The Montreal Canadiens made the unexpected announcement that Nick Suzuki would miss the next two to four weeks due to an upper-body injury. It was surprising because Nick Suzuki has never missed an NHL game and had the second-longest active consecutive-game streak at 546.
Suzuki has been a big part of their success and it will be almost impossible to replace what he brings to this team. However, the Canadiens are going to have to find a way and already hinting at what they are planning to do initially.
On Thursday, the Canadiens had Oliver Kapanen on the top line with Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsky. Kapanen has only recently returned to the ice as he played in the last two games after missing the start of the season.
Last season, Kapanen had 22 goals and 15 assists in his first full season in the NHL. He saw his role decrease towards the end of the regular season and in the playoffs but the former second-round pick has an incredible opportunity ahead of him.
While it may not be an ideal choice to replace Suzuki, it is their best internal option as Alex Newhook, Phillip Danault, or Jake Evans don't have the ceiling that Kapanen has. This would have been a great opportunity for Kirby Dach to show he can be a Top 6 forward but he has struggled to begin the season, and the Canadiens realistically couldn't put him here.
Canadiens should be prepared to shuffle the lines once Ivan Demidov returns
While the Canadiens have their initial lines, they might be shaking them up once Ivan Demidov is set to return. He was placed on injured reserve at the beginning of October and was given a timeline of two to four weeks. He is reportedly still in a walking boot so it might be closer to four weeks but once he returns, the coaching staff should jump at the chance to put together Kapanen, Slafkovsky and Demidov together.
These three had some success last season before Slafkovsky was moved to the top line with Caufield and Suzuki.
If this is the line they go with, then it creates a ripple effect through the other lines. The Canadiens probably put Caufield with Chris Kreider and Alex Newhook, and then Josh Anderson moves down a line to join Danault and Zachary Bolduc. This would leave Alexandre Texier to join the fourth line, likely with Dach and Evans.
For the Canadiens, best case scenario is that Suzuki misses only two weeks and that means he would miss seven games. However, if it is closer to four weeks then he probably misses around 14 games. In either situation, the Canadiens are going to need to be creative and flexible with their lines as they try to replace their captain.
Add us as a preferred source on Google