There was a lot of action in Brossard yesterday, with a significant increase in players compared to two weeks ago. The Montreal Canadiens appear more than ready to get things going in training camp. Although the CBA prohibits coaches from taking part in offseason practices, it doesn’t say anything about the director of player development or a faceoff consultant. Adam Nicholas has spent a lot of time on the ice this summer, and Marc Bureau even joined the group yesterday to work on faceoffs. Even David Savard joined the players on Wednesday morning, wearing a tracksuit rather than player gear.

Those are not official practices, and the boss, Martin St-Louis, is nowhere to be seen, but it stands to reason that he’s in communication with Nicholas and watching things from afar. On Wednesday morning, Marc-Olivier Cook, who has spent a lot of time in Brossard this offseason, tweeted that for a lot of zone entry drills, Patrik Laine, Kirby Dach, and Ivan Demidov were working together.

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Does that mean they’ll officially be skating together this season? Of course not, but last year, St-Louis didn’t play around much with his lines, and what we saw in the early goings of the preseason was pretty much how the Canadiens started the season, aside from Laine’s injury, of course.

This time around, Laine comes to camp having had the benefit of a whole summer of training. No injuries hinder him, and although he didn’t end the year well last season, it would be sensible to give him a clean slate to work with this year. The big Finn is entering the final season of his contract and should be motivated accordingly.

Furthermore, this time around, Demidov is there and ready to start his rookie season. The Canadiens know what they have on their hands with the Russian wonder, and they’ll be eager to have him play with talented players who will be able to follow his lead and read the plays he’s making. Laine matches that description.

If Dach is healthy enough to start the season, it wouldn’t be shocking to see St-Louis try that combination. The center will also be entering the last season of his contract, and he has so much left to prove that he could certainly use talented wingers to work with. Laine knows how the Canadiens play now, though, and he should be on a relatively short leash. If he doesn’t put in the work at both ends of the ice, he could lose the privilege to play in the top six.

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