Chris Kreider: He belongs on the first line

Juraj Slafkovsky seemed more comfortable playing alongside Demidov and Kapanen; he took more initiative and wasn't intimidated by Caufield and Suzuki. That second line looked like a real second line when it was formed last year.

As for Kreider, he would bring experience, chemistry, physicality, and speed to Suzuki and Caufield. I know he's no longer the Chris Kreider of his prime, but he could very well—in my opinion—round out the Habs' first line.

We'll create other combinations for the two power plays. That's it.

At five-on-five, Slafkovsky scored 15 goals last year and Kreider, 14. Except that Slafkovsky played under much better conditions, let's be clear.

And he scored several of those goals alongside Demidov and Kapanen!

If I were Martin St-Louis, I'd be tempted to try Chris Kreider on the first line when training camp opens. If it doesn't work out, he'll always have his good old traditional first line as a backup.

Extension

No matter how the six players listed above are used in the top six, that will leave Martin St-Louis and his staff with seven quality forwards for the bottom six: Alex Newhook, Jake Evans, Phillip Danault, Josh Anderson, Alexandre Texier, Kirby Dach, and Zachary Bolduc.

Since Martin St-Louis has often said that he prefers to have only one spare forward and one spare defenseman, Florian Xhekaj and Owen Beck are once again likely to start the season in Laval.

Except that Owen Beck, just like David Reinbacher, was at the Canadiens Children's Foundation golf tournament yesterday in Laval-sur-le-Lac.

Could they have a real shot at shaking things up? With Arber Xhekaj in limbo and Kaiden Guhle sidelined, Reinbacher will be ONE to watch during the (short) training camp. Interesting…