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Predicting The Future Canadiens Third Line

By Tyler Major-Mcnicol |
Montreal Canadiens v New Jersey Devils
Montreal Canadiens v New Jersey Devils / Bruce Bennett/GettyImages
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The Montreal Canadiens' third line, while considered second-fiddle behind the top six, could become a hidden gem.

It’s awfully difficult to predict how the trio will shake out, but because of the organizational forward depth, it’s bound to be an important part of the puzzle. It isn’t impossible though - in fact - I believe that the line is two-thirds of the way to being complete. 

In an ideal world, the third line creates energy, plays fast and doesn’t harm the team. Smart two-way players, who can produce offence and almost certainly feature on one of the two penalty-killing units, fit the bill. Fortunately for the Canadiens, two players are already set in place on the third trio.

Joel Armia is the logical odd man out, and in an ideal world, he gets replaced by one of the Canadiens' U25 talents. This leaves a hole in the lineup, with Joshua Roy on one wing, and Alex Newhook down the middle. For my money, Newhook is best suited for the wing, where he has less defensive responsibility and can utilize his speed.

The line formations are much different now than they will look next year - Jake Evans will shift down when Kirby Dach Returns. He has done his best work on the fourth line, so that’s where I expect him to return. Unless Brandon Gignac slides to Evans's wing, I expect he will be sent down to Laval.

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Saginaw Spirit v Ottawa 67's
Saginaw Spirit v Ottawa 67's / Chris Tanouye/GettyImages

In my opinion, if not for his age, Owen Beck would have already started taking strides toward securing the third-line centre role.

Beck has the speed to keep pace with Newhook, and high hockey IQ like Roy. All three players are good passers and have the potential to score 15-20 goals in the future. Newhook will earn a ton of experience defensively because of his current role, but I expect any deficiencies will be masked by Roy and Beck.

This line would be young and relatively inexperienced, but in time could be a matchup nightmare. Physically, they aren’t likely to create much havoc, but they all play a relentless style on the backcheck and forecheck. Roy loves to force turnovers in the neutral zone, which will benefit his line in transition and generate quick-strike offensive zone chances. 

Beck is willing to shoot more, and his success has helped his confidence. Still, I don’t expect him to be a high-volume goal scorer at the NHL level. But with his intelligence and strength in the faceoff dot, it doesn’t matter, he will impact the game in many other ways.

Newhook’s vision hasn’t stood out much, but he has been given a huge role on the number-one power play, so that could still come. Regardless of that, however, he creates so much with his footspeed and smart short passes. If he can play with pace and his linemates can keep up, it feels fair to say that  he will find success. 

Roy has transitioned from the QMJHL to the AHL quite well, so much so that he finds himself back with the Canadiens for the second time this season. He is the Habs Swiss Army knife, with the ability to play up and down the lineup because he is so smart. The purest shooter of the three, Roy can freeze goalies and defenders, which favours his two speedy linemates. 

Each player on their own is hard to play against, so throwing them together feels natural. With better matchups, the Habs' third line will take some pressure off the top two line’s shoulders. Depth has been important for every Stanley Cup winner, and the Habs will have plenty of it, especially with No. 89, 15 and whichever number Beck ends up wearing, on the third line.

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