Lariviere: Montreal Canadiens Should Keep ‘Kid Line’ Together

Until they can either acquire a second line center or top prospect Michael Hage arrives, the Montreal Canadiens may just have the right mix for a second line.

When the Montreal Canadiens signed winger Chris Kreider on September 12, the main topic amongst Canadiens fans, and the media that covers the team, was whether or not Juraj Slafkovsky would be reunited with Ivan Demidov and Kreider would replace him on the top line with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield. Well, that’s exactly what Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis decided to do during the team’s first on-ice sessions of training camp on September 15, and the new top 6, specifically the current second line of Slafkovsky-Kapanen-Demidov, and thus far it appears the team has a new-look Top 6 forward group that works.

While it sometimes takes lines time to gel together again during training camp, the aforementioned trio has dominated in their two preseason games together. So far the chemistry between Juraj Slafkovsky and Ivan Demidov has picked up right where they left off last season. The offensive tandem take turns being the ones to carry the puck up ice, where the puck carrier always finds a way to get it over to the other winger to create scoring chances. Meanwhile, Kapanen has been finding the open space his linemates continue to create and gotten more scoring chances.

Last year, the trio of Slafkovsky, Kapanen, and Demidov played 38 games together, where they proved to be among the most dangerous lines in hockey at one point, earning them the “The Kid Line” nickname. The veteran of the line, Slafkovsky, nearly had a point per game playing Demidov and Kapanen, scoring 14 goals and 22 assists for 36 points in those 38 games. Meanwhile, Demidov wasn’t too far behind with nine goals and 22 assists for 31 points during that span. Kapanen, who was seen more as the glue guy to the line, scored 11 goals, nine assists, and 20 points. It may not seem like Kapanen was as important as the other two players, but his role was to play a more defensive style and let the other two create the offence. 

Prior to their first preseason game together this past Saturday, Demidov was beaming to the media over being back on the same line as Slafkovsky. 

“I like it. I like to play with Juraj. We have good chemistry with him,” Demidov told the media last Thursday. 

The chemistry showed right away in the first preseason game as both Demidov and Slafkovsky spent the night skating circles around their opponents while both notching a goal. They picked up where they left off from when they were linemates for the aforementione portion of the 2025-26 season.