A Winning Habit
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Predicting the Montreal Canadiens Top 9 for the 2020-2021 Season

By Joseph Gentile

MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 27: Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - FEBRUARY 27: Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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Montreal Canadiens
GLENDALE, ARIZONA – NOVEMBER 07: Josh Anderson (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Second Line

LW Jonathan Drouin- C Nick Suzuki- RW Josh Anderson

The combination of Jonathan Drouin and Nick Suzuki was mostly used in the 2020 playoffs and boy did they have chemistry. The both each posted 7 points in 10 games, resulting in them being the two most productive players on the team. The one thing this pair needs to help compliment its speed and skill is size and goal-scoring ability, and that is Josh Anderson.

Josh Anderson stands at 6”3 and 222 pounds, posting a whopping 602 hits over 267 career games. He’ll prove to be an asset when oppositions see him running down the ice, protecting his line mates while being able to contribute offensively. He will make players think twice before taking runs at players like Jonathan Drouin (yes, we mean you Alex Ovechkin).

Anderson has shown that he could be a bonafide scoring, power forward when he put up 27 goals in the 2018-2019 season. Unfortunately for him, he posted 1 goal in 26 games after an injury-plagued season where he required surgery for a separated shoulder. The Canadiens are hoping for him to bounce back this year, and in a big way after giving up one of their best forwards in Max Domi.

Nick Suzuki ranked sixth last season in rookie scoring with 41 points in 71 games. Starting the season off on the fourth line, he slowly worked his way up the lineup, picking up his pace toward the quarter mark of the season. He earned a spot on the team’s top powerplay unit, averaging 2:10 minutes/game and proving to be a true playmaking specialist.

He broke out during the playoffs, where he was getting more and more minutes, showing that he could be relied on to score goals and help make big plays when the team needed it most. He is showing just why he was that coveted prospect that Bergevin wanted when making the Max Pacioretty trade with Vegas in 2018.

Since his acquisition, it seems like every year has been a ‘developing year’ for Jonathan Drouin. Barring his injury ridden 2019-2020 season, he has steadily posted 45+ point years with the Canadiens but has never reached his full potential back when he was selected third overall by Tampa Bay in 2013.Some argue that he’s never been given the best linemates to work with while others say he’s just simply not what he was projected to be.

However, he has seemed to find success with Suzuki and with Anderson allowing him to have more space on the ice this season, we could finally see the real Jonathan Drouin.

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