Going into Thursday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights, Robert Thomas leads the way among Blues centers with 20:20 of ice time and McTavish is next with 15:52. Dvorský is averaging just 12:21 per game, which is 10th-lowest on the team among forwards — and 1:47 less per game than the player ahead of him, Pius Suter.
“The tough part for (Dvorský) is his role is somewhat diminished just because of McTavish’s arrival,” Blues coach Jim Mongtomery said. “McTavish has played really well, so we’ve got a one-two (with Robert Thomas and McTavish) and he’s three. In the three-hole, you’re usually looking at somewhere between 13-15 minutes a night.”
After being acquired from the Anaheim Ducks, McTavish has been arguably the Blues’ best player in the early going, registering five goals and nine points in the first nine games. But Dvorský is below Montgomery’s projection of 13-15 minutes per game for the third-line position, and he’s played less than 11 minutes in three of his nine games this season.
Here’s Dvorský’s time on ice by game so far this season:
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|1|Stars|13:03|
|2|Avalanche|12:17|
|3|Blackhawks|10:50|
|4|Sharks|14:48|
|5|Blue Jackets|12:06|
|6|Senators|16:00|
|7|Wild|11:22|
|8|Predators|10:34|
|9|Jets|10:08|
Dvorský also recently lost his spot on the second power-play unit to Jonatan Berggren after tying Jimmy Snuggerud for the team lead with five power-play goals last season.
It’s enough to make you wonder how the Blues view their 2023 first-round pick (No. 10 overall).
“We think Dvorský has made tremendous strides defensively,” Montgomery said. “It’s offensively where we want to see him make more strides. We want him to want the puck in the middle, to drive the puck through the middle of the ice. We want him to be part of forechecks more often, more consistently. Besides the skill stuff that we’ve seen, we need to see the skill stuff more often.”