Montreal Canadiens
Canadiens Preview & Lines: Ivan Demidov Debut, Laine Demoted
The Montreal Canadiens (39-31-10) are set to play the Chicago Blackhawks (23-46-11), with the puck drop scheduled for 7 pm ET.
There are two very important things to note about Monday’s game.
The first is that the Canadiens can clinch a playoff berth by beating the Blackhawks in regulation or overtime. If they lose, their odds drop to about 85 percent, however, it would be advantageous to clinch as soon as possible, rather than stressing out about the final game of the season.
The second is the NHL debut for top prospect Ivan Demidov, one of the most talented prospects to every join the organization.
Demidov is expected to play on a line with Alex Newhook and Joel Armia, which is far from an ideal setup when it comes to placing him in a position conducive to producing, but we also have to realize this is just the start of his NHL career. After all, Nick Suzuki started his career on the fourth line.
Ivan Demidov on line with Alex Newhook and Joel Armia at #Habs morning skate at Bell Centre ahead of tonight’s game vs. Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/KSyGqnAjne
— Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) April 14, 2025
We should also temper our expectations to a certain extent. There’s no doubt Demidov possesses an elite skill set, but he’s also the new guy on the block. He hasn’t had much time to practice with his new team, he’s a young man in a new country, and he’ll be facing players with NHL experience, which means his quality of competition is set to go up.
To make room for Demidov on the Newhook trio, head coach Martin St-Louis demoted Patrik Laine to the fourth line.
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lineup
| Cole Caufield | Nick Suzuki | Juraj Slafkovsky |
| Joel Armia | Alex Newhook | Ivan Demidov |
| Josh Anderson | Christian Dvorak | Brendan Gallagher |
| Oliver Kapanen | Jake Evans | Patrik Laine |
| Mike Matheson | Alexandre Carrier |
| Kiaden Guhle | Lane Hutson |
| Jayden Struble | David Savard |
| Jakub Dobes |
| Samuel Montembeault |
Chicago Blackhawks Projected Lineup
Donato – Bedard – Mikheyev
Teravainen – Nazar – Bertuzzi
Foligno – Greene – Moore
Slaggert – Veleno – Reichel
Vlasic – Rinzel
Murphy – Crevier
Kaiser – Levshunov
Knight
How to Watch the Montreal Canadiens vs. the Chicago Blackhawks, April 14, 2025
Game 81 of the regular season will be aired on Amazon Prime and RDS. Once the game is over, an instant recap complete with highlights will be available on Montreal Hockey Now.
Montreal Canadiens playoff odds via Money Puck.
Stupidest line I’ve ever seen! Armia and Newhook! What the heck good effect does that bring to Demidov’s game!? None. Zero. Zilch. You know what? Demidov would be better off with Evans and Kapanen!!!. St. Louis is out of his league with this one! smh
I’ll admit, I find it a little odd too.
But I think he wanted a ‘defensive presence’, which is why he demoted Laine and added Armia. It makes sense on the surface, but Armia isn’t a Selke candidate by any means. His underlying numbers are awful.
I know MSL would be breaking up two lines but I’d much prefer Anderson playing with Demidov than Armia. Anderson adds that layer of protection for the rookie as well. Also, Army seems to be dialling it in since the trade deadline. I thought that this was his best year for not “floating” through some games but he has seemed to disappear some nights in the last 6 weeks.
Yeah, the entire fourth line has collapsed since the Heineman injury. And it’s not just a matter of not scoring, they’re getting outplayed by a wide margin almost every night.
Armia also seems injured, at least that’s the impression I get. He can hardly shoot.
That’s certainly an interesting line combo for Demidov. My guess is he put Armia on that line to cover for Demidov’s rookie defensive deficiencies. Leave Newhook to work with him on offense and have Armia as insurance. It’s not what we had hoped to see, but I understand the decision. If we can clinch tonight , perhaps we get the line combos we were hoping for.
Despite what all these sites have been saying about our odds of getting into this playoffs, it’s a MUST win imo. I didn’t expect to make the playoffs for another 2 years, but now that we’re this close, it would be a travesty to let it slip away.
Expecting a win tonight…then all this gets put to bed.
BUT, if they somehow blow this and don’t get in…yikes!
I digress, but odd as it sounds, if they do blow it and don’t get in…does/should MSL get fired?????
Not a chance. We’re way ahead of where we should be and he’s a huge reason for that.
The real danger in this game isn’t Bedard or Donato (having a great season), it is Spenser Knight. He has the ability to steal a game and we all know how the Habs fare against hot goalies.
If Demidov is playing well and Slakovsky makes a couple of bonehead plays I wouldn’t be surprised to see Demidov getting a couple of shifts with Suzuki and Caulfield. Slaf needs to bring his game to a higher level if he wants to remain on the top line.
Personally this is how I felt waiting for Hutson at the end of last season. The only difference being that these games count for something. Hutson impressed from game one and I hope to see Demidov do the same.
We have no choice but to trust MSL with how he uses Demidov and I guess Demidov might have something to say about that with the way he plays.
“Hot” goalie? Try ANY goalie. Its been ten games since the Habs scored more than 3 goals in a game (not including empty netters).
Missed your Slaf comment….
Yes, if Slaf continues his cold play, and Demi seems to overachieve, don’t be surprised to see a switch of those two on the 1st/2nd lines. In fact, I EXPECT Demi to take that spot from Slaf sometime next season…and probably sooner than later.
I don’t think Slaf will ever really make it as a top-line winger. His ceiling is not that high. Demi does have a ceiling that high…..
Not really agreeing with this line arrangement.
First, demoting Laine two lines down just isn’t right. Laine has “suffered” almost all season with guys on his line who can’t feed him the puck. Why not put him and Demi on the 2nd line and see what happens? So if these two are flanked by Newhook, so be it for now – I guess that’s the best option at this point…but,
Second, Newhook is NOT the center to make things happen for Demi. In fact, he hasn’t done much if anything as a center to any winger this season – a whopping 11 assists in 80 games so far…..
Therein lies the reason a true 2nd line center must be found this offseason. Likely via a UFA signing. Granlund, Tavaras, or Nelson would be best, probably in that order.
I tend to agree with other comments regarding Armia. He is the defensive insurance for Demidov.
Newhooks’ speed might work well with Demidov. I guess all us armchair coaches will have to see how it plays out.
They should/have to win tonight to take off the pressure. Hopefully the first period will have a quicker start than recently.