The Canadiens first line has proven its worth: Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki and Juraj Slafkovsky have shown that they have chemistry together, and these three guys form one of the best lines in the National League. But could we see them split up at some point? Maybe& The idea of splitting up the first line might make sense at some point, and here Im mainly referring to Ivan Demidov. If the Russian quickly starts to become one of the teams most dominant players& it could force Martin St-Louis to make some big decisions. But the idea of splitting up the first line as discussed by Brian Wilde and Tony Marinaro last night on the Sick Podcast could also be an interesting way of balancing out the top-6.Brian Wilde, for his part, would reverse Laine and Caufield:
[content-ads] That said, if Demidov blows up and earns his spot in the sun, hes the one Id trade for a first-line guy. And in my eyes& its not Patrik Laine playing on the second unit. Id go like this:Caufield Suzuki Demidov Bolduc Dach Slafkovsky Adding a pass rusher like Demidov to the same line as Caufield can make for some fireworks.And having two guys who excel on the forecheck on the second line in Bolduc and Slaf to make room for a creative player like Kirby Dach could also produce interesting results. Once again, everything will depend on Ivan Demidovs performance and development.Hes the hidden cache in the Canadiens lineup right now& And if he explodes because of his great talent, its going to raise some questions in Montreal.[spacer title=En rafale] Justins brother is ready to take on a bigger role in Winnipeg.
Makes sense. Great news for him.
