Martin St-Louis’s handcuffs, Patrik Laine’s status, and the same needs

Maxime Truman
Martin St-Louis’s handcuffs, Patrik Laine’s status, and the same needs
Credit: Capture d'écran/Twitter

Did I mention that I'm against having 72-hour breaks between playoff games?

First, it breaks the rhythm… and second, it leaves room for way too many discussions that go in circles (and repeat themselves). But hey, I'm not the one who sets the playoff schedule!

What's the big topic that's been coming up since Sunday night? Answer: the same one that kept coming up during the three days between Games #2 and #3. Should—and will—Martin St-Louis make changes to his lineup?

The first option is to bring in someone who hasn't played in the playoffs yet. Adam Engstrom, Joe Veleno, Brendan Gallagher, and (theoretically) Patrik Laine could all step in to help the Habs. The problem is that on offense, the third and fourth lines are getting the job done; it would be surprising to see a player who hasn't been playing slot into one of the top two lines tomorrow in Tampa Bay.

So we'd have to promote someone from the bottom six to the top six, then insert Veleno or Gallagher into one of the bottom two lines. We'd be tinkering with something that works to try to fix something that doesn't.

My grandfather would have said we'd be robbing Peter to pay Paul…

In my humble opinion, you can't touch the Texier–Dach–Bolduc and Anderson–Danault–Evans combinations. If you want to make a change on offense, you have to try shuffling your top six forwards.

Could we consider moving Slafkovsky or Caufield down to the second line? Yes, you could… but would two lines like that really make your team a better unit?


Caufield – Suzuki – Newhook
Slafkovsky – Kapanen – Demidov

Not sure…

The Canadiens would need one or two quality forwards to be able to shuffle the deck. Right now, we're asking Martin St-Louis to juggle two bowling pins and a knife. That's never a good idea…

If Michael Hage had signed his entry-level contract, could he have helped out on the second line?

In my opinion, the solutions—if they come—will come from the current roster. Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Nick Suzuki will need to score a first goal at even strength. Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov will need to reconnect as they often did during the regular season. And Alex Newhook might be playing for his future in Montreal this week!

Martin St-Louis didn't see fit to change his lineup after Game 2, even though the whole of Quebec was calling for Kirby Dach to be benched in favor of Joe Veleno or Brendan Gallagher. I can't see him deciding to tinker with his lineup after Game 4.

No, the coach hasn't signed a marriage contract with his players, and the players haven't done the same among themselves, but I don't see a miracle solution at this point. Hopefully next year, St-Louis will have one or two more quality forwards in the playoffs. That need hasn't been met yet; it will have to be eventually.

As for the defensive corps, it would be difficult to break up the Xhekaj–Struble pairing right now, as they've been performing very well since the start of the playoffs (and bring a significant physical presence). Especially since the seventh defenseman isn't a guy who can make a difference in the short term (Engstrom)…

We'll have decisions to make when Noah Dobson becomes available. In the meantime, it's up to Alexandre Carrier to prove he deserves to stay in the lineup…


Overtime

When the list of players available for Game 4 was released, I was surprised to see Noah Dobson's name on it. Officially, Dobson has not been placed on the injured list and could return to action at any time.
We're not expecting him back in the next few hours, though, let's be clear…

However, Patrik Laine's name still doesn't appear on the list of available players, unlike Dobson, Gallagher, Veleno, and Montembeault. It's weird to see a healthy guy on the injured list and an injured guy on the healthy list…

So Laine is still on the injured list, even though there is NO benefit to the Habs doing so at this point. The salary cap is calculated based on players in uniform during the playoffs, and there are no longer any limits on the number of players on the first-team roster.

No, we'll never see Patrik Laine in the blue, white, and red uniform again.

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