Montreal Canadiens Projected Opening Night Lineup

1st Forward Line:

Artturi Lehkonen – Max Domi – Brendan Gallagher

The Canadiens started training camp with Artturi Lehkonen on the left side of Max Domi and Jonathan Drouin playing right wing. They played one preseason game together and Lehkonen looked great, Domi looked good and Drouin looked uninterested.

The next time we saw Lehkonen and Domi they had Brendan Gallagher on the right side. The trio played excellent, creating several scoring chances in the Kraft Hockeyville game against the Florida Panthers in Bathurst, New Brunswick.

Lehkonen is an exceptional defensive forward and though he has a knack for creating scoring opportunities, he is yet to light up the scoresheet. He scored 18 goals as a rookie in 2016-17, but saw his goal totals drop to 12 and then 11 last season. Playing with Domi and Gallagher gives him an opportunity to show he can be a 20 goal scorer.

Domi was acquired a year ago for Alex Galchenyuk and immediately proved he could do what Galchenyuk could not – play first line center. Domi led the team with 72 points, making penciling him in as the team’s first line center the easiest decision among the forwards.

Actually, putting Gallagher down as the team’s first line right winger might be even more obvious than Domi being their top center. Gallagher is the heart and soul of the Habs and has proven over the past two years that he is also their best goal scoring threat.

This line could play against any top line in the league and comfortably take care of business defensively while also bringing plenty of offense to the table on a consistent basis.