On the eve of the Montreal Canadiens’ first training camp on ice session, coach Martin St-Louis met with the media at the CN Sports Complex in Brossard while his players were submitting to the annual physical and medical testing. The bench boss had a lot to say about quite a few topics, but what caught my attention was his response when he was asked about his side’s slow start last season.

Never one to pass the buck, St-Louis said that the slow start was on him. He felt ready for the start of camp last year, but the emotional rollercoaster that came with the numerous injuries his team sustained caught him off guard. While he did put on a brave face for the cameras at the time and served us his traditional: “The league doesn’t care that we have injuries, we must go on”, he admits that the injuries might have made him overcautious.

Canadiens: Expect Big Improvement On The Power Play
Canadiens: Montembeault’s New Mask Looks Stunning
Canadiens: Wrapping Up The Rookie Camp And A Surprise Main Camp Invite

As a result, he was hesitant to showcase some of his top players, fearing the risk of injury, which meant they might not have had the necessary reps before the season began. Now that he’s come to that realisation in hindsight, it will be interesting to see how he attacks the preseason calendar this season.

Another topic he touched on was Patrik Laine. St-Louis doesn’t believe we’ve seen the best of the big Finn yet. The preparation he was able to do before the 2024-25 season pales in comparison to what he’s done this year. Then he was coming off not only a surgery but from dealing with some serious issues that had taken away his love of the game.

A year later, he was able to train hard this summer with a lot of his teammates around, on top of getting his love for the game back last season. It’s not just St-Louis saying it either, at the end of the previous campaign, Laine’s then fiancée took to Instagram to thank the team, the fans, and the city for making her man fall in love with hockey all over again.

Asked about the talk of the town, the team’s second line center, the coach wasted no time in saying that, for now at least, it was Kirby Dach’s spot, although he is coming off an injury, and they’ll have to be careful with him. Speaking to the media at the golf tournament on Monday, St-Louis explained that he had talked to Dach a lot this offseason and that he was in good shape, while Jeff Gorton did confirm that the plan was to have him from opening night.

As for the other area of concern, the penalty kill and the vacancies left by Christian Dvorak and Joel Armia, the coach said that a lot of players could be allowed to chip in on the PK. There are plenty of options to pressure them into improving their performance. He added that he likes his players to have specific roles and that last season, Josh Anderson did very well once he was given a penalty killing role. He doesn’t exclude the possibility of Nick Suzuki having to play more on the PK, but it clearly isn’t his preferred option.

When asked if Alex Newhook could be given a shot in that role, he said that it was one of the possibilities, given what he could do on the ice and his skill set. There’s no denying that his speed could come in handy if he ever were to poke a puck loose and take off on a breakaway, just like Paul Byron used to do not so long ago.

Until the puck drops on the Canadiens’ new season on October 8, there will be plenty of lines and combinations to dissect and analyze, but before you know it, the new season will be here.

Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.

Bookmark The Hockey News Canadiens' page for all the news and happenings around the Canadiens.

Join the discussion by signing up to the Canadiens' roundtable on The Hockey News.