Jake Evans: There’s some internal competition brewing (and that’s a good thing)

Marc-Olivier Cook
Jake Evans: There’s some internal competition brewing (and that’s a good thing)
Credit: Screenshot/Twitter

Martin St-Louis will soon have some decisions to make.

And why?

Because Patrik Laine and Alexandre Texier may soon be ready to return to action. Jake Evans and Kirby Dach have already returned to the Montreal lineup, but other tough choices will have to be made shortly. At practice this morning, the lineup looked like this:

That said, Jake Evans said something that's 100% true: there's an internal competition taking hold in Montreal, and that's a good thing.

It's a good thing… because the guys who want to play have to work their butts off to keep their place in the line-up. And that means everyone has to do things the right way, too, to be able to contribute.

One has to wonder what Texier's role will be when he returns to the game.

He was playing on the team's top line before he got hurt… and right now, it's Dach who's filling that spot. Texier deserves a place on the team's top nine because he's been playing really well since his arrival in Montreal.

But if Texier goes in… who goes out? Brendan Gallagher? Joe Veleno? Zachary Bolduc?

Just imagine: if it's complicated for Texier, it's going to be even more complicated for Laine… #Yikes!

But it's still a nice problem to have.

Here again, the fact that there's internal competition right now can't hurt. It just helps because you know that the guys are going to be ready to play when they're called upon to do so.

It makes Martin St-Louis' job a little harder, but hey. It's all part of the game!


Overtime

– Fair.

– Happy Birthday!

– Happy reading.

– Wow.

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