It's abundantly clear at this point...

It is abundantly clear at this point that the St. Louis Blues not only have multiple young players looking to break out, but one in particular looking like a absolute star heading into next season. We're going to break down everything you need to know, including an update coming from the St. Louis Blues on a new agreement with the NHL that is going to have fans fired up, plus the update of one key player that is looking to not only have a breakout, but a major part of this team's success heading into next season. We're going to break down all of this and so much more in this episode. You're not going to want to miss it before we get into it. I want to give a huge shout out to everyone watching. If you're part of the 60% that haven't hit the subscribe button, but you want to stay up to date on everything to do around the St. Louis Blues, make sure to go down and hit it, because not only will we keep you up to date on everything to do around the team, but plus it makes Darius happy. Look at his face there. He wants you guys to subscribe. So make sure to go down and hit it. Hit that follow button if you're watching on Facebook. But Darius, before we get into the rookie, I did want to go into our young player, I should say, the new local coverage that is coming through with the NHL. With the big news, the NHL coverage and RSN Crash NHL production will provide centralized production service for the Hurricanes, Blue Jackets, Weill, and the St. Louis Blues. Now, there's a lot to look into. The St. Louis Blues did a full write-up of this, including Steve Chapman, their vice president, stepping out to talk on the agreement. This partnership is an ideal arrangement for the Blues that leverages the production strength of the NHL while giving our organization more control, the big words there, of every aspect of our local broadcast more than ever. Darius, what is your thoughts on this agreement? Of course, we're going to dive into a bunch of young players within this organization, but do you feel like this is one of the situations where now the St. Louis Blues get more coverage, more coverage for the fans to watch, and it's going to be a lot more accessible for fans to go out and surely watch these games on TV? Well, it sounds like with the ever-changing landscape of media and TV rights and all of that, and what's happening with the Anaheim Ducks as well, it sounds like the NHL is doing what I think is probably a pilot with these with just four teams, and the Blues are involved in that. But I think this is a good thing. We'll see how it all plays out and how it's executed, but I think it is going to be a good thing where it is going to be localized coverage where you are getting, some people call it being a homer, but you might get more biased coverage of the Blues where you look more into the stats, you're looking more into the storylines of the Blues on these broadcasts, which I think could be a good thing for Blues fans when watching the game instead of just a national broadcast or something that is not leaning towards the Blues, or Blues hate, or not getting into enough of the nitty-gritty of it, which I think is a big thing during these broadcasts. So we'll see how it's executed, but I think them being able to leverage what the NHL has here and the fact that they did make a point, again, the specifics of it, all of this is mostly PR at this point, we'll see exactly how they execute it, but the specifics of it did say that it is going to be localized coverage of these teams. So I think it should be, in theory, with the team having a little more control over it too, a good thing for fans. So we'll see how that plays out, but this is an interesting announcement that I think they're just trying it with four teams, see how it goes. If people do take a liking to it, then they'll probably, well, A, continue with these teams, and B, add more teams to it as well. Because more coverage on the Blues is exactly what you want. I mean, you have us over here on Blues Digest, but getting more with the games, people speaking on the games, and more bias towards the St. Louis Blues while watching, I mean, what else could you ask for in a world where the St. Louis Blues, of course, want to win a Stanley Cup? But the big thing is, it's going into a season where, of course, with the new broadcasting, with this new bias coming out with these games, depending on how that goes, there's so many young, new players within this organization that are going to make the push. Of course, we spoke on Mace McTavish, you have Conor McMichael, the best Conor Mick in the league, who cares about Conor McDavid? This is a team that, of course, is making the push, and a lot of new, exciting, young players pushing through. But Darius, there's one name in particular, a returning young guy, of course, there's so much smoke around, Justin Carbineau, Adam Jurczyk, but I think it's really pulled from one player in particular that's not only going to make this team out of camp, but genuinely be a secret weapon for this organization pushing forward. We've seen in the latter half of last season, we've seen at the Olympic level, Dvorsky is such a great, young, exciting player, and I did a full report. Having Dvorsky sitting, I believe, 37th across all prospects in the NHL out of the top 100, just above Justin Carbineau. You have Adam Jurczyk, you have Lawrence, one of their first round picks this year. What is your thoughts on Dvorsky? Because there's going to be a lot of interesting decisions between the lineup. Mace McTavish is going to join the team, as most likely that Tuesday, but looking at that third line, of course, you want some veteran leadership there. McMichael is not too young of a player, but also young enough to still be a lot of room to grow. Do you think Dvorsky starts on that third line, and is there a role where we could see that pure breakout where maybe we see a 50-plus point season? I do think that we're headed towards at least that direction for Dvorsky, but a lot of people are asking the question over the last couple weeks, the last month or so, what does this mean for Dvorsky? What does acquiring Mace McTavish and Connor McMichael mean for Dvorsky? Because they're both centers in theory, and Dvorsky has, you know, really improved over the last year or so. He started in the AHL, but really came on the scene after that, you know, spent the rest of the year in the NHL, and had a great showing. We were talking about it at the Olympics too, like absolute dogging him during the Olympics. So, and the rest of the way, during the regular season too, he played a big role. Now, I think that the acquisitions do not squish Dvorsky at all. I think it's actually a really good thing for Dvorsky, because we were weeks away if they were making no other changes, they were going to go into next season with Kyrou, from Dvorsky having to be a second line center, and for him to produce at top line production, right? For them to find a way into the playoffs and have a chance in this Western Conference, and especially, not just the Western Conference because it wasn't that good overall last year, but the Central Division specifically to try and make the playoffs. Now, he's, you know, thrust back into the third line center position again, where he can kind of, you know, be himself. Take on his matchups, of course, but he can continue to, you know, develop at a rate that's not, okay, all of a sudden, hey, we need you to be a second line center, and we need you to put up 60 points, and, you know, play these hard matchups and all this stuff. No, no, no. This is the second year in the league. He's going to continue to figure it out. I know that he is going to be better next season, even better than he was last year, and you might look at it, 21 points in 71 games, not great, but he looked good away from the puck too. He's going to continue to work on his skating, I'm sure. He's going to get, he's going to get better. He's still young, right? And he started, for crying out loud, I have high hopes for this player, and I don't think it changes much for him. I think it actually just puts him in a better position, a position that's better suited for him right now, that maybe in the future, he can take on more responsibility, but for the time being, they've, you know, they've got two players here, a couple players that can play center, actually, that can come in. They're kind of interchangeable in that way, especially if they got to switch up the lines and get some something going if they're in a slump or whatnot during the season, but I think it puts Dvorsky in a really good spot where he can continue his development. You're not forcing him to be something that he isn't yet, and that could in itself stunt his development, so I have high hopes for him. I think he's going to have a great season, and a lot of people, you know, we saw it in the comments too, Mark, like, hey, you guys are not talking about Dvorsky. What does this mean for Dvorsky? Well, you added some good players, and now Dvorsky is going to be able to continue to do his thing. I think that's a great, you know, thing heading into next year. Because you can almost switch Konarek, Michael, and Dvorsky to the wing, the center position. I feel like two of those players are going to be so interchangeable in the center to wing position, but they're going to fit like a glove. Two guys that play a good style of hockey, two guys that are still very young and have room to grow. Of course, Dvorsky having the swagger, I mean, going back to the pitcher, I mean, the best pitcher of just last year during the Olympics. This is a young player that's a budding star in the growing, and Darius, listen, fans can call me crazy. Listen, call me Jon Hamm of Mad Men if you want at this point. This is a young player that I'm almost willing to go out and say at this very moment, he's going to not only shock fans, local coverage, or anyone in between. This is a guy that I could legitimately see in the position of playing against weaker competition in that third line. Truly going out with a 60-point season, we could see 25-plus goals. Listen, call me crazy. Like I said, this is such a fun and exciting player, still very young. I mean, looking at the contract, he has so much more room to grow, and you have him on his ELC, still just Of course, you got to figure that out at the age of 23, but who cares at this point? Fans, let us know down in the comments your thoughts on this St. Louis Blues team. What is your thoughts on Dvorsky? Do you think he's going to go out and have one of the seasons? That's the tipping point for them to make a run into the Stanley Cup Finals. Let us know all your thoughts, plus local coverage, down in the comments. I've been your host, Merk, with my co-host, Darius, and take care, Blues fans.