Here are the likely new lines for the Canadiens and there's an unpleasant surprise
PUBLICATION
MarcO
July 30, 2023 (3:48 PM)
Even though the 2023-2024 NHL season won't start until early October, some armchair managers are already speculating on the composition of lines and defensive pairs for the Canadiens for the upcoming season.
With the arrival of
Alex Newhook, the departure of
Jonathan Drouin, and the return of
Sean Monahan, we can assume the dynamics within the team will be different and Habsolumentfan.com has made its predictions for the CH lineup at the start of the 2023-2024 season.
Caufield - Suzuki - Dach
Newhook - Monahan - Anderson
Slafkovsky - Dvorak - Gallagher
Hoffman - Evans - Armia
Extra: Pezzetta - Harvey-Pinard
Guhle - Savard
Matheson - Barron
Xhekaj - Harris
Extra: Kovacevic - Wideman
First observation, the first line composed of
Nick Suzuki,
Cole Caufield, and
Kirby Dach remains intact and we recall that the three had a lot of success when Martin St-Louis united them at one point during last season.
However, some fans might grit their teeth when they see that Mike Hoffman is preferred to Raphaël Harvey-Pinard in the regular lineup. Which is definitely a surprise for us, a bad surprise.
On defense, we have roughly the same lineup as last year, with the obvious exception of
Joel Edmundson's departure for Washington.
Well, it is clear that this is just a probable lineup and there will definitely be surprises during training camp, but at first glance, it doesn't seem like the Canadiens will be competitive with this lineup in the powerful Atlantic division.
That being said, the team will still be in its rebuilding phase in 2023-2024, but there will likely be many changes to the Canadiens' lineup next season.
Previously on HabsFanatics
POLL |
JUILLET 30 | 5 ANSWERS Here are the likely new lines for the Canadiens and there's an unpleasant surprise Who deserves to be in the lineup the most? |
Hoffman | 1 | 20 % |
Harvey-Pinard | 4 | 80 % |
List of polls |