Oliver Kapanen to start—but not to end—the season

Seeing Kirby Dach healthy in September, after a full summer of unrestricted training, is excellent news for the Habs.

Dach at center on the second line?

Is the news so good that Kirby Dach will be our second-line center to start the season in four weeks? Not necessarily.

Why? Because Dach is a winger who shouldn't be placed on one of the top two lines.

So who will be the second-line center?

Oliver Kapanen remains the most popular candidate, it seems. I was actually talking about this yesterday afternoon with Alexandre Lanctôt, and that was his suggestion.

In my opinion, the fact that the Habs' second-line center on paper is a guy who's been benched more often than not in the playoffs is proof #1075 that Kent Hughes doesn't deserve a good summer grade, since he's been unable to fill this specific need for the second year in a row.

The big question remains: Who is Oliver Kapanen, really?

Is he the player who scored every three games between October and the Olympics… or the one who finished the season (and the playoffs) without finding the back of the net for 17 straight games?

Good question, isn't it?

Is Kapanen a good center who can set up Ivan Demidov while allowing him to better express himself offensively down the stretch of an NHL season?

For now, that's my hypothesis.

He'll have to prove to me that he's capable of playing spring hockey. And I'm not talking about that super-expensive hockey that our kids in Quebec decide to play once their regular season is over!

That said, if Kapanen can play well for a few months, it'll give Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton time to pull off a trade midseason. Before Christmas or by the trade deadline, or something like that…

At least that's something.