Canadiens: A Weak Lineup Is Expected in Trois-Rivières

The NHL has introduced a new preseason rule that's a game-changer for NHL regulars. Players who have played at least 100 career games will be limited to a maximum of two preseason games.

This complicates things a bit for the Canadiens, since even though they have a very young roster, only Ivan Demidov and Jakub Dobes have not played that many career games as regulars. Jacob Fowler could also be included on this very short list.

Here is the complete list of players who played yesterday and will be limited to just one more preseason game:

• Cole Caufield
• Nick Suzuki
• Chris Kreider
• Juraj Slafkovsky
• Oliver Kapanen
• Lane Hutson
• Alexandere Carrier
• Jayden Struble
• Arber Xhekaj
• Samuel Montembeault
• Kaapo Kahkonen
• Mike Matheson
• Noah Dobson
• Alex Newhook
• Jake Evans
• Zachary Bolduc
• Kirby Dach
• Alexandre Texier
• Phillip Danault
• Josh Anderson

The roster therefore includes 18 skaters and two goalies.

Of those players, only Kahkonen is certain to join the Laval Rocket.

All these players will be able to play only one more preseason game, and the question is whether it will be tomorrow in Trois-Rivières against the Sens, or on Saturday during the doubleheader.

Logically, it would be Saturday, at the end of the preseason schedule. Generally, we see more “finalized” line combinations before the start of the regular season. Plus, on Saturday, the Habs will have two teams to field.

So, tomorrow night in Trois-Rivières, expect a subpar lineup.

It's likely to be more of a preseason game for the Rocket than anything else.

On the other hand, I'd really like to see guys like David Reinbacher, Adam Engstrom, Owen Beck, and Florian Xhekaj tomorrow and Saturday to give them as many opportunities to play as possible. We know they haven't played at least 100 career games in the NHL, and they're the young players who could really shake things up.

Yesterday, we saw Reinbacher have a very good game, particularly in neutralizing Gavin McKenna on that play.