Canadiens opting for balance in their powerplay groups

Canadiens fans have two lines of thought about how the team will look this season. Some believe that Lane Hutson should hold the keys of the powerplay to form a new-look, loaded-up line, with Patrik Laine joining the trio of Juraj Slafkovsky, Nick Suzuki, and Cole Caufield. Others think Mike Matheson should be allowed to regain the quarterback spot but have a shorter leash than last season. However, Martin St. Louis is asking fans: why not have both?

Venture back into your memories from three seasons ago when the Canadiens rebuild started to take shape. It would've been hard to imagine how the Canadiens would put together a powerplay line capable of scoring at a league-average rate. Imagine if you told yourself back then that in three years the Canadiens would have two powerplay lines capable of being called the No. 1 unit.

It looks like the two-headed monster system is how St. Louis will start the season. He kept together last season's top powerplay line (for two games) at yesterday's practice: Matheson, Suzuki, Slafkovsky, Caufield, and Kirby Dach. The second line featured Hutson, Laine, Alex Newhook, Brendan Gallagher, and Joshua Roy. The powerplay lines not only showed us that St. Louis will try to balance out his offense this season. It also showed that Roy and Hutson will likely be on the opening night roster, which may have been a foregone conclusion at this point anyway.

The players likely to join Laval and the rest of the depth players were rotating penalty kill duties. It didn't give us a clear picture of how the rest of the roster will play out, and it's probably too close of a battle to call still.

We can't look too far into it, but the depth shown on these two powerplay lines is a great preview into the future. Ivan Demidov and Michael Hage will soon join the roster, which would likely push Newhook and Gallagher out of their placement as a top-ten powerplay option. The team's offensive attack is certainly improved from the start of the rebuild, but it is only the beginning of the heights it can reach.