Can Zack Bolduc make an Impact this Season for the St. Louis Blues?

Recently Bleedin' Blue ran a poll to see what fans thought of any potential Blues' rookies and the impact they'd have on the team this upcoming season. Zack Bolduc ran away with the poll garnering nearly three fourths of the vote. For good measure too as it seems the former 1st round pick seems to be rounding into form.

The 17th pick of the 2021 draft, Zack Bolduc is a six foot center out of Trois-Rivieres, QC in Canada. The former Remparts center was a high scoring forward in the QMJHL scoring 209 points in just 126 games over his final two seasons in juniors.

While the jump to the professional rankings would see those numbers dip (just 25 points in 50 AHL gamez for the Thunderbirds) it wasn't without its benefits. Bolduc would be going up against a much more physical opposition now. The "Q" is a fast paced, high scoring league going up against players of a similar age and build. The AHL is physical and in any top 6 role would see a young player competing against older and more physically mature players.

In a 25 game call-up, Bolduc would produce though. Five goals and nine points equates to a roughly 16 goal / 30 point pace as a rookie. Now 21 years old, Bolduc should lean on this experience and build upon it. Could this mean more action at the highest level?

With a long season ahead, Zack Bolduc is clearly in line to recieve many chances at breaking into the rotation of forwards. With a clear need for an impact young talent, it could be Zack that is the one we all are talking about by season's end.