A Winning Habit
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Montreal Canadiens: 7 Talking Points on Eric Staal, Cole Caufield, Lines, Jesse Ylonen

By Sebastian High

MONTREAL, QC - OCTOBER 17: Paul Byron #41 of the Montreal Canadiens and Eric Staal #12 of the Minnesota Wild skate against each other during the second period at the Bell Centre on October 17, 2019 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - OCTOBER 17: Paul Byron #41 of the Montreal Canadiens and Eric Staal #12 of the Minnesota Wild skate against each other during the second period at the Bell Centre on October 17, 2019 in Montreal, Canada. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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Oct 6, 2018; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Montreal Canadiens Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 6, 2018; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Montreal Canadiens Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

4. Potential Forward Line Combinations

Considering the rather limited options of topics to write about this week given the whole postponement of games due to COVID, this seems like a good opportunity to do some spitballing and put on my coach’s hat. If I were the Habs coach, and it’s a good thing I’m not, the forward lines I would put together once Caufield and Staal become available would resemble this:

Drouin – Suzuki – Anderson

Tatar – Danault – Gallagher

Toffoli – Kotkaniemi – Caufield

Perry – Staal – Armia

This would leave Byron and Lehkonen in the press box (if I were GM as well, Byron would have already been traded), and I would give Lehkonen at least one game a week to keep some legs fresh, he could replace Perry, Armia or Caufield on any given night.

I like this lineup because it keeps winning elements this team has built while also infusing some scoring. It should also be noted that at 5v5 the top 3 lines would be absolutely interchangeable. Suzuki has hit a slump in the past month, but he has played his best hockey between Drouin and Anderson, and the line as a whole is nearly as dominant in xGF% as the Gallagher line, which is saying something.

I would also keep the TDG line intact. As I just mentioned, they dominate possession and scoring chances and are pretty much the perfect dependable second line. They can log heavy minutes and create momentum.

Kotkaniemi has excelled this season he playing with goal-scorer-extraordinaire Tyler Toffoli. Both players perform best together rather than apart, so I would glue the two together in the lineup, night in, night out. I like the idea of placing Caufield on this line for three main reasons:

  1. This would become the team’s goalscoring line and could benefit from easier competition than the other top-9 lines.
  2. Caufield could learn from Toffoli, who excels at finding empty spaces in the offensive zone to score his goals, something Caufield has done throughout his career.
  3. Kotkaniemi would have a legitimate sniper on his line and Caufield would play with the best playmaker he’s had since Hughes (Toffoli scores a bunch, but he’s not a sniper).

Remember when the Habs had a blisteringly-fast fourth line? That wouldn’t be the case here. This fourth line would play a big, gritty game and contribute offensively, which the small and quick fourth line didn’t. Armia and Perry are 6’3″ while Eric Staal is 6’4″. Staal scored 19 in 57 last season (20-goal pace), Armia scored 16 in 58 (20-goal pace) and Corey Perry has notched 6 in 24 this year with the Habs, which is also a 20-goal pace.

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