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Who will be playing on the powerplay in 2025-2026: a nice problem to have
Raphael Simard
Who will be playing on the powerplay in 2025-2026: a nice problem to have
Credit: Getty Images

There’s nothing wrong with having too much talent on a roster.

The Canadiens, especially with the acquisition of Noah Dobson, will have plenty of talent for next season. That doesn’t mean, however, that Martin St-Louis will have easy decisions to make.

For example, the powerplay. Who will play on the first wave and who will be relegated to the second?

In 2024-2025, for most of the season, it was Patrik Laine, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Nick Suzuki and Lane Hutson who played on PP1. At the end of the season, Ivan Demidov was added to this wave, and now Dobson joins this talented group.

So, who’s going to play where? I’ve got a pretty good idea. First of all, in the modern NHL, it’s rare for a team to use two defensemen on the same wave. For the next one, I think St-Louis will use two backs on the first wave: Dobson and Hutson. With an eight-year/$9.5 million contract in his pocket, I can’t believe the former Islander won’t have more powerplay responsibilities.

Because let’s face it, the first wave averages 1:30 out of 2 minutes. I don’t want to see Dobson only 30 seconds per powerplay; that’s too little. For the three forwards on the first unit, I see the three most talented forwards on the team: Caufield, Suzuki and Demidov. Too bad for Slaf, who hasn’t done badly, but is a victim of the team’s talent.

This is the kind of decision the coaches will have to make.

With Suzuki, Caufield, Demidov, Dobson and Hutson on the first wave, this has to be one of the NHL’s best units. The second wave will be no slouch either.

The only defenseman who will be on this wave is Mike Matheson. Until proven otherwise, he’s still capable of giving good service on the power play. Unless he’s traded (his name was linked to the Oilers today), I see him on the second wave with four forwards: Patrik Laine, in his office, Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook and Juraj Slafkovsky. With so much talent on a second wave, I sincerely wonder if it will only play 30 seconds per PP.

Imagine Alexander Zharovsky on one of these waves two years from now…

Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson, Christian Dvorak and Joel Armia had powerplay time last year. That shouldn’t be the case this season. In any case, it’s not certain that Dvo and Armia will be back in town.

In any case, several other combinations are possible: Suzuki on both power plays, as at the end of the season, the two best defensemen separated, Laine in place of Caufield on the first unit… What do you think? One thing’s for sure, some players will be disappointed…


Overtime

– Good question.

– Don’t

– It deserves to be clear.

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