Practice: Here’s the lineup with David Reinbacher and Oliver Kapanen

As you may know, Juraj Slafkovsky was absent from today's practice.

Oliver Kapanen, on the other hand, was there. After a few days of skating on his own (following a stretch where we never knew if he was going to skate or not), that was a good sign.

He was the only injured player on the ice.

Naturally, considering all that and keeping in mind that David Reinbacher was also recalled 48 hours ago, we were eager to see the lines and pairs in practice.

And our colleague Patrick Guillet, ever the reliable source, tweeted about the lineup.

Lines and pairs at practice this morning in Brossard:

Forwards:
Caufield – Suzuki – Kapanen
; Anderson – Newhook – Kreider
; Bolduc – Danault – Texier
; Dach – Evans – Beck

Defensemen:
Hutson – Dobson
, Guhle – Carrier
, Xhekaj – Reinbacher / Engstrom

@DLCoulisses #GoHabsGo #NHL

— Patrick Guillet (@PatGuillet) October 16, 2026

As you can see, the offensive lines remained unchanged. The only difference is that Kapanen has taken Slafkovsky's spot on the Canadiens' top line.

If these lines are indicative of what we'll see tomorrow and Kapanen is healthy enough to play, I see two possible scenarios.

1. If Slaf isn't able to play, Martin St-Louis might not want to break up Alex Newhook's line or Phillip Danault's line. Putting Kapanen on the first line could make sense.

2. If Slaf can play, Kapanen could play on the fourth line in place of Owen Beck (or Kirby Dach, but don't hold your breath) tomorrow night.

Defensively, the top two pairs remained unchanged. Otherwise, Arber Xhekaj practiced with David Reinbacher and Adam Engstrom, who were rotating together.

Xhekaj sometimes sat out a turn, but the sixth-defenseman spot (if the team plays with six) will likely come down to a competition between the two rookies.

Extended Coverage

From what we saw in practice, it makes perfect sense to think that Jacob Fowler will get the start tomorrow against the Buffalo Sabres.

And that makes sense… even if the coach refuses to commit.

St. Louis says he hasn't chosen his goalie for Saturday.

@TVASports

— Nicolas Cloutier (@NCloutierTVA) October 16, 2026