Troy Brouwer skated on the team's top line with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom during Wednesday's practice, Alex Prewitt of The Washington Post reports.

Brouwer skated on the team's top line with Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom during Wednesday's practice, Alex Prewitt of The Washington Post reports.

Analysis:

The move comes after Washington's 6-5 shootout loss to San Jose on Tuesday night, so it's reasonable to expect the lines to be shuffled after such a game. However, given that Brouwer's face-off prowess is crucial to the productivity of the second line, it's hard to see him being separated from Marcus Johansson and Andre Burakovsky for very long given that neither player is adept at handling faceoffs. In any case, Brouwer's blend of goal-scoring and physical play makes him a worthwhile winger in all formats, and this move should do nothing to decrease his value.