While nothing will be official until about a half hour before puck drop, it looks like Martin St. Louis is making changes to his forwards and blue lines ahead of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes.
On Thursday, Eric Engels of Sportsnet credited Felix Surgein with the report that Arber Xhekaj, Joe Veleno, and Brendan Gallagher were among the extra players skating at the rink. This is usually an indication that they won't be playing tonight, and it is notable that Oliver Kapanen and Jayden Struble were not part of this group, which is an indication that they will be on the ice tonight.
Kapanen had an excellent rookie season with over 20 goals, but struggled to make the same impact in the playoffs. He would play in the first four games of the playoffs against the Lightning; however had no points, and returned to the ice for Game 7 against the Sabres, unfortunately, once again failed to do much.
The big question for Kapanen is just how much ice time he will get, as he has had 12 or fewer shifts in the five playoff games he has played in, including less than five minutes of ice time in Game 7 against Buffalo. It doesn't seem likely, but it would be worth trying for a few shifts in this game, having Kapanen on a line with Ivan Demidov, as some of his best games this season have been with Kapanen at center.
Jayden Struble replacing Arber Xhekaj is a bit of a surprise for the Montreal Canadiens
The other potential lineup change is a bit of a surprise as Jayden Struble looks to step into Arber Xhekaj's spot. Struble played in every game of the Lightning series, but with Dobson returning from his injury, he was bumped from the lineup, and Xhekaj remained for the series against the Sabres.
The reason it is surprising is that Xhekaj had played pretty well with the limited minutes and had 14 hits, three hits, and his first career playoff goal in Game 6.
However, the move may not be a reflection of Xhekaj's performance but a desire for the Canadiens to re-shuffle their defensive pairs. In the Sabres series, the Canadiens stuck with Lane Hutson and Noah Dobson while the pair of Mike Matheson and Alexandre Carrier, and this move might have done to break those two up. In Game 1, the blueline could be Mike Matheson and Noah Dobson, Lane Hutson and Jayden Struble, and Alexandre Carrier and Kaiden Guhle as the third pair.
Game 1 is only a few hours away and there won't be any more need for speculation as the Canadiens will show their cards
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