With training camp underway, Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis gave fans a glimpse of how the team’s lines could look this season.
When the Habs hit the ice at the CN Sports Complex on Thursday morning, they were split into three scrimmage groups, and there were a few notable combinations.
Team 1 featured last year’s No. 1 forward line, which consisted of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Juraj Slafkovsky.
Slafkovsky complète une passe de Caufield. Trop facile 👇 pic.twitter.com/ewl7Toi8tX
— TVA Sports (@TVASports) September 19, 2024
The top trio faced off against a Group 2 line composed of Kirby Dach, Alex Newhook, and newly acquired sniper Patrik Laine.
Caufield-Suzuki-Slaf, Newhook-Dach-Laine pic.twitter.com/lAR091q7ps
— Eric Engels (@EricEngels) September 19, 2024
According to journalist Marc-André Godin, rookie Joshua Roy skated on a trio with Christian Dvorak and Josh Anderson in Group 3. Meanwhile, Joel Armia, Jake Evans, and Brendan Gallagher rounded out a potential fourth line.
Ils diront sûrement qu’il ne faut pas tirer de conclusions de la façon dont les groupes ont été divisés pour le début du camp, mais c’est dur de ne pas voir au moins une ébauche une trios:
Caufield-Suzuki-Slafkovsky
Newhook-Dach-Laine
Roy-Dvorak-Anderson
Armia-Evans-Gallagher— Marc Antoine Godin (@MAGodin) September 19, 2024
While there are already some solid trios in place, the Canadiens’ blue line seems a little harder to decipher for now.
Top pairing defenceman Kaiden Guhle was absent from the skate as he is recovering from getting his appendix removed.
Meanwhile, as per Anthony Martineau of TVA Sports, St. Louis experimented with the following variety of pairings in Group 1 for the scrimmage:
Jayden Struble – Logan Mailloux
Lane Hutson – Justin Barron
David Savard – Arber Xhekaj
On a vu ces paires pour débuter le match:
Struble-Mailloux
Hutson-Barron
Savard-Xhekaj
— Anthony Martineau (@Antho_Martineau) September 19, 2024
Over in Group 2, Canadiens assistant captain Mike Matheson was paired up with prospect David Reinbacher.
Talent was also spread out between the pipes as Montreal’s tandem of Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau were split up.
There will surely be tweaks before the regular season begins, but these are Montreal’s most NHL-ready lines as of today:
Forwards
Juraj Slafkosvky – Nick Suzuki – Cole Caufield
Alex Newhook – Kirby Dach – Patrick Laine
Joshua Roy – Christian Dvorak – Josh Anderson
Joel Armia – Jake Evans – Brendan Gallagher
Defence
Lane Hutson – Justin Barron
Mike Matheson – David Reinbacher
Arber Xhekaj – David Savard
Goalies
Sam Montembeault – Cayden Primeau
As cuts are made over the coming days and weeks, the Canadiens will finalize their roster before kicking off their 2024-25 campaign on October 9 with a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs.