-foot game. He has a lot of good qualities but seems to lack the one stand-out skill to set him apart. Still he is solid on the boards in all three zones. He also shows excellent hockey IQ, getting into the right positions both with and without the puck. Stenberg is a good stickhandler and can quickly shift the puck with a toe drag and make a quick cut to open up a passing or shooting lane. A responsible forward, Stenberg rarely gets caught up ice and comes back to support the defence down low.
8.) Theo Lindstein
The third of the Blues three first-round picks this year, Lindstein is a left-shot defender. Lindstein is a powerful skater. His mobility allows him to join the rush and create offence, as well as get back in the defensive end of the ice. It is the basis of his strong two-way game. Lindstein helps to create offence with good passing skills from the blue line as well as an excellent shot. He can walk the line, using his lateral agility to move from side-to-side and open up passing and shooting lanes. His strong lateral movement also helps him in the defensive end. He forces attackers to the outside and into bad shooting areas. Lindstein can stand to work on his puck retrievals and breakouts though as he struggles under a heavy forecheck.
9.) Nikita Alexandrov
Alexandrov played 28 games for the Blues last year, but the rookie hasn’t quite adjusted to the speed of the NHL game yet. He could still get there though. At his best Alexandrov’s game is a mix of skill and power. He is strong enough to get the puck to the front of the net, and this is where he creates the majority of his offence. Alexandrov drives the net hard as well as having the soft hands to finish in tight to the goal. He can make a quick move to get by a defender or to open up a passing lane to a teammate. Alexandrov’s ability to control the puck in the cycle game allows him to extend plays and wait for teammates to get open in front of the net.
10.) Michael Buchinger
Drafted in the third round of the 2022 Draft, Buchinger is another strong skating defender and this becomes the basis of his two-way game. He can use his skating and stickhandling skill to lead the rush and push the pace through the neutral zone. Buchinger creates effective and efficient zone entries with these skills. He shows good passing skills, both in transition as well as quarterbacking the play at the point. Buchinger has good vision and makes smart plays with the puck. He also uses his strong hockey IQ, good work ethic, and excellent skating to play a strong defensive game.
Sleeper (4th Round or Later): Tyler Tucker
Tucker is more of a defensive defender. He works hard on the boards and plays a physical game. He also does a good job clearing the front of the net. If attackers come down his side of the ice with their heads down, Tucker can make them pay with a big hit. He uses his reach and his body to cut down shooting and passing lanes. Tucker has really improved his positioning and defensive instincts and is close to making an NHL impact. While there is not a whole ton of offence to his game, he can make a good first pass to start the transition game. Tucker also has a hard slapshot but could do more to open up shooting lanes and be sure to get it on the net.
Blues Prospects: In the system
The Blues have done a good job of rebuilding their depth and acquiring prospects in recent years. Other players to watch in the system include Leo Luff, Juraj Pekarcik, Matthew Kessel, Tanner Dickinson, Aleksanteri Kaskimaki, Quinton Burns, Vadim Zherenko, and Simon Robertson.
