Blues' forward lines could use another shakeup

The St. Louis Blues have had a rough start on home ice this season: they've lost both games by five goals, and their loss to the Minnesota Wild was a shutout. Maybe more embarrassing was the 8-3 loss to the lowly, rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks.

Anyway you slice it, the Blues need to revamp their forward group.

We've seen some small changes already, like swapping Jimmy Snuggerud and Jake Neighbours, and the success it can bring. In 19:51 of 5-on-5 ice time, the trio of Snuggerud, Mathieu Joseph, and Pius Suter has put up a 64.5 xGF% per Natural Stat Trick, and the Blues should consider keeping Joseph on that line.

One quirk of moving the young guns up the lineup, however, is that Jordan Kyrou has found himself on the "third" line next to Brayden Schenn. Schenn, at this point in his career, is best served in this sort of reduced role--but putting Kyrou on the third line is nonsense. Between him and Pavel Buchnevich, Kyrou is far more important to this team, being a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.

Putting Kyrou on the second line next to Suter and Snuggerud makes far more sense, and Buchnevich can take third-line duties until one of Neighbours or Dylan Holloway cools off (if that happens) and has to move back up the lineup.

However, head coach Jim Montgomery can tinker with the lines all he wants, but none of it will matter until the goaltending is sorted. Jordan Binnington's .860 SV% is abysmal, and Joel Hofer's .820 SV% is even worse. The Blues' forwards are trying to do their part, but they need to trust their goaltenders to make a save. Until that starts happening, playing with the forward lines will be like rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.