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Pavel Buchnevich, St. Louis Blues (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)

Blues Healthy Scratching Jordan Kyrou Has Pros & Cons

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers
By Anthony Testaguzza | Last updated Nov 11, 2025 11:25 AM ET

On Nov. 6, the St. Louis Blues made one of the most egregious decisions of the season, as head coach Jim Montgomery made Jordan Kyrou a healthy scratch ahead of the Blues’ game against the Buffalo Sabres. It comes as a shock because Kyrou is second on the team in points and has been one of the top line players for the team for more than five seasons now. While the Blues face a significant task of getting back to winning form, there are both pros and cons to this healthy scratch decision for Kyrou.

Pros of Healthy Scratching Kyrou

The good news about the game, the Blues’ healthy scratch of Kyrou against the Sabres, is that they ended up winning 3-0. Not a good look for Kyrou, and it will open up a handful of questions about how much better the team could be without him on it.

It also gave the Blues a chance for other players, like Pius Suter and Jimmy Snuggerud, to move up to the top two lines and experiment with different line combinations. Sometimes, to get out of a slump, changes must be made until the right line is found. Even Dalibor Dvorsky has been pushed into the lineup with an opportunity to thrive within it since Kyrou was scratched.

If players are now getting opportunities around the lineup, it also gives Kyrou a chance to get some rest. In fact, since top goal scorer Jake Neighbours is out of the lineup with a leg injury, Kyrou has been forced to play a bigger role as the go-to goal scorer of the bunch.

We’ve seen it when Kyrou recently returned to the game against the Seattle Kraken, where he finished with four shots, including a goal on one of them. After all, he is second in goals (five) on the Blues and has proven to be a big part of the lineup when he is at full energy.

Cons of Healthy Scratching Kyrou

A first obvious con of removing Kyrou from the lineup, in contrast to the pro of him taking a slight load off as the second option goal scorer, is that it reduces the Blues’ top goal-scoring options to about four reliable players. Those players are Dylan Holloway, Pavel Buchnevich, Robert Thomas, and Suter.

Out of those four, Holloway, Buchnevich, and Thomas are outside of the top five in scoring on the Blues. In other words, it demonstrates how desperately the Blues need him if they want to stay afloat this season and continue to win games despite also being without their best goal scorer due to injury.

Scratching a star player can also send a big message of a lack of confidence in that player. The Blues have already moved past the era of former head coach Craig Berube, which wasn’t the best for Kyrou, especially after his reaction to Berube’s departure from the franchise. However, this could now open up a whole new can of worms with the current Blues head coach, Montgomery, if Kyrou is left out of the lineup in a healthy state again.

Blues’ Decision Is a Gamble

It’s a tough possibility on both sides of the coin for the Blues. On one side, you give Kyrou, a star who has been built from the bottom up in the Blues system, a chance to rest for once and hopefully recoup his superstar potential. Not to mention, other players in the lineup have a chance to be experimented with on the top lines.

On the other hand, the Blues have one fewer goal scorer in the lineup and are forced to rely on other players who are not producing as many goals as they should. On top of that, if not handled properly, the Blues could cause some tension between Kyrou and the organization, going right back to square one.

Overall, regardless of the outcome of this decision, it should be an opportunity to get a grip on Kyrou and ensure he becomes the player they selected him to be, so they can finally become a consistent winning team. Otherwise, it’s time for them to go back to the drawing board and figure out what his value is in a trade.