Habs 2nd Line Needs A Change

As mentioned in yesterday’s article about the lack of scoring depth in the lineup, the Habs aren’t scoring outside their top line; however, Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki can do the work on the top line without Juraj Slafkovsky. This means that no line is safe from being touched in order to re-create the Habs’ 2nd line to have success around rookie Ivan Demidov.

The first move would be to reunite Slafkovsky and Demidov, who managed to be great together before the Olympics, finally giving the Canadiens a great offensive duo behind Suzuki and Caufield. At the time, Oliver Kapanen was their centre, which could continue to work, but the puck luck that made him so effective for that line seemed to disappear since the Olympic break ended, as he has just 2 goals in his last 11 games. Meanwhile, Newhook brings good speed and has been more of a scoring threat since his return to the lineup. This is why the Habs could consider trying Newhook at the centre of the line with Slafkovsky and Demidov.

From there, the Canadiens can put Kapanen on a 3rd line with Jake Evans and Zack Bolduc, where he can have easier matchups to create offence. However, at the same time, we should note that Kapanen doesn’t have the ability to drive offence, and neither do the other guys on that line. Meanwhile, Newhook has shown to drive offence on a 3rd line, which could be a good move for him to get his game back on track like it was before the dry spell. Sure he scored one of the two depth goals in the last few games, but his overall play has been disappointing outside of his goal, especially on the defensive side. That’s why playing with a defensive specialist like Evans could help him focus on creating bottom-six offence.

At the same time, Kapanen has had good chemistry overall with both Slafkovsky and Demidov, so putting that line back together could be a good idea to get offence on that 2nd line. At the very least, we’ll get to see Slafkovsky and Demidov create offence together, especially now that Slafkovsky has the confidence in his game back. The reason this line was even split up during the California trip was because Slafkovsky was struggling to drive play after the Olympics. Now, he can be that difference maker again and form a great duo with the uber-talented Demidov. Therefore, maybe returning to that line combination now is the right way to get much-needed scoring depth.

Speaking of going back to old line combinations, Alexandre Texier had a lot of success with Suzuki and Caufield before the Olympics, as he is able to be a good fit for a solid off-the-rush offence. At the end of the day, the Habs should go back to these line combinations to see if the scoring depth can come back. Unfortunately it seems like for Saturday’s game we will need to see the same lines that aren’t working below the top line at least for the start of the game.

Do you agree with the Canadiens going back to old combinations for their top two lines, or do you have another version of the lines you’d think would work?