The St. Louis Blues have had to resort to the AHL-level Springfield Thunderbirds for depth help. This season has featured a flurry of injuries to key members of the Blue Note, and that means that some young prospects and players that are on the cusp of being an NHL regular and an AHL-lifer were called up.
As of now, there have been four call-ups from Springfield. Dalior Dvorsky, Matt Luff, Aleksanteri Kaskimäki, and Hugh McGing. These four, as well as recently injured Jimmy Snuggerud, could be the Blues' future, and they are already here making an impact.
Let's see how each have done and if there initial impression says anything about their future.
How's it going?
Dvorsky was the first call-up of the season when Robert Thomas and Jake Neighbours went down in late October, and he has given this opportunity his very best. In 22 games, he has three goals and an assist to his record, with a -8 to boot. It might not seem like the best stat line, but underneath all of that paints a bigger picture.
Dvorsky has shown that the talent is there, and each game is unlocking more and more of his true potential. He has been smart with the puck, and with a 52.0 CorsiFor% and a face-off win percentage of 50%, he is performing well above average in the areas outside of scoring.
Both Luff and Kaskimäki were called up around the same time, when Snuggerud and Alexey Toropchenko went down, followed by Nathan Walker. Luff has skated in two games and has only a -2 on his stat line with two shots on goal, with an average ice time of 8:09. Kaskimäki has a -6 through five games of action, with six shots on goal, with an average ice time of 10:24.
Finally, McGing made his 2025-26 debut in the unfortunate 7-2 beatdown handed out by the Nashville Predators. But he was one of the goal scorers, notching his first career goal in the National Hockey League. He had 9:48 of ice-time and even saw some time on the power play.
Future Blues?
Obviously, as the Blues' core starts to get older, and potentially broken apart and traded this season, the future will have to be accelerated a bit. One or two of these four call-ups might be a big piece of that hopefully successful future.
Dvorsky is a lock, as he continues to show that he can compete with the big boys. Whatever stigma was attached to him last season has been shredded off of him through the last 21 games, and his potential can only go up from here.
As far as the other three players, both Luff and Kaskimäki have not shown enough production yet to establish a clear trajectory for them. Luff is a seasoned NHLer, having some time with the Los Angeles Kings, but Kaskimäki is still green to "The Show". Luff is a nice piece to hold onto in case of injury, such as these times, and until Kaskimäki can prove otherwise, he falls into the same category.
McGing is a separate case. Not because he scored his first career goal against the Preds, but also because the eye test showed his potential. There is a chance that he can be a nice addition to the second line of the future.