On Wednesday morning, the St. Louis Blues announced that the 10th overall pick in the 2023 NHL draft, Dalibor Dvorksy, had his contract terminated by IK Oskarshamn, resulting in a move to the Ontario Hockey League.
With Dvorsky without a professional team to play for, he, by default, becomes property of the St. Louis Blues. Since he was drafted out of the NHL from Europe, the Blues could send their top prospect to the American Hockey League despite Dvorsky only being 18 years old.
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General manager Doug Armstrong opted to send Dvorsky to juniors, and since the OHL’s Sudbury Wolves drafted Dvorsky in the CHL draft, the team then owns the rights to the forward.
The move to North America should come as a welcome move for Dvorsky, who quickly fell out of favor with his team in Sweden. In his final two games with IK Oskarshamn, Dvorsky tallied 1:35 of ice time and just 44 seconds of ice time in his final game in the SHL.
It doesn’t matter when you were selected in the NHL draft, no 18-year-old prospect is going to develop at a proper pace if they are only getting one or two shifts a game. In Dvorsky’s case, he was playing against men twice his age and still only getting a little over a minute of action.
"I am very excited to be joining Sudbury. I can’t wait to meet all of my new teammates and coaches and Wolves fans, and to start my new hockey chapter in North America – Dalibor Dvorsky"
The move to the OHL also makes it easier for the St. Louis Blues to bring Dvorsky up to the NHL whenever the team sees fit to do so. Since his contract was terminated in Sweden, there are now no restrictions on when Dvorsky can make his Blues debut.
Dvorsky has had a tremendous amount of success throughout his career when he plays against players in his age group. He has earned multiple medals playing with his native country of Slovakia, and he is a proven postseason performer in league play.
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The Sudbury Wolves have just begun their 2023-24 season, and with seven games played this season, the Wolves are 4-3 on the year. At the moment, it is unclear when Dvorsky will suit up for the first time in the OHL.