Zach Dean

March 2024 – 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. Cedrick Blais-Turcotte

December 2023 – 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. Cedrick Blais-Turcotte

June 2023 – 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. Cedrick Blais-Turcotte 

February 2023 – 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. Peter Harling

December 2022- As is often the case, Team Canada’s final roster for this year’s version of the World Junior Championships has come under fire for who did and who did not make the cut. One player who did, over elite junior scorers like Jordan Dumais, Matt Savoie and Zac Bolduc, is 2021 Knights first-rounder Zach Dean. Dean, who will turn 20 years old during this year’s tournament, has long been known for playing a 200-foot game, and that’s exactly what Team Canada will be looking for from him in their bottom-six. While Dean is far from an offensive slouch, picking up his pace a bit over last season with 17 goals and 35 points through 27 games for the QMJHL Olympiques, it’s his defensive acumen that put him ahead of the competition for one of the final spots on this year’s national club. Expect Dean to feature in defensive situations for Team Canada, and don’t be shocked if he provides a fair bit of secondary scoring throughout the tournament. Taylor Davis

January 2022 – Following the first half of December 2021, in which Dean was named to Canada’s World Juniors’ squad and signed a three-year entry level contract with Vegas, the Alberta native continued to score at a point-per-game pace with Gatineau of the QMJHL, having registered six goals and eight assists in 11 contests this campaign. This follows a 2020-21 season with ten goals and ten assists in 23 games, and a 18G, 28A, 57-contest campaign in 2019-20, also with the Olympiques. With the league paused for nearly a month due to COVID concerns, we’ll see how the 19-year-old Dean responds when games begin again, but the future appears growing brighter for one of Vegas’ top forward prospects. Kevin Wickersham

July 2021 – Dean was selected in the first round, 30th overall by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2021 NHL Draft. Nick Richard

February 2021 – After being selected fourth overall by Gatineau in the 2019 QMJHL draft, Dean had a strong rookie campaign and finished with 46 points in 57 games. Unfortunately for Dean, his draft year his been disrupted by the pandemic and he has played just 10 games to this point in the season.

Dean is a solid two-way center who displays a high work rate and plays at a breakneck pace. He supports the play well and is a deft puck thief who is able to set up his teammates for quick strike opportunities off of turnovers. Dean has good puck handling skills, he is equally comfortable making plays on his forehand or backhand, and though he sometimes skates himself into pressure, he is often able to dish the puck into space for a teammate after drawing defenders toward him. His speed and pace of play puts opposing defenders on their heels at the junior level but Dean could benefit from learning to slow the game down a bit and let things come to him on occasion. He is also a conscientious defender who tracks well on the backcheck and competes down low in his own end, and he doesn’t hesitate to finish his checks when given the opportunity. There is a lot of utility in Dean’s game and he has potential as a responsible two-way center who can provide secondary offense at the NHL level. Nick Richard