Jake Neighbours has been on one since the start of the season, and the St. Louis Blues' coaching staff took notice.
After being shut out in the season opener by the Minnesota Wild, head coach Jim Montgomery moved Neighbours up to the top line next to Robert Thomas and Pavel Buchnevich. Neighbours has posted three goals in the two games since, both at even strength. The Blues have won both games since, and don't appear to be messing with the lineup at all heading into tonight's matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Of course, moving Neighbours up means that rookie Jimmy Snuggerud was "relegated" to the third line, playing wing next to Pius Suter and Mathieu Joseph. However, Snuggerud has maintained his role on the top power play unit and has a goal and an assist on the man advantage, as well as one even-strength goal. Not too shabby!
This appears to be one of those cases where a bit of a switcheroo benefits both players. Neighbours, an NHL veteran at this point with over 200 career games at the age of 23, can handle the trials and tribulations of a top-line role and the matchup duties that come along with it. The rookie Snuggerud, meanwhile, faces slightly less intimidating competition in a third-line role, but still gets to put his offensive skills to good use on the first power play unit.
The best-case scenario for how this plays out is that Neighbours takes another step in his development and becomes a 5-on-5 force, while Snuggerud acclimates to the daily ups and downs of being a full-time NHLer who can still rack up points on the power play, eventually reclaiming a spot in the top six. It's only a couple of games, but we'll be keeping an eye on these two players' deployments in the coming weeks.