I didn’t expect to say this a month ago but the return of Christian Dvorak to the Montreal Canadiens lineup could provide a much needed boost to a forward group that has been struggling and to a team that has lost three straight games.
Dvorak made his Canadiens season debut on Saturday night in St. Louis, playing just under 15 minutes as the center on a line with Alex Newhook and Josh Anderson. His ice time should be ramping up in the games ahead and once he is up to speed, his presence will be a key to helping fill the obvious void left behind when the Canadiens lost Kirby Dach for the year in game two.
Don’t get it twisted, Dvorak is not going to take over the Dach role but what he can do is slot back into his old role and hold down the fort as the club’s third line pivot. Dvorak is not flashy but he is a responsible player who can play important minutes in a defensive role while contributing on the penalty kill and faceoff circle.
This would allow for the red hot Sean Monahan to center the second line and for Alex Newhook to move back to the wing. Playing with Monahan could be just the shot in the arm needed to get young players like Newhook and Juraj Slafkovsky going, as both have struggled to generate scoring chances on a regular basis.
As great as it’s been to see a bounce back from greybeards Tanner Pearson and Brendan Gallagher, the onus has to be on developing the kids and building their confidence. For that reason I think it’s time to move Monahan off the veteran line. While replacing him with Dvorak may lessen the impact of that trio, I think the positives that Monahan could bring to another line would more than make up for it.
I would personally love to see Monahan and Newhook together. It would only help Newhook’s development as a future center to play with someone of Monahan’s ilk, much the same way it did for Dach last season.
It’s a dealer’s choice with who to put with them but with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield anchoring your first line, the third member of those units could be interchangeable. Slafkovsky, Anderson or Rafael Harvey-Pinard are all viable options. I wouldn’t mind seeing Jesse Ylonen get a look on one of the top lines either. Any or all of them could be ignited from spending some time on Monahan’s wing.
The important thing to note here is Monahan has shown to be an excellent play driver in the offensive zone who almost always makes those around him better. The benefits of having him playing with their top young talent are endless as the move could go a long way towards unlocking their potential and getting them on the right track to more future success.
So while Dvorak’s style of play may not bring Canadiens fans to their feet, his ability to be a dependable role player could just be the solution to helping more talented players to do just that.
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