What I'm seeing and hearing on the opening day of Canadiens training camp

BROSSARD, Que. – Montreal Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said Wednesday he will be looking to build chemistry right away in training camp, and on the opening day of on-ice work Thursday, we saw he wasn’t kidding.

We basically saw what should be the opening night lineup playing together, at least at forward. There weren’t really any surprises.

“Marty might want to tinker with things here and there, but for me, I’d like to keep the same lines through the preseason,” Nick Suzuki said. “We have only a few opportunities to get it right before the actual games start, so the more we can play together, it would be better off for us.”

Alex Newhook has to be feeling pretty short on that second line. Kirby Dach (6-4, 217 pounds) and Patrik Laine (6-5, 215 pounds) tower over Newhook at 5-11, but he seems like a good fit to complement two players looking to come back from major injuries.

Laine and Dach represent the biggest differences to the Canadiens’ attack this season, not only because of what they could bring themselves but also because they push guys like Josh Anderson and Joshua Roy down to third line roles. And when you look at the forward lines, yes, the top six has more pop, but if you had to pick an area where the Canadiens will have a true advantage over opponents — especially in their own division — it is on the third and fourth lines.

Not too many teams have nearly $19 million worth of cap in their bottom six, but it looks like the Canadiens will have exactly that.

Anderson in particular had to know Laine’s arrival would result in him being pushed down the lineup since he has basically never played the left side in the NHL, but perhaps the easier matchups will be a blessing for him as he aims to leave last season’s nightmarish results behind him.

And when it comes to the top six, Juraj Slafkovský sees a lot of potential. But more than that, he sees something even more valuable.

“It’s good because they play heavy. Kirby plays heavy and Patty’s a great goal scorer, playmaker and everything,” Slafkovský said. “We will have a little more respect, in my opinion. We’re trying to build more respect around the league.”

Speaking of respect, Slafkovský showed up to the first day of camp ready to earn it. He was easily the best player on the ice in the opening scrimmage, playing the game fast with his brain more than his feet. On multiple occasions, Slafkovský made highly effective cross-ice passes without even looking, firing the puck as soon as he got it, knowing exactly what he was going to do with it in advance, and usually right onto Cole Caufield’s tape on the other side of the ice.

It was just one scrimmage, but Slafkovský was exceptional.

“I knew that I know how to play hockey, I just couldn’t translate my game,” Slafkovský said of the beginning of last season. “Thankfully we have great coaches and everyone around and they helped me to translate my game, find my game.

“It’s there, but it’s not where I want to be. It’s not where I want it to be yet.”

What is the player he wants to be?

“Well, I only had 50 points, no?” Slafkovský replied.

So, he judges it off of points?

“Points and team wins,” he said. “When we get enough team wins, then you probably have enough points, and then you’re battling for something bigger and that’s the most important thing.”

Slafkovský should have had three or four assists in this scrimmage with the way he was distributing the puck. He seemed more than ready to pick up where he left off last season.

Some other quotes and observations from Day 1 of camp:

The Slafkovský move

Just one more on Slafkovský. In the second period of the game, he picked up a puck off the wall in the offensive zone, on the right side of the ice. He then curled into the middle of the ice, shielding the puck with his body and lowering his shoulder to clear space, until he got to the slot and fired a shot.

This was something he did all the time in his draft year playing in Finland, his bread-and-butter move. But it is not something he has done often — or really ever — in the NHL. Halfway through his rookie season I asked him why he wasn’t trying it, and he said if he did, he would probably be backchecking two seconds later to defend an odd-man rush.

Now we might see that bread-and-butter move a bit more often in games that count. Just another example of his growth.

“It’s part of confidence,” he said. “I feel like I have way more time on the ice now than I had my first year, and that’s also a big thing. When I feel I can do things, and then it works, then I’ll just do it once, then next game maybe two times, three times, and then it will become natural again.

“I feel like I want to use it more because I have a big body and I can do it.”

Speaking of big bodies…

A telling defensive moment for Lane Hutson

Lane Hutson was Lane Hutson in the scrimmage, often being on the ice with the Canadiens’ top line playing on Suzuki’s team and showing how much he might be able to facilitate their offensive lives.

At one point in the first Hutson got the puck behind the net, head-manned it to Suzuki at the blue line and began skating as hard as he could. Suzuki gave the puck right back to him, Hutson flew through the neutral zone, beat Newhook to the outside at the offensive blue and made his way toward the left corner with a crowd of opposing players between him and the slot. He stopped and in one quick motion lofted a saucer pass about three feet in the air that landed perfectly on Caufield’s stick in the slot for a great scoring chance.

But more than the offensive plays Hutson made, it was one defensive play that was most interesting.

At one point Hutson was in the defensive zone and Dach’s team was possessing the puck well and working it around. Dach went to set up in front of the net, and he was Hutson’s man. Hutson is listed at 5-10, 162 pounds on the official training camp roster, so he gives up six inches and 55 pounds to Dach.

And Hutson understood that.

He did not physically engage Dach once, keeping a close eye on him, but seemingly avoiding contact at all costs. He just hovered. On the one hand, that meant Dach was screening goaltender Connor Hughes pretty effectively. On the other, it meant Hutson was ready to pounce.

When a shot came in and Hughes allowed the puck to get through him, it was sitting in the blue paint, with Dach looking like he was going to get an easy tap in. It was just at that moment that Hutson jumped in with his stick, tied Dach up and cleared the loose puck, allowing his team to clear the zone.

As they turned to head up ice, Dach said a little something to Hutson, and Hutson laughed.

“He’s not going to be as physical as Arber (Xhekaj) or (David Savard), but he can still defend,” Suzuki said of Hutson. “He’s quick, he won puck battles, he’s smart enough to know where to go to win those battles. He’s going to do it his way and I think he showed pretty good today.”

It probably won’t be the last time we see Hutson getting the last laugh this season.

Don’t set those forward lines in stone

It would probably take an extraordinary performance from a forward to force St. Louis to switch up the forward lines he’s put together, especially since Roy and Slafkovský are the only forwards who can be sent to Laval without going through waivers.

But it wouldn’t be surprising if Oliver Kapanen provided one of those performances.

He was a standout in the scrimmage, scoring twice and looking every bit like he belonged on the ice with NHL players.

“Guys were talking about him after,” Suzuki said. “He looked good, he’s quick, made a lot of nice plays. He had a really good first scrimmage.”

At one point, Kapanen came out of the corner with the puck and found Logan Mailloux for an excellent chance, and then scored himself later on in the shift. His second goal was an unassisted beauty, walking around defenceman William Trudeau, cutting across Sam Montembeault’s crease with the puck and tucking it around him. Just completely fearless.

The only way Kapanen will stay in North America is if he makes the Canadiens. Otherwise, he will go play for head coach Olli Jokinen in Timrå in the SHL, where his father is the general manager.

“He didn’t come here just to get a t-shirt for camp,” Canadiens director of player development Rob Ramage said Wednesday. “He came here to make the team.”

It’s a long shot, but after one day, Kapanen showed it might at least be possible.

Early impressions of Laine

Laine has been skating with most of the Canadiens for the last little bit, so his new teammates have already begun the process of getting to know him.

He wasn’t particularly noticeable in the scrimmage, and his shot was not a factor at all, but it was interesting to learn what some of his teammates thought of his other skills. Outside of that shot, what’s impressed them about him so far?

“He’s strong on the puck, knows how to protect it pretty well,” Suzuki said. “He wants to make plays, he doesn’t really just want to be a shooter. That’s nice to hear and I think he showed a lot of that today.”

Slafkovský did not hesitate one second before answering.

“How calm he is,” he said. “He is so poised. All these toe drags and everything, I like it. I don’t know if you guys know, but he hadn’t skated for a while before coming here, so he’s still getting back into it.

“During the practices, you could see why he makes $8.7 million.”

(Nick Suzuki talking with linemates Cole Caufield and Juraj Slafkovsý: Ryan Remiorz / The Canadian Press via AP)