The Importance of The Habs Veteran Line

What makes this line so valuable is that each one of them brings something different to the table. Anderson brings amazing straight-line speed alongside his big 6’3 frame, which allows him to be a good penalty killer, as well as create offensive chances out of nothing due to being able to bulldoze through opponents with his upper-body strength and speed. 

Unfortunately, he lacks any real scoring touch, so he’s never surpassed 21 goals since joining the Habs via trade from the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2020 for Max Domi. Nonetheless, in the last two years, his physicality alongside his speed has made him a very good penalty killer. While he’s not worth his $5.5 million cap hit, Anderson’s veteran and physical presence are very much appreciated by the young, more skilled players on the team. The work he does may not be pretty, but it is very important for the team’s ability to win hockey games. 

While Anderson is the big, fast, gritty power forward on the Habs veteran line, Jake Evans is the team’s top faceoff guy and can be relied upon to win the most important draws for the Habs in a game. Among all the team’s natural centres, he leads the way with a 55.6% faceoff percentage. He also brings big defensive minutes and is the Habs’ top forward on the penalty killer every night. Evans has a really good IQ for reading the play in the defensive zone. In some ways, he is considered a penalty kill specialist as he forms a very strong penalty kill unit with Mike Matheson, Noah Dobson and Josh Anderson on the majority of nights. The Habs have had some struggles with the penalty kill on a few occasions this season, but it should continue to improve under Evans’ guidance as the season progresses.

The heart and soul of the team, Brendan Gallagher, may be the most important player on this line, as he is the one who brings the most effort on this line every night. He is the guy that the younger players should want to model their work ethic around. Gallagher is always in a scrum in front of the net when the whistle goes in the offensive zone. Earlier in his career, he was a top 6 forward, but has now transitioned quite seamlessly into a bottom-six role where he brings a lot of energy. Even in his new role, Gallagher was able to hit the 20+ goal mark for the first time since the 2019-20 season with the Habs last year. He will always be the guy who brings his linemates into the fight and will continuously find himself in the dirty areas at the end of every offensive play he’s on the ice for.

While all three of these Habs forwards bring different aspects, they really complement each other well to help create one of the strongest 4th lines in all of hockey.

How do you like the veteran line of Anderson-Evans-Gallagher over the last few games?