Despite getting a nine-game NHL callup during his rookie AHL season in 2023-24, Dean regressed in 2024-25, playing in only 11 AHL games while registering four points. Unfortunately, it appears Dean is experiencing a mix of injuries which are significantly slowing down his development. The main target in 2025-26 is for Dean to stay healthy the entire season, and then have a higher focus on developing offensively. Of course, if he can do both in this upcoming season, that would make many Blues fans happy. He has the potential to play in a middle-six role in the NHL, so dynasty managers can keep him on their watch lists for another year and monitor his ability to stay healthy.

After a challenging start to the season in the AHL, Dean has shown significant improvement, recently amassing nine points in his last 12 games. This performance earned him a call-up, and on March 21st, Dean made his NHL debut against Ottawa. The young center had a sheltered first game, logging only 8:41 minutes on the fourth line. While it may not have been the ideal debut, it still indicates promising growth from the prospect, who faced considerable struggles early in the season.

It has been a challenging first season in the AHL for Dean so far. Not only does he have just three points in 19 games, but he has also been on the ice for only six goals for and 17 against (26%) compared to the team’s overall performance of 70 goals for and 59 against (54%). While there is still time for Dean to turn his season around, regaining confidence will be crucial for his success.

Since his trade from Vegas in February of last season, Dean’s stats have notably improved. When accounting for the playoff, he increases his scoring rate from 0.63 goals per game to 0.76, his point average from 1.29 to 1.88, and he took an already impressive 3.16 shots per game to a 4.76.

Zach Dean was traded to the St. Louis Blues for Ivan Barbashev. In his senior year in the QMJHL with the Gatineau Olympique he is on pace for a 65 point season through 50 games. Dean had three points with Canada at the WJC winning the Gold.