(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

Bruce Cassidy is sending a message to his team today through a pair of lineup changes. Both Brandon Saad and Reilly Smith have been taken out for the first time this season. Cole Reinhardt and Alex Holtz are replacing them.

Smith and Saad have combined for 4 goals and 10 assists in VGK’s first 24 games and have each seen their usage drop as the season has progressed. With the return of Mark Stone, Smith was recently dropped into a 4th line role alongside Colton Sissons and Keegan Kolesar, while Saad has mostly remained on lines with Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev or Brett Howden and Smith.

They’ve played well at times, ok at times. So we’re going to give the other two guys a shot. We know these are veteran guys who came here because they want another shot at a Stanley Cup. We’re not taking that away from them, it’s one game in November where we feel like we’ll get a little juice from these other guys. -Bruce Cassidy

Cassidy said he met with Saad and Smith this morning to talk about the decision, which he described as both performance-based as well as an opportunity to use other options.

Reinhardt, you can make an argument didn’t deserve to come out of the lineup, especially in the role he’s playing. He’s had some good looks, been physical, and draws some penalties. With Holtz, he’s been working hard and waiting his turn. -Cassidy

The schedule also played a small factor in the decision.

I figured we’d do both at once because it’s three games in four days. See if it gives us a little spark in that area of the lineup. -Cassidy

This isn’t the first time Cassidy has tried to send a message like this. In March 2024, with VGK going through a 4-9-1 skid and holding just a three-point lead on a playoff spot with 16 games to go, the head coach healthy scratched both Zach Whitecloud and Nic Hague. Vegas went on to win that night 3-1 over New Jersey and rattled off seven wins in the next nine games. An emergency appendectomy to Alex Pietrangelo put Hague back in the lineup the next night and Whitecloud went back in three games later.

Cassidy often mentions that the biggest “weapon” coaches hold over their players is ice time.

He’s wielding it tonight. Let’s see how the team responds.