Image [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/998e231f-1ec8-45c8-90e9-41e576db3eaa.jpeg] Now that the home portion of the Chicago Blackhawks' schedule is complete, they have two more road games before they call it a year. That starts with a visit to the Montreal Canadiens on Monday night. There is some excitement surrounding this game for both sides. For the Blackhawks, this will mark the NHL debut for Ryan Greene. After losing the National Championship with Boston University, they got him signed up to his entry level deal and now he’s ready to start his pro career. "The fact that it's here, it's pretty nerve-wracking," Greene said of making his NHL debut. "But it's also just really exciting. Even being in the locker room with a lot of these guys is so cool. I'm honored to be here." Greene is going to start on a line with captain Nick Foligno and Oliver Moore. Like Greene, Moore signed his ELC after being eliminated from college, so they have that in common. Playing together with an elder statesman like Foligno may be a great experience for them. Ahead of the game, interim head coach Anders Sorensen said that Greene is a "really good skater" and "really reliable defensively". Those two attributes are what an NHL coach looks for the most. With the step that Greene took offensively at BU this year, he's set up to be a solid pro right away. The rest of the lineup will look like this: Donato - Bedard - Mikheyev Teravainen -Nazar - Bertuzzi Foligno - Greene - Moore Slaggert - Veleno - Reichel Vlasic - Rinzel Murphy - Crevier Kaiser - Levshunov Once again, the Blackhawks have an incredibly young defensive core. Murphy is the only true veteran among them. Sam Rinzel continues to play with Alex Vlasic on the top pair, which is a duo who will be hard to play against for a long time coming. All of the forwards listed here are guys who will be competing for a job next year. Some of them are more locked in than others, but everyone wants to finish strong so they can feel good about their game going into 2025-26. Arvid Soderblom will make his final start of the 2024-25 season. It was a breakout year for him. Coming into camp, he thought that he'd be splitting time in Rockford. Instead, injuries led to opportunity, and he ran with it. Being Spencer Knight's backup in 2025-26 is a real possibility for him, thanks to how he played. Greene isn't the only player making his NHL debut in this match. You may remember when the Blackhawks had the number two overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. There was a solid debate as to whether they should draft Artyom Levshunov or Ivan Demidov. They went with the defenseman over the forward. Demidov ended up falling to the Montreal Canadiens at five, mostly because of his KHL situation. Well, Montreal's risk has paid off. Now he's with them in the NHL. It is fitting that Demidov will make his debut against the Hawks, the first team to pass on him. He will skate as a trio with Alex Newhook and Joel Armia, which is a perfect line for him to start on. Demidov is a wildly talented forward who can make big plays using his shiftiness, speed, and skill. It will be entertaining to see him go at the NHL level. Montreal can clinch a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a win over Chicago in any fashion. They would be locking up the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference by doing so. For being game 81 for both sides, there is a lot of intrigue. Visit The Hockey News Chicago Blackhawks [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/] team site to stay updated on the latest news [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/latest-newshttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/latest-news], game-day [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/game-dayhttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/game-day] coverage, player features [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/nashville-predators/playershttps://thehockeynews.com/nhl/chicago-blackhawks/players], and more.
