Brandon Saad was not with the St. Louis Blues for their season-opening road trip as he stayed home awaiting the arrival of his third child.

On Friday, Lyra Wozniak Saad arrived.

Now, Brandon Saad will be back in the Blues lineup, and it appears he’ll start on the first line alongside Robert Thomas and Jake Neighbours when the Blues host the Minnesota Wild in their home opener at Enterprise Center (6:30 p.m. CT, ESPN, 101 ESPN).

“He’s excited, and we’re excited to have him back in the lineup,” Blues Head Coach Drew Bannister said. “I really liked Saader’s training camp and what he did, not only in the practices but in the couple of (preseason) games he played. We’ll see if he can find some chemistry there (on that top line)… He looked like a player that was motivated and ready to have a good start.”

With Saad back in, Kasperi Kapanen is expected to sit out. Alexandre Texier is also out after being placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury to make roster space for Saad’s return. Drew Bannister said he doesn’t expect Texier’s injury to keep him out very long.

Based on the morning skate at Enterprise Center, only one change is expected on defense: Matthew Kessel comes back into the lineup after sitting out one game for P.O Joseph.

Jordan Binnington is expected to start in goal.

PROJECTED LINEUP

Forwards

Brandon Saad – Robert Thomas – Jake Neighbours
Zack Bolduc – Pavel Buchnevich – Jordan Kyrou
Dylan Holloway – Brayden Schenn – Mathieu Joseph
Alexey Toropchenko – Radek Faksa – Nathan Walker

Defense

Nick Leddy – Colton Parayko
Philip Broberg – Justin Faulk
Ryan Suter – Matthew Kessel

Goalie

Jordan Binnington