Zach Dean had to grow up fast, led to some tough times early in his pro career; 2021 first-round pick started to figure it out at AHL level, rewarded with first NHL recall, awaiting debut with Blues

After all, the 21-year-old was flourishing for the Gatineau Olympiques of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League last season when he put up 70 points (33 goals, 37 assists) in 50 games before taking fellow Blues prospect Zachary Bolduc the distance in their semifinal playoff round matchup.

But Dean, recalled by the Blues on Monday and is waiting to make his NHL debut, received a quick refresher course on having to become an adult for the first time, and fast.

"I think some things we forget about, a lot of it's talked about on the hockey aspect of it with these young players, but they leave whether it's college or their junior towns where everything's taken care for them, and now all of the sudden they have to find a place to live, they have to find a roommate, they have to pay bills, they have to wash all their clothes and now they have to cook their own meals," said Blues interim coach Drew Bannister, who was Dean's coach in Springfield before Bannister was promoted to St. Louis following the firing of Craig Berube. "That's a big adjustment for these players. It's just not the hockey aspect."

And Dean admitted as much. Not to make any excuses, but it showed in his early play.

Dean had just two goals and two assists the first 35 games of the season.

"Obviously first-year pro, coming in you're going to be playing against guys that are bigger, they're a lot older too, the speed of the game," Dean said Tuesday at Centene Community Ice Center. "I'm just trying to adjust to that. I think in the last little bit, I kind of found that groove of what I can do, what I can't do, just getting comfortable, holding onto pucks and making plays. Obviously it's not going to be easy all the time, and I was just enjoying it. Same thing with the living, first year living on your own, an apartment, stuff like that. There's adjustments, not just on the ice too. But I was enjoying it. I was having fun."

Dean had 'that moment' where everything started to click.

He scored on Feb. 3 against Hartford, then had an assist the following game against Hershey that started a run of eight points (five goals, three assists) in eight games, including a three-point night against Providence on Feb. 24 and this beauty of a goal:

Dean was playing down in the lineup but out of necessity when the Blues started calling players up, he got his chance to move higher up into a top six role and ran with it.

"I think the biggest thing is just be more confident with the puck and using my speed," Dean said. "In the last little bit when I've done that, that's when I've had the most success. That's just what I'm going to try and do going forward.

"I think my speed, I think that's something I've always used. Obviously in juniors, it's a completely different game and you're playing with guys that are more around your age. I would say my speed and just using that as a strength."

The early part of the season has become a forgone conclusion, even experimenting at wing, a position Dean said he had no qualms about playing but prefers to be a center. All of it needed to run its course.

"I think all the kids, they struggle, especially the good players coming out of junior hockey, they think it's going to be a lot easier than it is, and all of the sudden you're thrown into a league that there's a lot of good hockey players, a lot of guys that played numerous games, numerous years in the NHL and they're men," Bannister said. "I think the players come in and they're taken a little bit by surprise, it leaves little bit of confidence in themselves, there's some doubt with how they thought they came in or what their perception of the league would be, and then it just takes time to build that confidence back up. And then just an understanding of how difficult it is on a day to day basis to be a pro."

Not only the living aspects and becoming an adult living alone, aside from having his girlfriend with him, Dean's last year involved being traded at a young age changing organizations, playing out his junior career and adjusting to a pro life.

"Obviously you think about all that stuff when it happens, but to think about it all at one time, it's kind of crazy even going back to getting drafted to the NHL and obviously getting traded and still in junior," Dean said. "That was something too that was still pretty crazy. I can remember that. I had a game, it was an early game that day, woke up, got traded and I had to go right to the rink pretty much as soon as I found out the news. There wasn't too much time to think about it there. I'm just enjoying the process and I'm having lots of fun with it."

Dean joined the Blues in Boston and watched the game against the Bruins from the press box and was able to process what it takes to scale the mountain even more from AHL level to the NHL.

"Obviously it's the NHL," he said. "The pace and the way everyone plays, it's incredible really. Especially being up there, you get to see a full view of the ice. Obviously people watching, it looks a little bit easier but when you get out there, it's going to be a little hard."

With Matthew Kessel and Bolduc already having their feet wet in the organization, Dean is next in line to begin his journey and continue to form that foundation of younger prospects that will soon enough mold this franchise into the future.

"Obviously we haven't really talked about that too much," Dean said. "Just right now, I would say it's a lot going on getting the call and getting up. 'Boldy's playing his first games now, 'Kess' was up for a while and stuff like that. I don't think we're really thinking that far down the road, but obviously that's something that you could think about."

Dean's NHL debut will likely have to wait beyond Wednesday since the Blues are expected to field the same lineup that won in Boston, but the Blues wouldn't have recalled him unless they wanted him to get a taste.

"We'll see. I think right now with the way our guys played yesterday, I think it's imperative that we get everybody back in," Bannister said. 'They deserve to be back in the lineup, but i think when 'Deaner' gets in, and he will here in the near future, he played wing for me down there early on just to get him adapted to the league and then we moved him back to center before I came up here. As far as I know, he's been playing very well, probably one of their best forwards since Christmas time. Once we see where our lineup kind of sits here moving forward, we'll get him in. He's a versatile player. He can play both wing and center. I think we envision him moving forward as a centerman, but it's not an easy league to play center in, so there are some ups and downs that go with that, so we want to protect him and make sure we get him in the right spots."

And when Dean does, you can surely bet that his parents, Trent and Kendra Dean, will make their way down from Newfoundland to see it.

"I think whenever I find out, then they'll make their way down," Dean said. "I don't think they'll miss that one."