The St. Louis Blues went with a different approach in Saturday's 2-0 shutout loss to the Dallas Stars. They placed 21-year-old Zac Bolduc into the top six, manning him next to Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich. The trio looked solid despite, of course, not getting any points on the board.
In 11:48 of ice time together, they registered five shots on goal and had a Corsi% of 68.2%, which is the highest on the team. Not too shabby for the first time seeing these guys together in big-time minutes.
With that said, did Bolduc look like he belonged up there? Should the Blues continue to keep him inside the top-six forward group?
Solid First Outing
As stated in the opener, that Bolduc-Thomas-Buchnevich line was pretty remarkable against a solid Stars team. They held their own for the better part of the game, but could not get one past Stars goaltender Casey DeSmith.
Bolduc was the star of this line, registering three shots on goal as well as getting three hits. He fit in nicely with the new linemates and responsibility.
Give him some time
The 21-year-old is still getting acclimated to "The Show", and is already living up to what is expected of him on the second line. Give this guy some time, and he could very well be a cornerstone piece on a bright Blues team.
The goals will come, and the point production will get better, all in good time. But, If the Blues were smart about this, they would keep Bolduc together with Buchnevich and Thomas, to ensure his comfort with big-time minutes. In the future, this line can be dissected and scattered, but going forward, it should remain the same.
Do you think Bolduc should stay up in the top-six, or is it too early in his career?