The Canadiens have (finally) found their second center

Yes, Kapanen is a good hockey player and yes, he has some long-term potential, but as of today, he has only 21 games’ experience in the show. Inlast year’s playoffs, he played mostly with the Rocket, managing to pick up six points in eleven games. Kapanen is 6’2, but he doesn’t weigh 200 pounds. Sometimes, when the going gets rough, you don’t see him as much. Personally ,I like Kapanen, but I’d have preferred him to be given a depth position on the bottom six or to be sent to dominate in the American League. Making him the center of our Russian jewel was not on my bingo card (as of) this year. In fact, only one person had this option in mind this summer: Grant McCagg. Many laughed at McCagg this summer when he suggested putting Kapanen at Demidov’s center, but time proved him right.

Note that all four Montreal center players are right-handed for the time being: Suzuki, Kapanen, Dach and Evans. Of course, Alex Newhook and Zachary Bolduc will be able to take face-offs from time to time, but we’ll agree that this is far from ideal… I think the second line – although Martin St-Louis seemed to love it before last Saturday’s game – will only be temporary. Newhook and Kapanen aren’t the perfect players to complement a guy like Ivan Demidov, but in the meantime, we’ll have to get used to it… and possibly lower our expectations of the Habs as long as we don’t get a real second center to give Demidov the puck.Kapanen may be called a defensive liability, but he still posted a minus-8 rating in 21 games played in North America last year. And he doesn’t win 50% of his face-offs… Will Kirby Dach find his rhythm again this fall? Will Zachary Bolduc be tested at center? Will Kent Hughes be able to convince a team dreaming of Connor McKenna to flip him a good center early in the season? We’ll see.

’prolongation’