There’s no chemistry between Juraj Slafkovsky and Alex Newhook

So there's clearly a lack of chemistry on the second line right now, and Martin St-Louis won't waste any time making changes if things continue to not work out.

In fact, it all depends on Oliver Kapanen's health, as he was originally supposed to start the season at center on the second line.

In his absence, Alex Newhook is filling that role, and even though he's doing very well at the faceoff circle (70%), this line is missing something to make it complete.

So if Kapanen is able to play in the next game—the season opener at the Bell Centre on Tuesday against the Carolina Hurricanes—well, it's clear he'll reclaim his spot at center between Slafkovsky and Demidov.

If there had been chemistry with Newhook at center, things would have been different, but now it's time for Kapanen to resume that role before Slafkovsky loses patience—he's likely already frustrated at having lost his spot on the top line.

It's understandable that Martin St-Louis wanted to spread out his strengths and give Chris Kreider the best opportunities, but it's clear that Slaf would have preferred to stay with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield.

Still, the Slovak winger performed very well last season with Kapanen and Demidov, so St-Louis is certainly counting on that to field two dominant lines.

But for now, with Newhook at center, it's anything but a dominant line.

It's a very small sample size of just two games, but I think it will be enough to go back to the basics with Kapanen at center—assuming he's healthy, of course.

In a Nutshell

– The Ducks will be ones to watch.

– Listen up.

– It must really feel good for him to win a game.