Steve Ott appears set to assume the top-line spot made available by Paul Stastny's upper-body injury, Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Ott appears set to assume the top-line spot made available by Paul Stastny's upper-body injury, Jeremy Rutherford of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Analysis:

It was believed that Alexander Steen would reunite with former linemates David Backes and T.J. Oshie in the wake of Stastny's injury, but coach Ken Hitchcock has surprisingly decided to give Ott the first look. Ott offers a similar hard-nosed ruggedness to Backes on the defensive end, but doesn't provide the same sort of offensive impact that Steen would. Still, a potential multi-game stay with Oshie and Backes will afford him more scoring opportunities than he would receive in his typical bottom-six role.