Montreal Canadiens: Possible lines and pairings at the Red vs. White Scrimmage

Predictions

Assuming the coaching staff wants to remain consistent and try to establish some in-game chemistry, they’ll run the same lines and pairings they had in each respective group. There will be some alterations, however, considering not everyone was named to play in the game. Therefore:

Team A

Tatar – Danault – Gallagher
Deslauriers – Kotkaniemi – Lehkonen
Shinkaruk – Vejdemo – Hudon
Chaput – de la Rose – Froese

Mete – Juulsen
Alzner – Schlemko
Despres – Sklenicka/Valiev

Vejdemo was originally in Group B, and it makes sense for him to take over Plekanec’s spot in between Shinkurak and Hudon. He showed in the Rookie Tournament that he could be an effective and reliable player on the ice. What stood out the most was the short passes he was able to make in the neutral zone to advance the puck. A quality like that could work well playing with someone like Hudon

Team B

Drouin – Domi – Armia
Byron – Suzuki – Scherbak
Agostino – Peca – Grenier
Addison – McCarron – Bitten

Benn – Petry
Reilly – Lernout
Ouellet – BrooK/Fleury

Bitten would be in a similar situation as Vejdemo, switching groups yet taking Alexandre Alain’s spot on the McCarron line. As far as storylines go, this is the more interesting team.

The Montreal Canadiens have been running with this experiment of having Domi at centre in between Drouin and Armia. This will be one of the few tests to see if it can be a long-term option. Additionally, Suzuki is going to be catching many’s attention as he as the big piece acquired in the Max Pacioretty trade. Claude Julien is giving him an opportunity to play down the middle as well and hopefully; he makes use of that elite hockey IQ that’s put his name out there.