Patrik Laine Heavily Demoted as Season-Opening Roster Takes Shape

As more and more observers mention the possibility that Laine could be the "odd man out" to start the season..

Well, that bad news was confirmed this morning for Laine.

The line changes announced by Martin St-Louis weren't just "temporary" and weren't just for the first game in Québec.

Here's the new line composition from Martin St-Louis, just days before the season begins.

More than ever, we can expect these lines to be the ones used to open the season.

The real fourth line is obviously the one involving Jake Evans and Josh Anderson, here paired with either Florian Xhekaj or Samuel Blais.

That would therefore leave Joe Veleno, Owen Beck, and Patrik Laine as the extra men.

It'll be fascinating to watch at the start of the season!

We can clearly see that the Habs have also immediately made a change to their "bottom-6".

The season is approaching, and we're really starting to get all our answers!

Do you like these lines put together by Martin St-Louis and his staff?

I didn't really like the idea of seeing Ivan Demidov on the third line at first, but I have to admit the results (so far) are really interesting with Oliver Kapanen and Alex Newhook. We're also glad to see him back from his injury scare.