Breaking: Veteran forward benched for a player with just 39 NHL games.

A National Hockey League coach has just sent a huge message to his locker room.

According to a breaking news report from NHL.com's Lou Korac, St. Louis Blues head coach Mike Yeo has made the decision to bench one of his high-paid veterans in Jori Lehtera.

Replacing Lehtera in the line up will be 22-year-old Zachary Sanford, a youngster who has just 39 games of regular season experience under his belt so far, but a youngster Yeo clearly believes will give him a better chance to win. For those curious, Sanford makes roughly $4 million less per season than Lehtera.

It's a big blow to Lehtera as an individual, but perhaps more importantly it sends a message to the veterans in the Blues locker room that Yeo will start those who deserve to start, and will bench under-performers in his line up in the postseason. 

[pub]