During the season, quite a few of us consult the pages of the DailyFaceoff site on an almost daily basis.
Whenever there’s a practice, an injury, a recall or a trade, the site hastens to give the new trios and defensive pairings for each team.
Laine is moved to third at 11:00 a.m. during morning practice; at 11:02 a.m., the correction is made on DF.
During the off-season, the site’s managers continue to publish each team’s trios and defensive pairs, but they rely more on logic and experience than anything else. Still, it’s an interesting exercise.
What are the Habs’ trios likely to look like in early October, if no other major moves are made and no one gets hurt at camp? Here’s to that:
The first line will again consist of Caufield, Suzuki and Slafkovsky, according to DailyFaceoff.
Kirby Dach would (again) inherit the second-centre position, given management’s inability to find a better player. He would be flanked by Patrik Laine and Ivan Demidov on the wings. Let’s just say that Demidov’s partners wouldn’t be the perfect candidates to show the young Russian how to work hard every time he plays.
The third line would see Bolduc on the left, Newhook in the middle and Anderson on the right, while the fourth line would consist of Brendan Gallagher, Jake Evans (center) and Oliver Kapanen. Is Bolduc really at his best on the left?
Samuel Blais would probably be the 13th forward.
We all agree that the raw talent would be there, but the fact remains that six of 12 dressed forwards would be 6’0 or shorter. Enough to disturb observers who watched playoff hockey in May and June..
At the blue line, DailyFaceoff managers see Guhle with Dobson, Hutson with Struble and Matheson with Carrier.
Struble on the second pair? Personally, I don’t even have him in my top six, since I see Xhekaj playing on the fourth line and Carrier forming the third pair, behind Guhle – Dobson and Hutson – Matheson.
And the Canadiens would have two defensemen under 6’0 in their lineup. Reminder: no defenseman under 6’0 was selected in the most recent NHL amateur draft.
Note that DF sees Montembeault and Dobes starting the season with the big club, so Kaapo Kahkonen in Laval.
I’m starting to repeat myself a little, but in April, we saw for ourselves that the Habs were too young, too small and not tough enough to hope for playoff success. With the departures of Armia, Dvorak, Pezzetta and Savard, we have to face the facts: the team isn’t bigger, more experienced or stronger.
In short, the rebuilding is not yet complete, and the 2025-26 season will be another of transition. One of the last..
We’re still in the process. #TrustTheProcess
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