The Montreal Canadiens acquired a bona fide snipper for their top-six this Summer but he's out of order for two or three months thanks to a knee injury which begs the question who will fill in for Patrik Laine?
Montreal Canadiens coach Martin St-Louis started training camp like he meant business. Right away, he put his chickens in a row, putting together NHL lines without wasting any time. Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovsky started camp as a line instead of only getting together months down the line last season. The bench boss then had a second line of Alex Newhook, Kirby Dach, and Patrik Laine penciled in, and everyone in town was foaming at the mouth at the thought of watching them play together, but then Cedric Pare happened.
Even though Laine spoke to the media yesterday and said Pare didn’t mean to injure him, the result remains the same: the Finnish snipper will be on the shelf for two to three months.
What should be St-Louis’ backup plan? While some suggested he should ask Kent Hughes to go on a shopping spree on the trade market, TSN insider Pierre Lebrun feels that’s not an option the GM is currently exploring after talking to him. Marco D’Amico at rg.org also believes the Canadiens are looking at a solution from within.
It makes plenty of sense for the Canadiens to go down that route as well. While Laine will certainly miss some time, his season isn’t compromised, and he will be back to reclaim his rightful spot. Still, Laine only has a two-year contract, and there is no telling if he or the team will be interested in signing an extension just yet.
To make that decision, the organization will need to know what other options it has, making this period of absence a perfect audition period. When life gives you lemons, as they say…
Who's going to audition for the part of Laine? Well, the first name to come out of Jeff Gorton's mouth, speaking on The Sick Podcast as a possible replacement, was Oliver Kapanen. He also mentioned Joshua Roy and a couple of veterans in Joel Armia and Brendan Gallagher.
As for Martin St-Louis, in a post-game presser, he mentioned Kapanen, Roy, and Armia, while he had also mentioned Josh Anderson (a name Gorton stayed away from) earlier in the week.
After Tuesday's game against the Senators, the coach summed up Armia's position in this way:
Army plays the game that's in front of him. He's responsible, and he's got offensive abilities. I know it's a chair he can fill, but is it the chair we want to give him? I don't know yet.
It wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement. If it were my call, Kapanen would not be sent back to Sweden and would be on the opening night roster. Where? I would give him the spot in the top six for a couple of reasons: first, he's the one who has really stood out at camp, second; he's a complete player who brings so much to the table; and, finally, Dach and Newhook while they are both technically centers, are not great at faceoffs and the Finn could help.
It's not that I don't trust Roy; I wouldn't criticize him if he got the spot either, but I just feel Dach needs more help with center duties than, say, Christian Dvorak. Whichever of the two young guns gets the gig will be fine with me as long as the role is given with a view to the future.
Armia is on an expiring deal, and while he can have an offensive upside, he's done well so far at camp with Gallagher and Jake Evans, so I'd keep the line going. As for Gallagher, he doesn't contribute enough offensively (anymore) to be given the role, and Anderson's last season is too fresh in my mind to bet on him.
Interestingly, Habs fans who answered my poll a few days ago seem to agree that it's an opportunity for young players to shine, but they're slightly in favor of Roy getting the assignment. We'll see soon enough how St-Louis feels about it...
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