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Patrik Laine’s absence: breaking up the first line doesn’t seem to be in the plans

 Jennifer Davis
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Patrik Laine’s absence: breaking up the first line doesn’t seem to be in the plans
Credit: Getty Images

Since Patrik Laine’s injury, we’ve been wondering who will replace him alongside Kirby Dach and (presumably) Alex Newhook on the club’s second line.

Joshua Roy and Joel Armia held auditions recently. Oliver Kapanen is a possibility, although I don’t really believe it. The club could also look outside the organization.

But I don’t believe in that either: if the Habs go looking for reinforcements, it’ll probably be for a tough guy, not a top-6 player.

One solution that’s sometimes raised is to see the first line dismantled in order to give Dach some backup. Could Juraj Slafkovsky or Cole Caufield go and play on another line, a little lower down?

The question arises.

Martin St-Louis isn’t closed to the idea, from what we understand from reading between the lines of his comments… but it really doesn’t seem to be his #1 plan, let’s face it.

He seems to think that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Eric Engels reports that for the past few days, the training lines have been unclear, but that the first line is still intact. This is a very important clue, even if the journalist points out that it can change at any time.

But it’s not something that can be predicted right now: there’s nothing to suggest that a change is imminent.

It’s also worth noting that since the start of camp, both before and after Laine’s injury, we’ve never seen Suzuki with anyone other than Caufield and Slaf.

It’s not surprising, given the end of their season, but I’d still have liked to have seen the coach do some testing, regardless of the injuries. In the end, it didn’t happen – not yet, anyway.

I have a feeling that if the first line is struggling or it’s clear that Dach’s line is running out of gas, a solution could be found by breaking up the first line. But right now, that’s obviously not in the plans.

If I were in Martin St-Louis’ seat, here’s how I’d start the year. Michael Pezzetta and Alex Barré-Boulet would be in the stands.

Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Newhook – Dach – Roy
Armia – Dvorak – Kapanen
Anderson – Evans – Gallagher

I wouldn’t mind leaving Kapanen out of the first game just to put Pezz in against Toronto and avoid a two-in-two at the start, but otherwise, I’d go that way in general. But we’ll see.

Note also that these are my preferences. In reality, Joel Armia could well be on the second line.


Overtime

– It’s going to be explosive.

– Still.

– Obviously.

– Nathan MacKinnon, the NHL’s best player? [TVAS]

– Well done.

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