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I was thinking lines the other day and let me see if I can remember... Pacioretty-Drouin-Gallagher Galchenyuk-Plekanec-Hemsky Byron-Danault-Lehkonen Hudon-Mitchell-Shaw Alzner-Weber Schlemko-Petry Streit-Benn Price Montoya That's probably what I would go with at this point, though I know those won't be the lines. I get the case for having Hudon ahead of Byron, but if it doesn't work, there will be no room for him to go but down in he lineup. This way, you can have the reverse in effect. I'm also not convinced that he should be higher in the depth chart than Galchenyuk yet. Hudon has also had chemistry with Plekanec but he looks like the type of player who will have chemistry with anyone and I could see him even having decent chemistry with Mitchell. Plekanec on the second line is also a bold statement after last year, but I think it's the right thing to do. Danault belongs on the third line even though some might argue that Plekanec does as well.I have tempered expectations but I think Plekanec will be alright this year. If not, the team will struggle. Hemsky and Gallagher could be flipped as well, the way the preseason has went but I've always thought Plekanec and Hemsky might be a decent duo.

https://www.google.com/amp/montrealgazette.com/sports/hockey/nhl/stu-cowan-canadiens-passed-up-chance-to-land-larry-robinson/amp

Robinson doesn't like Subban. He would have forced him out of town.

It's not really a ridiculous argument to conclude that Julien didn't think highly of Galchenyuk last season. Bringing up the fact that he was brought in for one big face off in the series is the ridiculous argument. Either Julien should have done it on a regular basis throughout the series (I would have) or it may have even been the wrong choice in the moment. Didn't work out so well, did it?

Kind of interested in watching Terry. Not that I've ever thought highly of him but he did lead the farm team in scoring last season by quite a bit. Is that Blunden Blunden on the Sens? Also interested in seeing Taormina for similar reasons to Terry.

Some people said he's better than Streit but I don't see it. I want to like him.

The only thing is that say Sergachev were to become a top 3 in Tampa, that may have been good enough to be a top pairing guy in Montreal. We really have to see how it plays out because there's nothing to really back up those claims. I personally think both will become alll stars in this league. No one, including myself is complaining about the return but one of the grievances I have is that Sergachev plays a position where we have a void and we traded him for a player who we hope fills another positional void. I think that's the reason that a lot will depend on what position he ends up playing for us. One could argue Sergachev wouldn't have been able to play top pair this season but if I use my own crystal ball, I see him being there skill wise by next season at the latest. The only reason you won't see it in Tampa is because Hedman has years of elite left as well. The habs don't have a Hedman. If Drouin does pan out at center, no complaints here.

I agree. I've had McCaron on pretty much all of my starting lineup proposals but Mitchell would probably make my lineup as of right now.... and Mitchell was my whipping boy last year so I don't really feel like that's a good thing. His speed is an asset though. I also have liked what I've seen from Audette. He look like someone who has taken showing something unexpected in camp to heart. I don't know much about him but he has offensive potential.

I have my apprehensions about Drouin being a bonafide #1 center but only time will tell. He quite simply might have to be. There are ample teams in the league where he would be a winger right now though. I'm 100% willing to be wrong but I always post what my gut tells me and in this case that's what it is saying. Considering people are saying we lose the trade if Drouin becomes a #1 wing and Sergachev pans out to his potential, one has to take the risk factor into consideration when assessing the trade. Droning is a C or W and Sergachev is definitely a D. Of course, on a team with Hedman, it's hard to envision Sergachev actually becoming a #1 defenseman any time soon either.

I guess it's true that they don't seem to care as Drouin has been terrible at the dot throughout his career and yet the coaches still want to play him at center. I didn't know that was the case until this minute. I only noticed with my own eyes how weak he looked on the draw. So everything you mentioned about Drouin and what would make him an effective center man are still question marks? That's reassuring. Furthermore, if winning battles down low is just as important and similar as a faceoff, then I don't see why he would be any better in that area than he is on the draw. I'm excited to have Drouin and wish him the best but while everything else is still a question mark, apparently him being weak on the draw is a known fact and doesn't matter. To me it does and if he were 55% on the draw it would be a lot easier to comprehend why anyone views him as a center rather than just throwing someone into the fire. Malkin is a great player but if the Pens need a face off win, they'll go with Crosby. This is further exemplified by the fact that Malkin plays wing the rare times he plays on the same line with Crosby. We may have some good defensive zone face off men, but when we need an offensive zone face off win, I won't be holding my breath for a Drouin win. If it's so wrong to criticize that, then fine. If we had other elite centermen on he team as the Pens do, only then would it become a non issue.

The difference is that Scheifele had decent personal stats however his team as a whole suffered and didn't make the playoffs. Face offs are just as important for the team as they are for the individual. Malkin is on a team with Crosby whereas we are starving for a proficient first line center. Our situation is different in that we have claimed that Drouin is, for some reason, the answer to a hole that has needed to be filled for quite some time. If you yourself are concerned that his defensive play may be something to worry about, then one would hope he is at least competent at face offs which is one of the other main differences between a winger and a centerman. I'd personally rather hope that Drouin improves in the area, or hope that last game was an outlier, than state that it doesn't matter if centers are good at face offs or not. What makes him a center man then, if he's spent most of his time as a winger? Just because we need him to be?

They're both good players and will be for years to come. My main disappointment comes from the fact that we traded Sergachev without really using him in our system. It is what it is but it would have been nice to be a fan of his for awhile.

Such a weird argument. 1-0 New Jersey right now and their goal came right off a draw. Meanwhile I have the Devils commentators commenting on how important it is to win a draw on the PP/PK. Who are we going to want out there to take the draw on the PP? Our first line center. Doesn't matter that Julien has apparently said (I'm hearing this live) that one of our main issues last season on the power play was losing the draw and that he feels that that's an important thing that needs to be changed this year. Why not excel at every aspect of the game? You can Corsi this and Fenwick that but face off wins do lead to scoring chances or lack thereof.

I agree and I'm still hopeful that Drouin will pan out at center. I keep relating him to Crosby and he's found a way to be a career 52% despite his size and so hopefully Drouin can keep working on it and keep getting better. Hopefully the refs haven't treated Crosby any differently over the years when it comes to allowing him to cheat, etc.

That's very well put but when you have an individual who plays center, they are placed into more puck battling situations than your conventional player and so it seems only logical that someone who plays center should be good at battling for the puck off of a face off. While it's true that 51% vs 49% won't make much of a difference in a short sample when a player is your #1 center, they should be the player you have confidence throwing out there to win that controlled puck battle, especially when it is in the offensive zone. There's nothing worse than having 5.4 seconds left on the clock with an offensive zone draw, or 10 seconds left on a 5 on 3 with an offensive zone draw, or the list could go on, and having that feeling that your team is at the disadvantage when it come to winning the draw. After some time a pattern develops and it can become almost predicatable. If I had the choice, that's not who I want my first line center to be because he's going to be out there in the key situations. As much as I said all puck battles are relevant, who cares if McCaron wins a puck battle and then flip it out into the other team's glove because of the lack of skill he has to do anything with it. If Drouin were to be good at face offs, it would be a huge benefit to our team because he and his line mates have skill to be dangerous with possession and they won't have to play as much defense simply because they didn't lose the draw. The best defense is offense and you can't score without the puck.