Montreal Canadiens: Nick Suzuki and Caufield Have Found Their Linemate

The Montreal Canadiens entered this season with a lot of question marks, and very little about the team set in stone.

They had too many veteran forwards and there were many questions about how they would put the lines together. What to do with all the overpaid wingers like Joel Armia, Jonathan Drouin, Mike Hoffman and Evgenii Dadonov?

With Nick Suzuki, Christian Dvorak, Kirby Dach, Sean Monahan and Jake Evans on the roster, how were they going to sort out the centre ice position? And while there were too many veteran forwards, who the heck was going to play defence with so few actual NHL veterans there?

The only thing that appeared to be set in stone was the Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield were going to be on the first line. The two played extremely well together in the second half of last season and were sure to be two-thirds of a great first line. But who would fill it out?

Josh Anderson, Sean Monahan, Mike Hoffman and Evgenii Dadonov were all given chances. None of them clicked in the same way that Kirby Dach has.

Dach was surprisingly acquired at the NHL Draft for the 15th and 66th overall draft picks. Everyone knew the Chicago Blackhawks were selling, but we didn’t know they were selling everything. That apparently included a 21 year old third overall pick who is 6’4″ and can play centre.

He is showing that he is a pretty good winger if given the right linemates as well. Dach is a highly skilled player that skates extremely well for his size and has great hands and vision.

This trio was put together for just the past four games. They immediately clicked and found chemistry. In those four games, Dach has one goal and six assists for seven points. Caufield has scored three times and has seven points and Suzuki leads the way with eight points, including five goals.

The Canadiens have not gotten much more scoring in that time, aside from a third period hat trick from Dvorak, but this line looks like a legit top line to build around. Dach is actually the youngest of the three, though he is less than three weeks younger than Caufield.

Now, it has been just four games, so let’s not lock anything into place for the next decade just yet. But the immediate connection between these three, and their young ages, is a fantastic beacon of hope in what is starting to look like another long season in the standings.

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