Dean will come to main camp with clear objective

But for now, the 2021 first-round pick of the Vegas Golden Knights, who the Blues acquired for Ivan Barbashev Feb. 25, has his sights set on the weekend.

The 20-year-old center will be part of a featured line with Zachary Bolduc and Nikita Alexandrov when the Blues face the Minnesota Wild at 7 p.m. today and Chicago Blackhawks Saturday at 6 p.m. as part of the 2023 Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase in St. Paul, Minn.

"I think it'll be good, a couple games," Dean said. "It was a good (couple) practices, get the feel for each other. Get a couple games and I think it'll be lots of fun.

"Not think of it too much. I know what I can do. I've just got to show it. That's the mindset that I'm going to go in with and just have fun."

Dean, who went out in style in his fourth season playing in the QMJHL with the Gatineau Olympiques, putting up 70 points (33 goals, 37 assists) in 50 regular-season games and pushing the Olympiques hard and heavy in the playoffs with 26 points (10 goals, 16 assists) in 13 games before succumbing to Bolduc and the Quebec Remparts, will come to Blues training camp later next week with a clear view knowing his path to the NHL won't come easy.

That's why the Grande Prairie, Alberta native has been in St. Louis for weeks now working with the veteran skaters after participating in prospect camp here in early July.

"I've been down here for a bit now, I've been skating and having fun with it too just being around the rink," Dean said. "It's good to just kind of get in and meet everyone, you get familiar with the area and get more comfortable. I'm having lots of fun with that and excited for camp to start.

"It's still kind of the same mindset going into that. It's just show what I can do. In the end, if I show that and I'm able to make the team out of camp, then that's that, but just go in and have fun, do what I can do and see what happens."

Bolduc and the Remparts may have come out on top in an exciting series despite a four-game sweep, but it was Dean that gave his team a chance night in, night out.

"He's just a good, solid two-way forward," Blues director of player personnel Tim Taylor said during prospect camp. "I went and watched that series, Gatineau against Quebec and Bolduc and it was a heck of a series. It was four games and every game could have went either way. The bounces went in Quebec's way in all four games, but Zach Dean was a very prominent player. He was on the ice in every different situation for Gatineau. He was a leader for that team. He won the scoring championship for the Quebec League after only playing three rounds. He was just a dominant player. Every time he was on the ice, something happened. Whether he scored a goal or not, he made plays. He's a little more tenacious and heavier than Doug Gilmour, but he has those attributes of being that guy that leads both ways."

One thing is for certain with Dean; he will either woo Blues brass and find his way to St. Louis this season, or he will be developing himself with the Springfield Thunderbirds in the American Hockey League. But in order for Dean (6-foot-0, 176 pounds) to get himself better prepared for life in the NHL some day, he was a quick follower during his time spent here this summer.

"I've been here for a bit now and I've been skating with them," Dean said of the veterans. "At the beginning, there were only a few in, so it was good to get out and as the weeks went on, more came in.

"The first week, I did a couple little things after with Robert Thomas, doing some stuff with [Jordan] Kyrou too. We've been hanging out and that's good. You get with the guys and it just makes you feel more comfortable. ... Just bringing me in and talking. I'm asking questions about stuff. It's been great. You become friends and it just makes you feel more comfortable.

"Skating with the guys, you know where you're at. I think I'm right there. Obviously, it's still coming fresh off summer so you've kind of got to get back into it. I think that'll just come after every skate. I'll be fine and it will be lots of fun."

Dean, a center, would be pushing guys in the bottom six and it will be a tough nut to crack with a plethora of skaters vying for those spots.

"That's the fun part of hockey," Dean said. "It's a competitive game. It's really competitive at camp too."

But in the meantime, Dean will showcase himself against not only the Wild tonight but against some familiar faces on Saturday against the Blackhawks.

Not only will he be going against Connor Bedard, but a couple familiar faces in the Blackhawks organization Dean was teammates with with Gatineau last season.

"Sam Savoie and Marcel Marcel," Dean said. "It'll be good to see them and play against them.

"I was (in Vegas) for two prospect camps, similar kind of thing, a few games. I know what it's like. It's going to be fun and I'm just looking forward to it."