Bold projection highlights the St. Louis Blues third line for 2024-25

The St. Louis Blues third line projection is where the fun and the rather bold predictions begin. Lines 1 and 2 were more common sense, even if they could look different from what I listed earlier in the week. 

Heading into the projected bottom-six, and as the headline implies, it’s time to start expecting some rather enticing youngsters to enter the fold. And as far as these projections go, there isn’t one but two players sneaking their respective ways onto the third line and, thereby making this team younger overall. 

Zack Bolduc

While Zack Bolduc recorded just over 12 minutes of average total ice time in 2023-24, he maximized his chances to see the rink more in 2024-25. Finishing the season with five goals and nine points in 25 games, plus a 13.2 shooting percentage and a solid 15 takeaways, fans should be excited when he’s skating regularly with the third line for the upcoming campaign. 

Bolduc wasn’t bad defensively either, and the Blues attained a 91.0 save percentage when he was out there at even strength. He also broke even in the plus-minus, and played better than his estimated possession quality showed, which sat roughly at minus-3. 

With an influx of veterans still in the Lou, there’s a chance Bolduc won’t find a spot with the big club immediately. But again, boldness is the theme here, and Bolduc should be a legitimate threat to find a place in the bottom-six, and rightfully so. 

Dalibor Dvorsky 

For at least the third time, I’m calling this article bold, but quite a few Blues fans will say this one isn’t so bold, given how much those in Gateway City want to see Dvorsky in the uniform. But, I’m also placing this projection alongside an asterisk, because not only are there still plenty of veterans in town, we also don’t know if or when Oskar Sundqvist will be ready to roll. 

He tore his ACL in late March, if you remember correctly, and camp will start roughly five and a half months after he suffered the injury. That’s a rather fast time frame to get healthy. Yet even if he is ready, we also don’t know if Sundqvist will be healthy enough to be full-go, which can still open the door for Dvorksy. 

So, at this point, Dvorsky’s a projected third-liner who could surprise a few in the NHL universe with earning a spot in the lineup. 

Kasperi Kapanen

Bottom-six minutes should be Kasperi Kapanen’s niche this season, and nothing makes more sense than sidling the veteran in with a couple of youngsters in this projection. Kapanen, who struggled with his scoring last season, could regain form and become a reliable depth scorer, but he’s also someone the Blues can rely on to help create opportunities in a sequence. 

Last season, he recorded a Corsi For of just 45.8 at even strength, but 43.1 of his starts occurred in the offensive zone, something similar to what happened during his waning days with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2022-23. 

That season, Kapanen’s Corsi For sat at 48.2, and that came with just 39.4 percent of his starts in the offensive zone. With a pair of youngsters alongside him in this projection, Kapanen could be a catalyst in creating opportunities for Bolduc and Dvorsky.