Theo Lindstein entered Blues training camp with a glow around him. Jim Montgomery made it sound like the former first-round pick was ready to matter right away, praising the defenseman’s ability to move the puck and jumpstart the attack.
“He might be our best defenseman at moving it up to the forwards and supporting it right away. As soon as someone's open, boom, it's tape-to-tape, and it's gone.”
That kind of endorsement usually buys a player some runway. Lindstein hasn’t gotten much of one.
Through St. Louis’ first five regular-season games, he has been scratched from the last two, with Justin Barron stepping in after the Blues claimed him off waivers from the Nashville Predators just two weeks ago.
Based on the reported practice lines for Tuesday’s game in Ottawa against the Ottawa Senators, Lindstein appears headed for a third straight scratch.
Barron has done enough to stay in the mix. Montgomery said Lindstein’s removal for the home opener against the San Jose Sharks wasn’t about Lindstein’s performance, explaining that he “needed to get guys into the lineup.”
Still, it’s hard to ignore the optics. St.
Louis has invested heavily in Lindstein’s development, and the choice to sit him this early - without a longer leash - stands out.
The setup around Barron makes the decision even more interesting. With Lindstein out, Barron has been used on his off-hand next to Colton Paryako.
Montgomery has already shuffled his defensive pairings this season, rotating Philip Broberg and Paryko with different partners across the club’s first five games. But the Blues only have two left-handed defensemen available, so the margin for flexibility is getting thin.
That has opened the door to trade speculation. Several sources, including Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek, have said the Blues have been monitoring disgruntled Carolina Hurricanes defenseman Alexander Nikishin and Detroit Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson.
Nothing concrete has surfaced, and there’s no indication St. Louis has put an offer on the table that includes Lindstein.
Even so, a swap built around Lindstein for a young left-shot defenseman would make sense on paper.
Lindstein is only 21, but he already has a profile that teams value. He was a first-round pick, was viewed as one of the Blues’ top prospects last season before his call-up, and in 17 games with St.
Louis last year he put up four points with a +6 plus/minus. He looked like a steady 200-foot defender with enough puck-moving ability and offensive touch to grow into a top-four role and help on the power play.
That’s why the healthy scratches raise eyebrows. They could simply be part of the same development approach the Blues used with Logan Mailloux last season. But with Adam Jiricek emerging, the eventual returns of both Mailloux and Tucker, and trade rumors now circling, Lindstein’s path back into the lineup looks less certain by the day.
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