Montreal Canadiens: Ryan Poehling, Alex Belizile, Jesse Ylonen Line Needs To Stand Out

The Montreal Canadiens are about to take the ice for their sixth and final preseason game of the year. It is their final tuneup before they begin the 2021-22 season.

Though most of the roster seems to be set, there is still some figuring out to do for the fourth forward line.

That will have to be sorted out tonight.

The first line will consist of Tyler Toffoli, Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki. Christian Dvorak will centre Jonathan Drouin and Josh Anderson on the second line. The third trio will be Brendan Gallagher, Joel Armia and Jake Evans. But the fourth line remains to be determined at this point with six contenders for three positions.

At the start of training camp, I would have guessed Ryan Poehling would win the fourth line centre job and have Artturi Lehkonen and Mathieu Perreault as his wingers. That could still happen, but Jesse Ylonen and Alex Belzile just won’t stop pushing for those spots.

Also, Poehling hasn’t really taken the role that was laid out for him and ran away with it. He has played okay, and maybe that’s all it will take, but with Cedric Paquette about to return from injury, a big performance in his last preseason game would go a long way for Poehling tonight.

That could be said for Belzile and Ylonen as well and all three will form the fourth line this evening against the Ottawa Senators. All three of them are trying to steal jobs away from veterans Perreault, or Paquette.

If the Habs decide to carry 14 forwards, only two of the six players fighting for a fourth line role will need to be sent down. That is still most likely to be Belzile and Ylonen, but let’s keep a close eye on them tonight and see if they can force the team to move Poehling down, or push Perreault to a 13th forward spot.