Montreal Canadiens: Making A Case For Dach To Center Caufield

Recently, in an article I wrote regarding Martin St. Louis and the growth I wanted to see from him in year three with the Canadiens, I suggested he try out some different line combinations. That included advocating for Kirby Dach and Cole Caufield to play together while Nick Suzuki centred his own line. It’s a controversial opinion, I’m sure, but one that I stand by. Here’s my thought process.

Suzuki and Caufield have formed quite the pairing in their short time in Montreal, both on and off the ice. They clearly like playing with each other, so it’s certainly a tough choice to split them up. However, I have confidence that they can both thrive away from each other due to their skill sets.

We caught a glimpse of this from Suzuki last year when Caufield went down to injury. In 36 games without Caufield, the Canadiens captain registered 29 points and looked as good as ever. And while Caufield has spent most of his NHL career playing on Suzuki’s wing, he’s always been a great goal scorer, especially when paired with a good playmaker. Suzuki is that, but so is Dach.

Dach looked fantastic playing alongside Caufield and Suzuki last season on the wing, but now the Canadiens want him playing centre. And that’s smart; Dach is better suited there and has already shown tremendous growth in his short time in Montreal. But Dach would really benefit from playing alongside a shooter, and the unfortunate reality is, at least for the time being, Caufield is perhaps the only legitimate shooting threat the Canadiens have, and there just isn’t enough of him to go around.

Now, taking Caufield off Suzuki’s wing may be seen as a punishment, but that wouldn’t be my intention. When he first came to the NHL, Suzuki was drawing comparisons to Patrice Bergeron (fair or not) for his excellent defensive play. That’s fallen on the back burner since being paired with Caufield in favour of more offence. I think Suzuki can get back to that player (with more offence this time around), handling tough matchups for the Canadiens.

I’d have him climb over the boards every time the opposition’s top line did, similar to that of Phillip Danault when he was a Canadien. And if you remember, Danault’s line was still the Canadiens top offensive line, so there’s no reason Suzuki can’t contribute in that manner as well. And, of course, Suzuki would still be on the powerplay, playing alongside Dach and Caufield.

Suzuki is an all-purpose player, playing on the PK, PP and obviously at even strength. He’s out there when you need a goal or need to prevent one. Even if you take Caufield off his wing, he’s going to be leaned upon heavily and likely lead the Canadiens in ice-time. The Canadiens have struggled to fill the spot left by Danault’s departure, and I think it’s worth trying to see if Suzuki can fill that role. I wouldn’t suggest it if I didn’t know he could handle it.

And, of course, splitting Caufield and Suzuki up at five-on-five doesn’t mean they can’t play together elsewhere. We know they’ll play together on the powerplay, but they can also still play together at four-on-four or in overtime, as we saw yesterday. And the Canadiens can even adopt a strategy from their rivals, the Maple Leafs, stacking the top line with all three of them when they smell an opportunity for offence. The Leafs do this from time to time, often at the end of a period or when trailing late in a game.

To me, this is about trying to get the most out of your lineup and finding different things that could work for you. If it doesn’t work, you could always switch back. But Dach has shown he’s a physically dominating player who needs to play alongside a scorer, which Caufield obviously is. Suzuki, perhaps, has more diversity to his game, being able to wear many hats, and as we saw at times last year, can produce without Caufield.

If the Canadiens have any intentions of making headway in the playoffs, having multiple lines they can rely on will be necessary. So will having a line capable of shutting down the opposition’s top lines. I’d say running something like that is, at least worth a shot.