Since the departures of Phillip Danault and Jesperi Kotkaniemi, there has been a lot of speculation as to who will sit in the club's 3rd pivot chair. We are all aware that the 1st and 2nd center positions are "locked in" as Nick Suzuki and Christian Dvorak will be filling their respective roles. The 4th center, there are options galore. But who will take the reins on the 3rd unit? Jake Evans? Ryan Poehling?
Vincent Damphousse has spoken out on this and his idea is not crazy. Damphousse would put Mathieu Perreault in that seat, a player who has already had some offensive success. His offensive acumen is certainly more developed than Jake Evans or Cedric Paquette, but does he still have the ability to fill such a role? At 33 years old, he has become very mature as a player, and then, no less, he has collected 19 points in 56 games in 2021. Note that he was used on average only 11 minutes 43.
Damphousse would go with a Drouin-Perreault-Gallagher combination to form the Montreal Canadiens' 3rd combination. This could create something interesting on this line. Perreault has scored 40 points or more five times in his 12 season career in the league. Honestly, with the benefit of hindsight and a more complete analysis, Damphousse's idea is far from far-fetched.
In the end, the former number 25 of the Sainte-Flanelle placed Cedric Paquette in the 13th forward role. It makes sense. Artturi Lehkonen, Jake Evans and Joel Armia certainly won't get that role, as they played a quality game during the last spring (summer in this case).
