Blues recall former first-round pick

The Blues announced Tuesday morning that they’d recalled center Zachary Bolduc from AHL Springfield. He wasn’t on the team’s opening night roster but will be on hand for their season opener against the Kraken.

They have an open roster spot for Bolduc’s recall but only $468K in cap space, per PuckPedia. That’s not enough to add his $863K cap hit to the active roster. It’s likely that defenseman Torey Krug, who will miss the entire 2024-25 season after undergoing surgery to address pre-arthritic conditions in his left ankle, has been moved from injured reserve to long-term injured reserve to create the cap space necessary for the transaction.

St. Louis drafted the 21-year-old Bolduc with the 17th overall pick in 2021. He’s coming off his first professional season, in which he spent time on both the Blues’ roster and with Springfield. He burned his Calder eligibility for this year by making 25 NHL appearances in 2023-24, recording five goals and four assists for nine points while averaging 12:01 per game. A natural center, the 6’0″, 187-pound forward was deployed exclusively on the wing in NHL action last year.

He didn’t look out of place, but after posting 110 points with the QMJHL’s Québec Remparts in 2022-23, his offense didn’t pop as the Blues might have hoped in Springfield. The pivot was limited to eight goals in 50 games, adding 17 assists for 25 points.

St. Louis hopes his NHL showing last year is more reflective of his long-term ceiling. Bolduc was a legitimate factor offensively, recording a somewhat sustainable 13.2% shooting rate on 38 shots on goal. His possession numbers were underwhelming with a 43.1 CF% and 42.3 xGF% at even strength, but those should improve with time for a young forward.

While Bolduc signed his entry-level contract back in 2021, it slid twice due to his lack of NHL playing time. He’s still got another year left on his rookie deal after this and will be a restricted free agent in 2026. He remains waiver-exempt for two more seasons or until he plays 160 NHL games.