MARYLAND HEIGHTS, Mo. -- Coming into the NHL as a high first-round draft pick can bring with it some loftier expectations
Dalibor Dvorsky knows all about those, which gave the No. 10 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft a clear understanding for the forward to elevate his game, he would have to take both the good results and bad results from a first full season in the NHL.
Dvorsky is coming off playing 71 games for the St. Louis Blues last season, and even though the numbers (12 goals, nine assists) won’t stand out, there was more to take home with him to his native Slovakia to help him better prepare for a sophomore season this year.
“I think I worked a lot on my speed and on my footwork and my shot,” Dvorsky said. “I tried to take my game to the next level and I think I did a pretty good job.
“I feel better for sure. I feel like a little more calm on the ice. I'd say last year I was maybe a little stressed sometimes, but now I feel calmer with the puck on my stick and I think I do better decisions.”
In other words, the game has been sort of dumbed down for Dvorsky. The NHL pace isn’t overwhelming like it may have been last season, knowing he’s going up against the best players on the planet. And so far in 2026-27, even in a smaller sample size, Dvorsky has found the net in each of the Blues’ first two games as he searches for his first three-game goal-scoring streak when the Blues (1-1-0) conclude a season-opening three-game trip against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.
Maybe some of that pressure and slowing the game down was helped out when Dvorsky thrived for his native Slovakia at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, where he has three goals and three assists in six games.
And if anyone in recent memory understands where Dvorsky is coming from as far as being more calm as you gain experience, it’s 2020 first-round pick Jake Neighbours, Dvorsky’s linemate to start the season.
St. Louis goal!
— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 4, 2026
Scored by Dalibor Dvorsky with 17:26 left in the 3rd. Assisted by Theo Lindstein.
COL: 6 | STL: 1#STLvsCOL#GoAvsGo#StlBluespic.twitter.com/d8EylkgGNU
“I think every hockey player goes through it when they transition to pro, especially to the NHL,” Neighbours said. “It’s a learning curve. I’m still learning in my fourth or fifth year, whatever it is. I think just with every year comes more comfortability. You can see that in him. He’s more confident this year. Like he said, he’s more calm with the puck, he seems to have a little more poise with it. You definitely see some improvements for sure. I think that’s normal for any young player coming into the league. Your first year is about learning, getting your wits about you. When you come into your second year, you come to expect a little more of yourself.
“There comes a point. I don’t know if it’s a certain game marker or a stretch of good play that maybe does it for you. I think everybody’s probably different. I think for me, I remember the year I scored 27, there’s just that feeling that you belong in the league and you can compete in it. Every player has that moment where they kind of figure that out. I think ‘Devo’ has a ton of confidence; he knows he’s a really good player in the league. Excited to play with him and watch him blossom this year.”
Dvorsky knows what’s out there: the hands are there, the shot is there, the foot speed and/or foot work isn’t. So he went about it on his own to work on it.
“Some things off the ice,” he said. “On the ice, just have those quick first three steps, working on that.”
And having those quicker steps has perhaps slowed the game down for the 21-year-old.
“Yeah but maybe it comes with me being more calm with the puck and also I think I know what to do without the puck better than I did last year,” Dvorsky said. “Obviously I still have to learn so much, but I feel like I'm a smarter player than I was last year.”
“Probably like every detail matters. Every player (is) so good and one small mistake, it costs a goal. Every time I'm out there, just make the most of it.”
Blues coach Jim Montgomery has noticed the calmness to Dvorsky’s game and feels it’s the player is asking more advanced questions to take his game to the next level.
“Calm is a good word to describe it,” Montgomery said. “He seems to understand how we want to play, the questions he’s asking are more advanced and basic as far as what we’re trying to accomplish.
“They’re just getting comfortable, right? Being in the NHL’s intimidating when you first come up. It’s intimidating about who’s in the locker room, it’s intimidating about the size of the arena, it’s intimidating about how great a life we have on the road with the nice hotels. There’s a lot of things to digest for it to become normal, and then you’re going out and you might be out there and ice the puck, now MacKinnon and McDavid are coming over (the boards) on the ice. But you’ve just got to get used to that, right? There’s definitely a learning curve there and adjustment mentally to, ‘I’m playing against these guys.’ It’s not, ‘Oh wow, look who’s on the ice.’ It does happen.”
Dalibor Dvorsky caught Jake Oettinger slippin' 😲
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) October 3, 2026
(via @tntsports) pic.twitter.com/IDjpIFnjeC
There may have been some of that last season, especially playing as a second-line center behind Robert Thomas. But with the acquisition of Mason McTavish, Dvorsky can perhaps get some better matchups and fuel his game in the process, and in his case, hopefully avoids any sort of ‘Sophomore Slump’ while thriving with Neighbours, Jonatan Berggren or whoever may be on that line.
“MacT is a great player and a great guy off the ice, too,” Dvorsky said. “It helps me, and it helps the team a lot.
“Both Jake and Bergy are great players. Jakey is very strong on the puck and so strong in battles and very smart. Bergy is so skilled and can find players. So yeah, it's really good and easy for me to play with those two guys.”
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