Patrik Laine’s absence: breaking up the first line doesn’t seem to be in the plans
Auteur: Jennifer DavisSince 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.
RUMOR! Kent Hughes isn’t making calls right now to replace Laine → https://t.co/qB4Qcfx5p2
– DansLesCoulisses (@DLCoulisses) October 4, 2024
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?
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.
Martin St. Louis hasn’t really been running set lines over the last few days, except for one: Caufield-Suzuki-Slafkovsky.
Dunno if they eventually split for balance, but not expecting them to at the start of the season.– Eric Engels (@EricEngels) October 4, 2024
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.
Overtime
– It’s going to be explosive.
This will be a series not to be missed. https://t.co/SZwzveAjHV
– Passion MLB (@passion_mlb) October 4, 2024
– Still.
I’m told nearly 150,000 people (average per minute) watched the Bruins – Kings game yesterday on TVA Sports 2.
– Maxime Truman (@MaximeTruman) October 4, 2024
– Obviously.
He’ll have to report to the Maple Leafs’ AHL club-school.https://t.co/DCQrILsui9
– TVA Sports (@TVASports) October 4, 2024
– Nathan MacKinnon, the NHL’s best player? [TVAS]
– Well done.
Jaromir Jagr kicks off the 2024-25 NHL season with the ceremonial puck drop!
(via: @nhl)
pic.twitter.com/D05P69Slt5– BarDown (@BarDown) October 4, 2024