St. Louis Blues rookie Robert Thomas has slowly performed better and better as the season has gone on. But with players returning from injury, it may be time for a position change.
The St. Louis Blues have slowly allowed Thomas to adjust to the NHL game. The Blues started him on the fourth line to begin the season, playing him with young players like Jordan Kyrou and Sammy Blais which limited his minutes significantly.
Thomas has done seemingly nothing wrong this season, and although his numbers do not reflect it, he has given the Blues plenty to be excited about. The minors and juniors situation can be confusing, but the Blues felt strong enough with Thomas’ play to keep him beyond the nine-game trial period.
Blues fans have been clamoring for Thomas to get more chances higher in the lineup. With the injury to Brayden Schenn, Thomas has received that opportunity to show what he is made of.
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We detailed that Thomas was not the only player who would receive more important minutes as a result of the Schenn injury here, but Thomas has seemingly done the most with the chances given to him.
Since being placed on the second line with Robby Fabbri and David Perron, Thomas has record 15 and 12 minutes of ice time after only recording nine minutes on the fourth line against the Carolina Hurricanes.
He has yet to record a point, but if you ask anyone who has seen the past two Blues games, they will tell you that he Thomas has been one of the best players on the ice and has been so close to scoring his first career goal.
All this prelude to say, it may be time for St. Louis to entertain a position change for Thomas. With Schenn coming back seemingly anytime now, it’s unlikely that Thomas will keep getting top line minutes as a center.
If the Blues were willing to move Thomas to the wing, then the team would be able to play him on one of the top three lines, specifically, the third line. Schenn will likely return to center the second line with Fabbri and Perron, which leaves the team to either have Thomas center the fourth line or have him play a third line wing.
The third line is the ideal spot for Thomas in my opinion. Even if Patrick Maroon returns to the lineup, it is likely that he comes back on the fourth line. I don’t see any problem with the Blues moving Nikita Sohsnikov to the fourth line and allowing Thomas to take his spot on the third line.
Sosh has neither disappointed nor impressed me enough to warrant his removal from the lineup, but the Blues need to be giving Thomas more minutes.
Tyler Bozak and Alex Steen are gritty players and could create space for Thomas to take over the offensive zone. Bozak and Steen may not be as offensively gifted as Perron or Fabbri, but Thomas will still be getting enough minutes to make an impact on the game.
Before everyone freaks out about Thomas playing the wing, at such a young age, it will not be a hard transition for the 19-year-old. He will still have opportunities to take faceoffs, and above all else, he will get top line minutes.