Now that Brandon Saad has welcomed a new member of his family, the Blues will welcome Saad back for the home opener on Tuesday night against Minnesota.
Saad missed the season-opening three-game road trip while awaiting the birth of his third child, Lyra, who was born on Thursday. Saad and his wife, Alyssa, now have three children: two girls and one boy.
“It’s definitely a change of pace, for sure,†Saad said Monday morning after Blues practice.
Now, Saad is ready to rejoin a Blues team that went 2-1-0 against Seattle, San Jose and Vegas. The Blues erased multi-goal deficits against both the Kraken and the Sharks, and threatened to do the same against the Golden Knights in the third period but could not find an equalizer.
During practice on Monday, Blues coach Drew Bannister inserted Saad immediately on the top line with Robert Thomas at center and Jake Neighbours on right wing.
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“I feel good,†Saad said. “I’m excited. Obviously, I missed the trip and got to get up to game speed. But I felt good in camp, was skating here, working out when they were gone. Missed a couple days of that with the delivery, but otherwise, feel ready to go.â€
Bannister: “I really liked Saader’s training camp and what he did not only in the practices but in the couple of games that he played. Let’s see if they can find some chemistry there.â€
The Blues planned for a while what to do in Saad’s absence, as they broke the NHL group into lines without Saad during training camp. They knew what they would do without the 31-year-old forward that averages 24 goals per 82 games.
But it was unclear what the Blues would do with Saad when he returned to the fold.
Zack Bolduc was slotted into a top-six role at the tail end of the trip. The fourth line of Alexey Toropchenko, Radek Faksa and Nathan Walker were pivotal in wins but averaged the least ice time on the team. Mathieu Joseph and Kasperi Kapanen were both pointless in the opening three games.
In the end, the Blues shifted Brayden Schenn back to center on the third line, bumped Kapanen out of the lineup and placed Saad on the top line with Thomas and Neighbours.
“It’s exciting,†Saad said. “Two great players, obviously, you guys know the history of them. I think we’re going to have a really good line, and I’m excited to get going here again.â€
Last season, Saad was one of five Blues players with at least 25 goals, and his 26 tallies were the most for him since scoring 31 for Columbus in 2015-16. Saad is in the fourth season of a five-year contract worth $4.5 million per year.
While the Blues were on the road, Saad did his best to watch the team, save for the Thursday night comeback in San Jose on the same day his daughter was born.
“I was checking the box score after and to realize we were down that much and come back, it’s exciting,†Saad said. “I think it shows a lot of character in the group to be able to claw your way back in a game and win it in overtime. ... I was doing as much as I could while being away from the team. Now, it’s exciting to join the group again. You always have that excitement for my first game of the year, and it being at home in front of the fans, I’m really looking forward to it.â€
Bannister said he liked Saad’s conditioning, competitiveness and speed during both training camp practices and in preseason games.
“Looked like a player that is motivated and ready to get off to a good start,†Bannister said.
In order to make room on the active roster for Saad, the Blues placed forward Alexandre Texier on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. Texier will be eligible to come off IR for Thursday’s game against the Islanders.