As rookies of the Montreal Canadiens make their final impressions in Brossard today, the big boys are packing up for camp, which is set to begin this Thursday. Another NHL summer in the wind, the season of promise and opportunity is upon us.
As we know, the Canadiens have 13 forwards and eight defensemen penned to one-way contracts, so the prospect of a rookie like Jarred Tinordi, or Nathan Beaulieu, or Mikael Bournival stealing someone's spot isn't exactly favorable. Some might suggest having such a set roster hampers the competition level at training camp, but you have to believe it'll stimulate a great fight between all of the team's hopefuls to establish themselves as NHL-ready.
You can add Greg Pateryn and Magnus Nygren to the list of players wanting to prove they have what it takes to fill in should injuries consume the Canadiens' blue line. You can bet that Louis Leblanc is coming to camp to prove his name still belongs in the conversation. Gabriel Dumont got his first legitimate taste of life as a Hab, and he'll certainly push to secure his place as one of the team's first call-ups. Put Christian Thomas (acquired in the trade that sent Danny Kristo to the Rangers) in that group of players that are likely to see some NHL action at some point this year. And what about Morgan Ellis?
And then you have another group of players. Players too young, maybe too fresh to earn minutes in Montreal at some point, but players that are going to make the Hamilton Bulldogs a tougher team to play against this year; players like Charles Hudon, who's impressed thus far at rookie camp; players like Sebastien Collberg, who have the talent to make the NHL in the near future; players like Tim Bozon, Darren Dietz, Sven Andrighetto, who will benefit from their first learning experiences as professionals.
The Canadiens have a solid depth chart; something we'll see first hand in following the Hamilton Bulldogs, and something they're sure to benefit from if/when the injury bug hits Montreal.
This week, the focus will be on players that can maybe break through the perimeter to earn their first NHL stripes, but it will also present us with the first glimpse of how Michel Therrien intends to assemble his lines for the season.
By the end of camp, we'll know precisely how Therrien sees the players on his team, but since patience is scarce around here, here's a breakdown of how I see them...Try to keep in mind, these lines are merely projections for the start of the season. So much will change between now and then, let alone from the beginning of the season to the end of it.
Pacioretty-Desharnais-Briere
How short is David Desharnais' leash? I'd say it's about 10 games long. If he isn't producing, battling, creating; if he isn't the catalyst to this line's success, his place near the top of the lineup becomes jeopardized.
On this line, Pacioretty has to commit himself to doing more of the dirty work, to crashing the net and making life tough on the opposing goalie of the night, because Briere will be a shooting threat and not much else.
Bourque-Plekanec-Gionta (Prust)
At the beginning of last season, this proved to be a very effective line for the Canadiens. Rene Bourque redeemed himself after his first experience with the Habs, and Brian Gionta scored at his career pace.
Let's face it, Tomas Plekanec is the team's jack of all trades, and though
some might make exceptional arguments for the team to give him more of an offensive role , you can't deny his prowess as a defensive forward and what that means to the team. The Canadiens do not have the depth to give the responsibility Plekanec undertakes to someone else. They can, however, rely a little bit more on Lars Eller to lighten Plekanec's defensive role. And the powerplay will present Plekanec the opportunity to play with more offensively gifted players.
Obviously, Prust adds a physical dimension to this line if Gionta is unprepared to start the season. Another natural fit would be Brendan Gallagher, who I'm assuming will not start the year next to Desharnais and Pacioretty.
Galchenyuk-Eller-Gallagher
The only thing that makes this the third line of the team is the order in which they appear in this blog. I'm not labeling any one of these top three lines, but obviously, this one, and the one of Pacioretty, Desharnais and Briere will account for the top offensive responsibilities.
Therrien said last week, at the Canadiens annual golf tournament, that Galchenyuk is ready for more responsibility. There isn't a player in Montreal who's earned more responsibility than Eller. And Brendan Gallagher has shown that he can handle as much as the coaches throw at him.
You can assume that Gallagher and Galchenyuk are going to get more looks on the powerplay, some chances to play in overtime, and they'll even be relied upon more in their own end.
White-Prust-Parros (Moen)
These players will make up the team's fourth line, but obviously, all four of these players will be used on the other lines of the team. Not much to say about the composition. Therrien may like White better at centre, and he might like Prust better on the wing. He may prefer Moen to White in certain game, or Moen to Parros, or White to Parros. This should stimulate a very healthy competition between the team's toughest players, which is obviously a very good thing.
Picking defense pairings is a different ball of wax. If there are any surprises to come over the next couple of weeks, they will come at this position. That said, it's going to be a very tough nut to crack.
Markov-Subban
Gorges-Diaz
Bouillon-Murray (Tinordi)
Drewsike-*Emelin
Obviously, when Emelin returns (whenever that may be), he's likely to fill a spot next to Andrei Markov. But until that day comes, I believe these pairings offer the Canadiens the best balance on the blue line.
I don't see Jarred Tinordi going back to Hamilton, but squeezing into the bottom part of the Canadiens defense is going to be a very difficult task for him.
Subban should assume a much bigger role on the team's penalty kill, and Markov should assume much less of one.
As I mentioned, things are subject to change quite a bit throughout the season. Let the debate begin...
Montreal Canadiens Blogger • 
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