Montreal Canadiens: Top 5 Training Camp Battles To Watch
Position: First Line Centre
Candidates: Nick Suzuki, Phillip Danault, Jesperi Kotkaniemi
The Incumbent: Phillip Danault played almost all of the past two seasons with Tomas Tatar and Brendan Gallagher on what is definitely the Canadiens first line. They have become one of the best two-way lines in the league, shutting down opposing teams top lines every night while adding plenty of scoring themselves.
While Tatar scored at nearly a point per game pace last season and Gallagher has scored at a 30 goal per season rate for the past three seasons, Danault hasn’t been as dangerous offensively.
Danault scored a career high 13 goals this season and had a career best 53 points last year. But is that, plus his elite level defensive game, good enough to keep him on the first line? Chemistry with Tatar and Gallagher will go a long way, certainly, but is it time for a younger centre to take on a more prominent offensive role? We will have to see as training camp unfolds.
The Challenger: Nick Suzuki was a rookie last season and he looked a little overwhelmed at times in October. He got better in November, and then continued to get better and better with every game for the rest of the season.
When it was all said and done, Suzuki had 13 goals (same as Danault) and 41 points (6 shy of Danault and I don’t recall Danault starting the year on the fourth line with Jordan Weal and Nate Thompson).
Suzuki had just three goals and three assists in his first 17 games. He finished with just one assist in his last nine regular season games as he hit a bit of a wall in his first full NHL season. That’s certainly not unheard of for a 20 year old centre. In between, he scored 34 points in 45 games.
He also bounced back from his sluggish finish to the regular season by leading the team in scoring in the postseason with four goals and seven points in ten games.
Suzuki doesn’t have the defensive game that Danault does, but he has the vision and creativity to be a much better offensive player. Is he ready to take on a first line role right now? That will have to be sorted out at camp, but I’d be willing to bet Suzuki will score more points than Danault this season, no matter what role he is given.
The Dark Horse: Jesperi Kotkaniemi was drafted third overall in 2018 and the reason he was selected that high was because he had the potential to be a big, skilled, first line centre. He looked a long way from first line status in the regular season, but he just turned 20 in the summer.
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The Finnish centre scored six goals and eight points in 36 regular season games. He looked much better in the postseason when he scored four goals in ten games, but he would need to take another monumental leap if he is going to steal a first line role away from Danault or Suzuki.