Canadiens Camp Notes: Chris Kreider On Top LIne 

The top line at Montreal Canadiens training camp on Thursday created a lot of buzz as newcomer Chris Kreider was skating alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.

That meant Juraj Slafkovsky was down a line with Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov, whom he had success with for a 35-game stretch last season.

Other interesting forward line combinations that were seen on Thursday included Florian Xhekaj playing on a line with veterans Phillip Danault and Josh Anderson. Alex Newhook and Jake Evans were joined by Brett Berard, who signed a two-way deal with the Montreal Canadiens earlier in the off-season. Zach Bolduc, Kirby Dach, and Alexandre Texier, who played together during last year’s first-round playoff series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, also formed a line.

On defence, Mike Matheson and Noah Dobson were paired together much like most of the 2025-26 season. Lane Hutson skated on the left side, with Alexandre Carrier being on his right. The pairing of Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj that was seen at various points last season was back together. Adam Engstrom and David Reinbacher, who are expected to fight for the final roster spot out of camp, were put together as a pairing on Thursday. As for the goaltenders, both Jakub Dobes and Jacob Fowler practiced with Team A, while Samuel Montembeault was with Kaapo Kahkonen on Team B.

Here are the complete lines from day 1 of the  training camp:

Team A:

Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Chris Kreider

Juraj Slafkovsky – Oliver Kapanen – Ivan Demidov

Sasha Pastuljov – Owen Beck – Jared Davidson

Alex Belzile – Lucas Condotta – Tyler Thorpe

Lane Hutson – Alexandre Carrier

Jayden Struble – Arber Xhekaj

Luke Mittlestadt – Ethan Samson

Owen Protz – Aiden Dubinsky

Jakub Dobes

Jacob Fowler

Team B:

Alex Newhook – Jake Evans – Brett Berard

Alexandre Texier – Kirby Dach – Zach Bolduc

Florian Xhekaj – Phillip Danault – Josh Anderson

Samuel Poulin – Hunter McKown – Filip Mesar

Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson

Adam Engstrom – David Reinbacher

Maximilian Szuber – Reilly Walsh

Kale McCallum – Braden Hache

Samuel Montembeault

Kaapo Kahkonen