Jim Montgomery is making some big changes to the Blues lineup ahead of tonight's game. Let's talk about the biggest changes and go over the lineup that was released for tonight's game. The biggest change is that Montgomery is breaking up the Blues top line.
The Lineup:
Holloway-Schenn-Kyrou
Saad-Thomas-Neighbours
Toropchenko-Sundqvist-Buchnevich
Walker-Faksa-Joseph
This lineup is eye-opening. The number one thing is how Montgomery went about splitting up the top line. He didn't keep one player up and demote two players down on the same line, he took every single player and put them on three separate lines.
Clearly, Montgomery sees things about the same way that fans do. The top line of Kyrou, Thomas, and Buchnevich has been good at times, but has struggled to be consistent at all this season. Holloway and Schenn have been on fire since Montgomery took over, so that move makes a lot of sense.
Buchnevich on the third line is also interesting. He's been okay this season but definitely hasn't been as good as the Blues hoped after extending him this past offseason. Maybe getting demoted to the third line will be the wake-up call he needs.
The Blues keep trusting Brandon Saad
It's a debate to be had if the Blues keep moving Saad up into the top six because they see potential in him, or if Montgomery has such little faith in this forward core that he thinks having Saad in the top six is his best option. I'd argue the latter, but both are problematic.
Saad is not a top six forward in the NHL anymore, and that's probably the third time I've written this. It's not Saad's fault though, and I think this all comes back to Buchnevich having a disappointing season. The Blues could not reach their potential if their top line wasn't lights out, and it hasn't been. Maybe the new line combinations will spark something, but I wouldn't count on it.