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Habs Daily: New Lines, Splitting up Dach & Laine, Demidov

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montreal canadiens practice

Here are the Montreal Canadiens news items, highlights, and stories you may have missed on Monday.



Montreal Canadiens News

It’s painfully apparent Kirby Dach and Patrik Laine have no chemistry together, but if you needed further proof than what you see on the ice, the numbers support the idea that splitting them up is the right path forward. [How The Montreal Canadiens Can Avoid Benching Patrik Laine]

Right on cue, head coach Martin St-Louis ran new lines at practice.

Dach and Alex Newhook took rushes with David Reinbacher, who was in a non-contact jersey. Meanwhile, Patrik Laine lined up with Jake Evans and Joel Armia on the third line. That left Michael Pezzetta, Christian Dvorak, and Brendan Gallagher on the fourth line.

Assuming Reinbacher was keeping Josh Anderson’s seat warm, I have to say I’m not particularly excited by the new lines. Playing Anderson higher in the lineup no longer pays dividends, while Newhook and Dach produced terrible numbers together long before Laine was added to the mix.

Of course, there’s a roster construction issue at play. There’s not much St-Louis can do to solve the second-line issue. Giving Evans or Dvorak second-line duties is far from ideal. Such is life in a rebuild.

It was quite apparent that Anderson was not in great health as he faced the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. Consequently, the 30-year-old was not present at practice on Monday afternoon.

We all know we’re watching something special whenever Lane Hutson takes to the ice, but his historic comparisons are equally encouraging.

He’s trending toward a Quinn Hughes career, with a historic dose of Paul Coffey and Brian Leetch. Not bad at all.


Oh hey look, Ivan Demidov received another accolade in the KHL. The future Hab joined former Hab Zach Fucale in the league’s Players Of The Week. [Top Canadiens Prospect Ivan Demidov Is Making History]

National Hockey Now Network

Boko Imama has been with the Pittsburgh Penguins for little more than a week. He’s still living in a hotel here, still learning to navigate the city. But even before he made his Penguins debut in Seattle on Jan. 25, Imama had a thorough understanding of what his niche on their roster entailed, of what he would have to contribute if he wanted to remain part of it. [Pittsburgh Penguins]

Among all the gifts that Detroit Red Wings fans were receiving on Christmas Day, the best one of all wasn’t found under the holiday tree. [Detroit Red Wings]

The Vegas Golden Knights have left one defensive pair together for most of the season. In early November, Bruce Cassidy moved Shea Theodore from the left side to the right, splitting up Theodore and Alex Pietrangelo. Since then, Theodore has played with both Brayden McNabb and Zach Whitecloud; Pietrangelo, however, found himself a steady partner in Noah Hanifin.  [Vegas Golden Knights]

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Habs forever

As I suggested yesterday, at practice today Evans, Armia and Laine but why not have them as the second line? Neither Dach nor Newhook appears to be an NHL centre at this point.