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New York Times
08-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Canadiens 2025-26 roster analysis: Talent upgrade leads to lineup imperfections
The offseason is not over. There is still time for the Montreal Canadiens to make more changes, and it seems at least possible they will at some point. But with general manager Kent Hughes stating on July 1 that he feels comfortable entering next season with the roster 'as is,' it seems fair to project what the Canadiens' opening night lineup might look like. And when you dig in on that lineup, there are serious question marks remaining. Advertisement Coach Martin St. Louis and his staff will have some decisions to make. Christian Dvorak, Joel Armia, David Savard, Emil Heineman and Michael Pezzetta are gone. Noah Dobson, Zachary Bolduc and Samuel Blais have arrived. That is a net positive in talent, but it is a net negative in NHL bodies and experience, and definitely in players who can play specific roles and execute specific things in specific situations. Filling those holes left behind will be a challenge. If we had to guess St. Louis' reaction to hearing Hughes say he is comfortable entering the season with the roster as is, it would be to ask, 'Who is going to win me a left-side faceoff, Kent?' The answer, of course, is no one. That player simply doesn't exist. Nor are there proven penalty-killers among the forwards to replace what Dvorak and Armia provided in that area. That void might also force Nick Suzuki back into regular PK duty, which will make his minutes somewhat difficult to manage, though he shouldn't need to pull double duty on both power-play units anymore. That's why the loss of Dvorak and Armia without the arrival of suitable replacements is probably what hurts the Canadiens the most in the short-term, even if the arrival of Dobson and Bolduc are big short- and long-term wins as they both get added to the young core that will contribute to the Canadiens becoming a contender. So, how do we see the Canadiens lining up for opening night? This is our best guess. The first line is not likely to be touched unless they give St. Louis a reason to, so we kept it intact. This process begins with the second line. Ivan Demidov is a lock to start at right wing. Kirby Dach seems likely to get another shot at claiming the second-line centre spot, though his leash could be short. But it is who will play with those two that becomes intriguing. More than two-thirds of Patrik Laine's five-on-five ice time last season was spent with Dach as his centre, and the Canadiens' numbers in those minutes were hardly flattering. But Dach's numbers away from Laine were significantly better than the numbers when they were together. The Canadiens have all the motivation in the world to get the most out of Dach in the final year of his contract. They need to know what they have in this player, and they have not been able to properly ascertain that because of injuries and less-than-ideal linemates throughout his time in Montreal. Advertisement It appears clear the best version of Dach will not appear with Laine on his wing — assuming, of course, the best version of Dach is not in fact to be found with him on the wing. But with Dach needing to play centre this season by default, putting him with Laine again seems counterproductive. So, if not Laine (and we'll get back to him in a moment), who could complete that line? We should work under the premise Hughes noted on July 1 — that Newhook is 'likely' to start the season at centre, barring an unlikely move to bring in a new left-shot centre. That decision ultimately falls on St. Louis, but the roster as it stands now counts Newhook as a centre, so that takes him out of the running to fill this spot. The two main candidates, therefore, would be Oliver Kapanen and Bolduc. Putting Kapanen in a top-six role as a rookie seems less than ideal. But so is putting Bolduc in that position in his first season in Montreal — his second full season in the NHL — because of the inherent pressure he will have heaped on his shoulders as a young, promising Québec-born player. But if you strip that factor away, how Bolduc's rookie season unfolded in St. Louis would suggest he has both the skill set to complete that line and the upward progression to justify such a role. This is what Bolduc told colleague Jeremy Rutherford in mid-March as his game began rounding out and the forechecking and physicality in his game were beginning to pop: 'Since we've gotten back from the (4 Nations Face-Off) break, I feel my mindset is different — just be ready to compete. Even if it's a morning skate, you've got to be ready to work hard,' Bolduc said then. 'It's an everyday battle. You've got to think about your details and practice with good tempo so that it becomes natural in games. That's what I've been doing, and I've just got to keep doing it.' Advertisement The numbers would suggest there was a tangible uptick in Bolduc's game after the 4 Nations break, even though his ice time didn't change all that drastically. All of these numbers are at five-on-five courtesy of Natural Stat Trick, so it doesn't take Bolduc's proficiency on the power-play — with seven goals, he tied for the team lead — into account. Scoring on 20 percent of your shots is an unsustainable heater, but the underlying numbers look far more encouraging, including a 21.8 percent increase in his shot rate and a 29.8 percent increase in his hit rate. Playing with Dach and Demidov, Bolduc would provide a physical forechecking presence whose defensive metrics were quite good with the Blues, even if he admits that it is an area of his game he still needs to work on. Bolduc is also a natural shooter who should complement Demidov's playmaking and Dach's puck-protection skills quite well, finding quiet areas of the ice to unleash his shot. As a left shot who played centre until the age of 16, if Bolduc could rekindle his faceoff abilities, he could platoon with Dach and take left-side draws as well, though he only took 14 faceoffs last season and won just five of them. The 'fourth' line of Josh Anderson, Jake Evans and Brendan Gallagher, made up entirely of right shots — which, again, is not ideal — would provide St. Louis with his shutdown line of reliable veterans that will eat defensive-zone draws and handle some difficult matchup assignments. The chemistry between Anderson and Gallagher was somewhat dependent on having Dvorak in the middle, but Evans is not a massive departure from Dvorak's skill set and playing style. This line would likely get more minutes than the 'third' line in this lineup. This leaves us with a line of Newhook between Laine and Kapanen, a trio that could provide some secondary offence. It has a lefty-righty faceoff combo in Newhook and Kapanen and could benefit from some of the easier matchups created by the tough minutes the Suzuki and Evans lines would eat up. It's far from perfect, but Newhook's speed and forechecking ability combined with Kapanen's strong positional play and playmaking ability might just work with Laine. It should also be noted that Laine's first season in Montreal might not be indicative of what he could do in his second season. He arrived in Montreal for pre-camp skates after barely skating in the summer as he recovered from surgery, and just as Laine was in the process of getting his legs back under him, he was injured again in the preseason. Starting your season on Dec. 3 is not easy for anyone, let alone someone who went through what he experienced in the previous year. If he can hit the ground running this season, we might see a different version of Laine that would change the calculus of this exercise and, perhaps, even make him a more viable option to play with Dach and Demidov. We have free-agent signing Blais playing the Pezzetta role as an extra forward, but he has the versatility to fill in up and down the lineup. Advertisement The Dobson addition makes it pretty obvious what the Canadiens' top four will be on the blue line for the foreseeable future, with David Reinbacher one day joining Kaiden Guhle and Lane Hutson to form a balanced group with two lefties and two righties. That day, however, is not likely to be at the start of next season for two reasons. First, Reinbacher might very well need a bit more time in the AHL to refine his game, even though he showed last season he is approaching NHL readiness. Second, Mike Matheson is still on the team with one year left on his contract. The arrival of Dobson, even if he plays on the opposite side, does not bode well for Matheson's future on the Canadiens because it will be difficult for him to crack that top four when his next contract starts. Matheson could very well be traded between now and the beginning of the season to bring in more reinforcements and fill some holes up front. But for now, Matheson is on the team, even if he finds himself in a very precarious position. So, working under the assumption that Matheson at least starts the season in Montreal and Reinbacher does not, it feels like this could be a logical lineup to go with. While we put Arber Xhekaj in the lineup on the third pairing, he would be battling for ice time with Jayden Struble, and the outcome could change game by game. Regardless of who claims that spot, having Alexandre Carrier as a partner gives him a much better chance of succeeding than last season, when it would have been Savard in that spot. Putting Kaiden Guhle with Dobson on the top pair seems to make some sense just because Matheson and Dobson have similar traits and similar weaknesses, namely a tendency to turn pucks over when using their exceptional feet to try to make plays with the puck. It is a weakness you live with in both cases because those feet successfully make plays far more often than not, but having two guys on the same pairing who tend to make that mistake from time to time does not seem ideal. The same could be said of pairing Matheson with Hutson, but we saw the pairing very often last season — Matheson was Hutson's more frequent partner at five-on-five — and their numbers together were quite good. Advertisement Reinbacher and what the Canadiens intend to do with him complicates all of this. When asked after the draft if he felt the need to unload one of his defencemen, Hughes answered that they had some young defencemen they felt needed more seasoning in the AHL. One of those young defencemen, Logan Mailloux, was traded a few days later for Bolduc. Another, presumably, would have been Reinbacher. If Reinbacher gets called up at some point during the season, the Canadiens would have their future top four on the big club together, allowing them to begin the process of building chemistry and learning each other's tendencies. But it would also push Matheson onto a third pairing with Carrier — and also push both Xhekaj and Struble out of the lineup altogether. For now, that is probably not a problem worth spending much time on because Reinbacher is very likely to begin the season in the AHL. But it is something that could become relevant at some point relatively early in the season if Reinbacher demonstrates he isn't gaining much from playing in Laval. Do you want the good news or the bad news first? Let's start with the good: the Canadiens have enough offensive talent to build two excellent power-play units. Assuming St. Louis starts the season with the same top unit that finished last season, that puts Hutson, Suzuki, Caufield, Slafkovský and Demidov on a very exciting and promising PP1. As Washington Capitals coach Spencer Carbery mentioned after defeating the Canadiens in the first round of the playoffs, that top unit could be giving teams headaches for a decade or more in Montreal. The second unit would then have Dobson, Newhook, Dach, Laine and Bolduc, a massive upgrade on what St. Louis has had to work with on the second unit since his arrival as coach. This unit can legitimately push the top unit for meaningful minutes. The one drawback is that you would ideally try to deploy them on the fly after retrieving a clear by the penalty-killing team. And if injuries hit, you still have Matheson, Gallagher and Kapanen as potential replacements. Advertisement Now, the bad. The penalty-killing unit took a massive hit, losing Savard to retirement and Dvorak and Armia to free agency. Dobson doesn't have much of a history as a penalty killer, and neither do Bolduc, Kapanen or even Blais. The only experienced penalty killers remaining on the team are Matheson, Carrier, Guhle, Evans, Anderson and Suzuki, which means converting at least one defenceman and one forward into a penalty killer. At forward, that is likely to be Newhook, who has never killed penalties in the NHL but has the skill set – speed, tenaciousness – to be good at it. As far as depth up front in case one of the regular penalty killers is in the box or is injured, Gallagher expressed a willingness to learn it last season, and Kapanen seems like the type of player who would fill this role even if he was never viewed this way in his native Finland or in Sweden last season. On the back end, both Xhekaj and Struble are likely to get a look on the penalty kill, with Xhekaj already having a bit of experience doing it. All in all, the Canadiens look to be a more talented group of players, with some imperfections as a team. The forward group, for now, would have a line – Newhook's – that seems a bit like a grouping of the leftover players once the other three lines are formed, which was often Newhook's experience last season as well. The defence is unquestionably better than it was last season with Dobson taking Savard's spot, but again, there are decisions on the horizon here, with the most burning one being what Matheson's future holds and how long it will take Reinbacher to force his way onto the NHL club. Then there is all the uncertainty on the penalty kill, while the talent available for the power play is vastly improved. If the Canadiens had aspirations of competing for the Stanley Cup this season, these imperfections would be a major problem. However, they are still in a mode where acquiring talent is important and remains the core mandate of management. They have done that this offseason, but the remaining imperfections will need to be repaired in due time. (Photo of Alex Newhook: Claus Andersen / Getty Images)
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
The Edmonton Oilers pick highly skilled center as first pick in 2025 NHL Draft
The Edmonton Oilers first pick in the 2025 NHL Draft did not arrive until the third round, eighty-third overall, when the club selected Tommy Lafreniere. The Oilers acquired this pick as compensation from the St. Louis Blues as a part of the Dylan Holloway offer sheet a year ago. Lefreniere is out of Kamloops of the WHL, and eighteen-year-old from St-Sauveur, Quebec. He stands 5'11 and weight in at 170 LB. A highly skilled player, he went 24-32-56 in 68 GP over the last season. That was second among WHL rookies. He was ranked #76 by McKeen's Hockey, #89 by FCHockey, and #86 by FLOHockey. One comparison made by a scout was 'a smaller Nick Suzuki'. More to come… Now on Bluesky @ Also, find me on Threads @kleavins, Twitter @KurtLeavins, Instagram at LeavinsOnHockey, and Mastodon at KurtLeavins@ This article is not AI generated. STAPLES: Some Edmonton Oilers fans lose their minds over draft day rumours LEAVINS: Will this be the Summer of Stan? STAPLES: Trent Frederic signs Bruce McCurdy, 1955-2025. Don't miss the news you need to know — add and to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.
New York Times
27-06-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Montreal Canadiens NHL Draft guide: Picks, best fits and analysis
The Montreal Canadiens have 12 picks in the 2025 NHL Draft: Nos. 16, 17, 41, 49, 79, 81, 82, 108, 113, 147, 177, 209. Here's what to expect. Montreal has a strong group of young defensemen and wingers coming up. While Nick Suzuki is a great player, the Canadiens are missing quality players up the middle, especially with the up-and-down development of Kirby Dach. The Canadiens find themselves at the tail end of a run of teams looking to move their first-round pick for immediate help, which makes moving their own picks at Nos. 16 and 17 more complicated, but they'd still like to. That is also a range that sits just outside a certain tier of prospects, though Montreal executive vice-president of hockey operations Jeff Gorton expressed confidence Thursday that players the Canadiens like should still be on the board (what else is he going to say?). Advertisement If the Canadiens use the picks, they will be looking for competitiveness and physicality at all positions, much like the majority of teams that just watched the Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup. Having two consecutive picks could allow the Canadiens to take on some added risk with one of those picks and swing for the fences. — Arpon Basu, Canadiens beat reporter In recent mock drafts, Corey Pronman has projected the following picks: 16. Carter Bear, LW 17. Lynden Lakovic, LW 41. William Moore, C 49. Carter Klippenstein, C 79. Sean Barnhill, D 81. Ilyas Magomedsultanov, D 82. Jan Chovan, C 108. Arvid Drott, RW 113. Lev Katzin, C 145. Michal Svrcek, LW 177. Remi Gelinas, C 209. Lucas Karmiris, C (Photo of Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Mike Tauchman's RBI single
Former Canadiens Headlines Denmark Squad For The Olympics When the 12 nations that will take part in the Olympic tournament announced their first six players on Monday, a single Montreal Canadiens player was named: Juraj Slafkovsky with Team Slovakia. That's not to say Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Patrik Laine won't be representing their respective countries come February, but they haven't made the cut yet. 2:24 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Former Hurricanes Forward Fined For Dangerous Hit
Three Canadiens Make The Hockey News Top 100 NHL Players List Not so long ago, Carey Price was the first Montreal Canadiens player to be mentioned in any list of best NHL players. Now that he has been forced to stop playing, the Habs are led by someone else in The Hockey News' top 100 NHL players list. Only three Canadiens made the list: Nick Suzuki, sniper Cole Caufield, and rookie defenseman Lane Hutson. 1:13 Now Playing Paused Ad Playing
