Montreal Canadiens: Three Training Camp Battles To Watch

First Line Winger

The biggest and most prominent position up for grabs right now is on the team’s top line. We can pencil in Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield right now, but who plays with them?

Suzuki and Caufield have proven to be a dynamic duo with the Canadiens over the past three seasons, but they are yet to find a longtime running mate. We have seen a few different players get auditions, and most of them were rather successful, but who is the perfect candidate?

Dach looked great when he played on the top line, but he had to move to the wing to do so. He was moved back to center later in the season and appears to have a long term home as a center on this team.

Josh Anderson played there and played well, but he may not have the playmaking instincts to be on a line with a sniper like Caufield. Anderson is big, fast, has a good shot and is a great forechecker, but Caufield needs someone who can get him the puck on a tee.

Sean Monahan played a little there last season and may have been a good fit as a showcase to pump up his value ahead of the trade deadline. However, with Dvorak injured, Monahan will surely play center to begin the season.

Could Slafkovsky get the role? He only had ten points in 39 games last season but was the first overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. Could it be Harvey-Pinard after his impressive scoring tear last season? Maybe Newhook gets the prime time role after the team traded two high picks for him at last year’s NHL Draft.

If I had to guess today it would be Newhook’s role to take, but he will need to prove he earns it at training camp. If not Slafkovsky or RHP could definitely steal the job from him, or we could see Anderson return there as well.

It is a prominent role on the team, but there are a lot of questions about who will fill it. Training camp will answer that question.

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