Montreal Canadiens: Predicting Opening Night Forward Lines

Tomas Tatar – Phillip Danault – Brendan Gallagher

Admit it, when Tomas Tatar was acquired by the Montreal Canadiens you thought he would be a third line left winger at best. He was basically a throw-in/cap dump by the Vegas Golden Knights in the trade that sent Max Pacioretty to Nevada, and brought Tatar along with Nick Suzuki and a second round pick to the Canadiens.

Tatar proved he is much more than a throw-in with a huge bounce back season for the Habs. He scored 25 goals and set a career high with 58 points. Not that we are keeping score (we totally are) but Pacioretty finished the season with 22 goals and 40 points in 66 games.

I’d say the Habs are happy with the return they got for trading their captain a year ago. Tatar stepped into the Habs lineup and proved to be a capable first line winger.

When Danault was acquired by the Habs, the greeting was a lot more positive than the initial reaction to Tatar’s arrival. Danault arrived from the Chicago Blackhawks with a second round pick for Dale Weise and Tomas Fleischmann. Weise and Fleischmann were both set to become UFAs and neither of them were having great seasons.

The Habs were about to miss the playoffs so they dealt the two players they were going to let walk anyway and got a recent first round draft pick from the Hawks in Danault. He had the potential to become a solid two-way center and has fulfilled that potential.

Oh, and the second round pick became Alexander Romanov, the top defenseman at the last World Junior’s even though he was 18 and will be back at the same tournament this winter.

Danault set a career high with 53 points last season and got some recognition in the Frank J. Selke Award voting as the best defensive forward in the league. He has proven to be an excellent two-way center.

Brendan Gallagher has been the heart and soul of the Habs for years. He led the team with 33 goals last season once again setting a career high. He just keeps getting better and better every year.

When this trio was on the ice last season, the Habs scored 40 goals and allowed 20. That GF% of 67 ranked second in the entire league of any line that played regularly together last season, just behind the lethal Dallas Stars line of Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Alex Radulov.

Tatar, Danault and Gallagher controlled 60.9% of the shot attempts while they were on the ice. The only line that topped that was the Philadelphia Flyers line of Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier and Travis Konecny. That tells you the Habs trio was one of the most productive lines in the entire league last season.

Jonathan Drouin – Max Domi – Paul Byron

Jonathan Drouin struggled mightily to finish the 2018-19 season with the Montreal Canadiens. At locker cleanout day he suggested we would soon find out why that was and left it at that. A few weeks later it was reported he needed to have nose surgery to repair an injury from years ago.

I guess, that means the injury didn’t bother him until two-thirds of the way through this season, even though it occurred while he was still a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning? I dunno, it seemed odd to me but if we believe him, he was injured to end the year and that is why he struggled.

If you look at his start to the season, it was pretty good. He had seven points in his last 26 games, but that means he started the year with 46 points in 54 games. So, he had an awesome first two-thirds of the season, but then stopped scoring for the final third.

At the age of 24, isn’t it possible he finds more consistency next season and scores closer to the 46 in 54 pace than the seven in 26 rate to end the season? Of course it is. Drouin is going to be really good next season.

Another player acquired via trade like most of the top six apparently, was Max Domi. Another player that was immediately met with jeers from a lot of Habs fans upon arrival was Max Domi. When he was acquired just over a year ago straight up for Alex Galchenyuk, there were more people calling for Marc Bergevin to be fired than there were calling Domi to be a near point-per-game first line center.

However, Domi went out and scored 72 points in 82 games in his first season with the Habs. He’s also 24 and due for another big season as he heads toward restricted free agency in a year.

The only downside to having Drouin play with Domi is they aren’t the best defensive minded players in the league. So, you fix that by putting Paul Byron on their wing. He would have to switch from left to right wing but his speed, smarts, two-way game and never quit attitude would help overcome that small barrier no problem.

Oh, and Byron scored 15 goals and 31 points in just 56 games last season. He is a bit of a surprise addition to a team’s top six after being acquired via waivers, but he could easily score 25 goals and 55 points playing with Domi and Drouin next season.

Artturi Lehkonen – Jesperi Kotkaniemi – Joel Armia

The Finnish Line! Another trio on the Habs that played extraordinarily well when put together last season. They didn’t play together a lot, but when they did they were extremely effective. Of all the lines in the NHL that were together often enough to attempt 150 shots, the Finnish Line ranked 4th in shot attempt percentage. They took 61.6% of the shots when they were on the ice. That is pure domination.

The three forwards from Finland are excellent defensive players and can contribute offensively as well. Lehkonen, a 24 year old left or right winger does everything well on the ice. He can shutdown opponents, steals pucks, makes tremendous defensive plays, has a great shot, is always in position and rarely turns the puck over.

The only downside is although he does everything right, he finished with just 12 goals and 33 points last season. When you watch him play you think you are witnessing someone who could score 25-30 goals, but he barely finishes with that many points. Still, due to his incredible defensive play he always outscores his opposition when he is on the ice.

Armia is in a similar position. He is older at 26 and larger at 6’4″ but he struggles to turn consistent effort and terrific defensive play into offensive production. He scored 13 goals and 23 points in 57 games last season. That put him on a 19 goal pace over a full season, but with his release, ability to get open in front and hands around the net that are sometimes on display, you’d think he could easily score more than 20 goals.

Jesperi Kotkaniemi definitely has the most offensive potential of the three, and can hold his own defensively as well even though he just turned 19 earlier this week. The third overall pick in the 2018 NHL Draft is a superstar in the making, and his creativity, vision and passing ability could turn both Lehkonen and Armia into 20 goal scorers over a full season.

Charles Hudon – Ryan Poehling – Jordan Weal

Yes, Charles Hudon. The former fifth round pick scored just five points last season and was a healthy scratch for the last two months. However, I think he took for granted he would be given a role last season after a solid showing in 2017-18, and will be ready to prove he is a much better player at next year’s training camp.

Hudon scored ten goals and 30 points in 72 games, mostly on the fourth line in 2017-18. If he can find that success again, he would bring solid depth scoring to the fourth line and a smart, steady two-way presence that he has been known for his whole career. The 25 year old is still a restricted free agent but was given a qualifying offer so he may be on his last chance to prove he is an NHL player. He will learn from his two month benching and prove how good he is next season.

Ryan Poehling averages three goals per game, what more can you ask for from a fourth line center? Seriously, he proved in two seasons since being drafted 25th overall that he has all the hockey sense in the world and is trying to become the next Ryan O’Reilly, minus the whole driving an antique truck into a Tim Horton‘s building in Lucan.

Some will argue that he should start the year with the Laval Rocket and play top line minutes and play in every situation. However, he is going to prove at training camp that he is too good for the minor leagues and will force himself into a lineup spot. He will force his way higher in the lineup in the near future, but he can start the season on the fourth line.

Jordan Weal played well after being acquired from the Arizona Coyotes for Michael Chaput last season. He is a versatile forward that has nice hands and puck skills. He has a bit of an offensive game as was shown by his ten points in 16 games with the Habs last season.

This line not only could play against any opposition and do not need to be sheltered, but they also could chip in an impressive amount of offence for the Canadiens as well next season. It shows the amount of depth on the team when their fourth line is as skilled as this trio.