Line Combos: Roster 2019-2020

[De Montreal]

Just a few different combos I'd like to see being tried during pre season :

Drouin - Domi - McCarron
Poehling - Domi - Drouin
Drouin - Domi - Gallagher
Tatar - Kotkaniemi - Gallagher
Weal - Poehling - Byron
Poehling - Kotkaniemi - Suzuki
Hudon - Evans - Barber
Belzile - Suzuki - Peca
Weise - Varone - Suzuki

Wish we could have seen some Teasdale, he was great last pre-season

 

[S Bah]

1) Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
2) Drouin - Domi - Armia
3)Lehkonen - Kotkaneimi - Weal
4)Byron - Poehling - Suzuki
5) Cousins - Thompson - McCarron

 

[26Mats]

Just a few different combos I'd like to see being tried during pre season :

Drouin - Domi - McCarron
Poehling - Domi - Drouin
Drouin - Domi - Gallagher
Tatar - Kotkaniemi - Gallagher
Weal - Poehling - Byron
Poehling - Kotkaniemi - Suzuki
Hudon - Evans - Barber
Belzile - Suzuki - Peca
Weise - Varone - Suzuki

Wish we could have seen some Teasdale, he was great last pre-season

I wish Julien experimented more in the preseason and in the regular season with different line combos.

His strategy seems to be: think of lines in advance, play them together until it's been painfully obvious for 10 straight games that they aren't working, and then make minor adjustments. Or, when we lose, sub in one 4th liner for another.

 

[TrapGod Jr]

Laval Rocket

Suzuki-Poehling-Barber
Varone-Evans-McCarron
Struthers-Vejdemo-Belzile
Pezzeta-Verbeek-Weise

Ouellet-Fleury
Alzner-Brook
Leskinen-Olofsson

Primeau
Lindgren
McNiven

 

[VirginiaMtlExpat]

1) Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
2) Drouin - Domi - Armia
3)Lehkonen - Kotkaneimi - Weal
4)Byron - Poehling - Suzuki
5) Cousins - Thompson - McCarron

I like it. You have the four best centers on the team fully integrated and playing their natural position, and you worked Suzuki in there. The future is now. Let's use our depth to good effect.

 

[Habs Halifax]

2A) Tatar / Danault / Gallagher
2B) Poehling / Domi / Drouin
3A) Lehkonen / Kotkaniemi / Armia
3B) Byron / Cousins / Weal
Thompson
* Hudon, Peca, Weise sent to AHL
* Suzuki gets some NHL games but mostly plays AHL this season
* Cousins and Weal share the 4C job with the vet Thompson as insurance

1A) Mete / Weber
2A) Chariot / Petry
2B) Markov / Juulsen
Kulak, Folin
* Reilly sent to AHL. If Markov is not signed, Kulak is in that spot and Reilly is the depth guy
* Brook battles Juulsen for the RD spot but is not quite ready yet. Same as Suzuki, he gets some NHL games but mostly plays AHL

Price
Kinkaid
* Lindgren will push for the back-up job real hard. He might win it but depends on pre-season performance

 

[26Mats]

2A) Tatar / Danault / Gallagher
2B) Poehling / Domi / Drouin
3A) Lehkonen / Kotkaniemi / Armia
3B) Byron / Cousins / Weal
Thompson
* Hudon, Peca, Weise sent to AHL
* Suzuki gets some NHL games but mostly plays AHL this season
* Cousins and Weal share the 4C job with the vet Thompson as insurance

1A) Mete / Weber
2A) Chariot / Petry
2B) Markov / Juulsen
Kulak, Folin
* Reilly sent to AHL. If Markov is not signed, Kulak is in that spot and Reilly is the depth guy
* Brook battles Juulsen for the RD spot but is not quite ready yet. Same as Suzuki, he gets some NHL games but mostly plays AHL

Price
Kinkaid
* Lindgren will push for the back-up job real hard. He might win it but depends on pre-season performance

I doubt Markov can beat out Kulak at his age. Only place I see for Markov is in Juulsen's spot, if Juulsen isn't ready to go.

Also, Jets fans are saying Chiarot will cost you games if he's used in the top 4. They liked him on a bottom pair, but are also glad they passed on him at 3.5M aav. I'm expecting a slightly better Benn. So I have Kulak with Petry again. We really should have picked up Subban for Byron and Shaw (i.e. two 2nds). But what are you going to do.

 

[Captain Mountain]

I doubt Markov can beat out Kulak at his age. Only place I see for Markov is in Juulsen's spot, if Juulsen isn't ready to go.

Also, Jets fans are saying Chiarot will cost you games if he's used in the top 4. They liked him on a bottom pair, but are also glad they passed on him at 3.5M aav. I'm expecting a slightly better Benn. So I have Kulak with Petry again. We really should have picked up Subban for Byron and Shaw (i.e. two 2nds). But what are you going to do.

Benn and Chiarot are different players. Chiarot is not going to be as good offensively or in transition as Benn, but he'll be better physically.

 

[26Mats]

Benn and Chiarot are different players. Chiarot is not going to be as good offensively or in transition as Benn, but he'll be better physically.

Benn had a lot of errant passes and got himself out of position.

I've heard Chiarot ices the puck unnecessarily. If Chiarot can use his physical abilities for good defensive purposes, like clearing the front of the net, separating the opposition from the puck in the corners, etc.. then that's great. But we saw with Emelin, a few crowd pleasing hits a game doesn't make up for poor puck skills, positioning, and ability to track your man one on one.

 

[domiwroze]

Benn and Chiarot are different players. Chiarot is not going to be as good offensively or in transition as Benn, but he'll be better physically.

Benn was terrible. Played the puck as it was a hot potato.

Remember Price's save on Ovy?

Chiarot cannot do any worse than Benn IMO.

 

[Habs Halifax]

I doubt Markov can beat out Kulak at his age. Only place I see for Markov is in Juulsen's spot, if Juulsen isn't ready to go.

Also, Jets fans are saying Chiarot will cost you games if he's used in the top 4. They liked him on a bottom pair, but are also glad they passed on him at 3.5M aav. I'm expecting a slightly better Benn. So I have Kulak with Petry again. We really should have picked up Subban for Byron and Shaw (i.e. two 2nds). But what are you going to do.

- I'm 50/50 on what kind of game Markov has left. And I was impressed on Kulak's progression as the season went along. He is coach-able and appears to learn from advice and experience. We could have our next Petry here who are late bloomers.

- I don't like the 3rd year in term on the Chariot contract. However, I believe he is a upgrade on Benn. Call him a fringe 2nd line guy but above 3rd pairing. Cost us games? We will see about that. I'm not super high on Chariot but I do believe he plays with Petry and it's anybodies guess what kind of chemistry they have.

- Adding Subban would of been nice! Who from Subban, Weber, and Petry plays on the left side though? Subban?

 

[Habs Halifax]

Benn was terrible. Played the puck as it was a hot potato.

Remember Price's save on Ovy?

Chiarot cannot do any worse than Benn IMO.

Benn actually had a very good season last year when we played him in the right role. Letting go Benn and adding Chariot means we didn't subtract from the physicality aspect of our D. Skating is nice but so is being big and strong with average mobility. We need a physically strong and stable D in front of Price and I feel this is our best strategy to win games. Fast group of forwards that can burn you in transition with a top 10 D and a top 5 Goalie. It's our best strategy based on how we are built.

 

[Vachon23]

If they signe Gardiner, I will like the Chiarot move. I think he will bring a physical presence that we didn’t had especially on the LD and we needed a LD that can play big minutes on the PK.

 

[Dominator13]

So can we assume at this point that Jake Gardiner is who Claude Julien's cryptic message was about?

 

[xNogaitx]

I will go with a gamble here, but based off on current players available, I wouldn't be surprised if it goes as follow:

Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Domi - KK - Drouin
Byron - Poehling - Armia
Lehkonen - Cousins - McCarron
Weal - Thompson

Mete - Weber
Chiarot - Petry
Kulak - Juulsen
Folin

Price
Kinkaid

I know people may be surprised with McCarron on the fourth line, but if he improved his skating a bit and can stick to a crash the net type role, with Cousins & Lehkonen I could see Julien falling in love with the intensity of that fourth line.

Waivers/Minors:
Hudon
Peca
Weise
Alzner
Reilly

 

[Le Barron de HF]

From this article: Canadiens' Ryan Poehling eager to build off memorable NHL debut - Sportsnet.ca

The organization wants Poehling to remain at centre and he wants to continue playing there so it’s unlikely the coaching staff would consider moving him to the wing. This is the first time I recall an official source saying this. Kind of hurts his chances of making the team IMO.

 

[MrNasty]

it is going to be a VERY interesting training camp; especially for forwards.
line combos are representing over 15 different forwards. If we don't lose any via waivers then Laval should have a good team.

 

[NekkiChiconey]

Combinations i would like to see in preseason :
Domi - Kotka - Lekhonen
Tatar - Domi - Lekhonen
Tatar - Kotka - Gallagher
Drouin - Danault - Gallagher
Drouin - Poehling - Armia

 

[Le Barron de HF]

What I'm hoping to see:

Domi - Kotkaniemi - Drouin
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Lehkonen - Poehling - Armia
Byron - Cousins - Weal
Thompson - Peca

Mete - Weber
Kulak - Petry
Chiarot - Folin * (or Juulsen if he has a great camp)
Reilly

 

[Miller Time]

What I'm hoping to see:

Domi - Kotkaniemi - Drouin
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Lehkonen - Poehling - Armia
Byron - Cousins - Weal
Thompson - Peca

Mete - Weber
Kulak - Petry
Chiarot - Folin * (or Juulsen if he has a great camp)
Reilly

I'd like to see something quite similar... Though I doubt we'd see this to start the year, could see it take shape as season progresses & CJ gets more comfortable with Suzuki/Poehling

Domi - Kotkaniemi - Suzuki
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Drouin - Poehling - Armia
Byron - Cousins - Lekhonen
Weal / Thompson

Mete - Weber
Chiarot - Petry
Kulak - Juulsen
Reilly/Folin

 

[Le Barron de HF]

I'd like to see something quite similar... Though I doubt we'd see this to start the year, could see it take shape as season progresses & CJ gets more comfortable with Suzuki/Poehling

Domi - Kotkaniemi - Suzuki
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Drouin - Poehling - Armia
Byron - Cousins - Lekhonen
Weal / Thompson

Mete - Weber
Chiarot - Petry
Kulak - Juulsen
Reilly/Folin

I like that third line, those two could cover for Drouin's weaknesses and make space for him.

 

[Miller Time]

I like that third line, those two could cover for Drouin's weaknesses and make space for him.

That's what I'm thinking... And personally I'd like to see Poehling get to play with a talented offensive player early on in his NHL transition
(& even though Domi didn't change things, maybe lining up with a 20-year old that hustles every shift and is willing to do all the hard things helps pressure/shame/motivate/inspire Drouin to wake the F-up & start playing with that kind of commitment... Longshot, but we can hope!)

 

[26Mats]

I'd like to see something quite similar... Though I doubt we'd see this to start the year, could see it take shape as season progresses & CJ gets more comfortable with Suzuki/Poehling

Domi - Kotkaniemi - Suzuki
Tatar - Danault - Gallagher
Drouin - Poehling - Armia
Byron - Cousins - Lekhonen
Weal / Thompson

Mete - Weber
Chiarot - Petry
Kulak - Juulsen
Reilly/Folin

We could see something like this later in the year. But things would have to change very quickly in camp for this to be how we start the season.

 

[Miller Time]

We could see something like this later in the year. But things would have to change very quickly in camp for this to be how we start the season.

Agreed... Sort of.

If by "change" you mean in CJ's m.o or MB's pressure to play vets he signed, absolutely.

If by "change" you mean Suzuki/Poehling surpassing one or both of Weal/Byron for a top-9 role... Not so sure. It's quite possible that from day 1 of camp, 1 or both of these young guys are already ahead of them on the ice.

 

[26Mats]

Agreed... Sort of.

If by "change" you mean in CJ's m.o or MB's pressure to play vets he signed, absolutely.

If by "change" you mean Suzuki/Poehling surpassing one or both of Weal/Byron for a top-9 role... Not so sure. It's quite possible that from day 1 of camp, 1 or both of these young guys are already ahead of them on the ice.

Weal isn't in a top 9 role to start. It's Lehkonen, Byron, and Armia that each would have to supplant. There are 7 preseason games to do it.

The hope is 3 of Caufield, Suzuki, Poehling, and Ylonen have supplanted all 3 sooner rather than later.