Jim Montgomery is sending a message to Jordan Kyrou — and the rest of the struggling St. Louis Blues.

In the aftermath of the Blues’ 6-1 loss to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday, Kyrou will be a healthy scratch against the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday night, the Blues coach confirmed to The Athletic.

“Many players could have been scratched after last night’s game, and ultimately I decided on this group tonight,” Montgomery said.

The Blues will also be inserting Alexandre Texier, Mathieu Joseph and Matthew Kessel into the lineup, and Oskar Sundqvist and Logan Mailloux are also coming out.

This is the first time Kyrou has been scratched since April 17, 2021, before he became a regular in the Blues’ lineup and one of the team’s highest-paid players. He’s led St. Louis in goals the past three seasons.

In 14 games this season, Kyrou has four goals and eight points and a minus-8 rating.

The move comes on the heels of Montgomery having a lengthy on-ice conversation with Kyrou and Pavel Buchnevich at practice on Oct. 31.

“The conversation was that we have a couple of key players out,” Montgomery said at the time. “Right now, our team needs everybody to elevate to replace the guys that are out. But (Kyrou and Buchnevich), in particular, I asked them to raise their level.”

Montgomery having a lengthy conversation right now with Kyrou and Buchnevich. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/RZIsMXs7sW

— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) October 31, 2025

The next day, Montgomery was asked what Kyrou needs to do to become the Blues’ best player night in and night out.

“Well, I think he’s shooting the puck great this year,” Montgomery said. “He’s beat goalies clean without screens three or four times. But for Jordan, he’s electric offensively and his feet create anxiety for the other team. When he’s playing like that, and he’s stripping pucks from behind, that’s when he’s really noticeable, and you see a multitude of scoring chances.”

In the three games since that conversation, Kyrou has no points and has a minus-1 rating with seven shots on goal. In that span, he’s averaging 15:10 of ice time, which is eighth among forwards.

After an eight-game point streak from Oct. 13 to 28 (four goals, four assists), Kyrou has failed to record a point in his past four games.

Kyrou, 27, is in the third year of an eight-year, $65 million contract that was signed in 2022. He has a full no-trade clause, which kicked in on July 1.