Montreal Canadiens: Examining the Four Forward Lines
By Joshua Rosa
3rd Line: Joel Armia – Jake Evans – Brendan Gallagher
It seems like it will be Brendan Gallagher’s fate to be a defensive forward from now on. Its hard to argue, as he has been great with Danault and Tatar in the past, but it seems like there could be some untapped potential in the former 30 goal scorer.
But then the preseason happened, and this has been Montreal’s best line, bar none.
Its hard to judge exactly, since there is always some holding back in the preseason, especially if your roster spot is guaranteed, but these are three players that compete to the best of their abilities night in and night out.
Jake Evans has been the most pleasant surprise of this offseason. I don’t know if it is because its just the preseason, or Evans has grown confidence after a full year in the NHL and this postseason run, but he has been phenomenal offensively. Evans always will be a stout defender and a fierce competitor, but has added a surprising amount of speed and skill to his game.
Evans’ assist on Raphael Harvey-Pinard (a.k.a Brendan Gallagher lite) was a work of art, and he was not out of place on the powerplay, even though he won’t see the man advantage in the regular season very often. If Evans can bring this offensive upside during the regular season, this could be one of the best third lines in the league.
Joel Armia is an enigma wrapped in a mystery. One game, you’d swear he was Montreal’s best player as he dominates with two goals and a very physical game. The next three? Completely invisible. The weird thing is that the effort is still there, but the pieces just refuse to fall into place. And then he can go toe-to-toe with McDavid on speed and physicality.
This line may not score with extreme regularity, but I know that other teams will greatly struggle to score on them. Especially if they get the favourable match-ups of the opponent’s bottom 6. Gallagher provides the scoring pedigree, and Armia will just go off every couple of days, and all three will bring 100% every shift. If everything falls into place, 20 goals for Gallagher is not out of the question. Maybe if Armia can find some consistency he could reach that number too.