It wasscrimmage day in Brossard, so the Montreal Canadiens once again shuffled theirpractice groups to keep an NHL group from playing an AHL group. For those whowere hoping to see Lane Hutson and David Reinbacher paired up, it was adisappointing day, as the two blueliners were in different groups. There wasworse news than that, though: Ivan Demidov was once again nowhere to be seen,making it two therapy days in a row for the Russian wonder, although since theHabs were off on Tuesday, that might have been three days without ice time forhim, which doesn’t necessarily bode well. However, during the post-scrimmagepresser, Chantal Machabee said there was nothing to it and that they expectedDemidov to skate on Friday.
Who wastaking Demidov’s spot on the second line? Kirby Dach. While the big forward hasthe tools to be a top-six forward on paper, he rarely displays them on the ice,and based on the training camp so far, that was a surprising choice. Perhapsit’s an attempt to get solid effort from him; one has to wonder what AlexNewhook thought of that move, as he was put in Dach’s place between AlexandreTexier and Zachary Bolduc. After all, Newhook did very well last season playingalongside Demidov and Kapanen.
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Before the scrimmage,though, they had a regular practice, and Martin St-Louis wasn’t pleased withwhat he saw on the ice, so he made his players skate a few laps. At 11:30, thepuck dropped on the Red vs. White game. The Red Team featured the ColeCaufield, Nick Suzuki, and Chris Kreider line; the Josh Anderson, PhillipDanault, and Jake Evans line up front; and the Lane Hutson and AlexandreCarrier and Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj pairings on defense. As for theWhite squad, it included the other two NHL lines, meaning Dach, Oliver Kapanen, and Juraj Slafkovsky with the Zach Bolduc, Alex Newhook, and Alexandre Texierlines up front; on the back end, the Mike Matheson and Noah Dobson duo wasintact, while Adam Engstrom and David Reinbacher were reunited.
In the end,the big guns didn’t get on the board, though. Team Red signed a 3-0 win, thanksto a Struble breakaway goal, a Tyler Thorpe one-timer and an Aderson empty-netter.Samuel Montembeault was the only goaltender who gave up goals, surrendering thefirst two.
Speakingafter the scrimmage, the coach refused to say that the die was cast when itcame to his lines:
Honestly, Idon’t know, and I’m not preoccupied with finding all the answers for the firstgame. That does not preoccupy me. We have a season to play, and we’ll be guidedin a certain direction. The camp may take us down one path, and then two orthree games later, we may be taken in another direction. I know I have goodoptions, and we’ll work to solve the puzzle. That puzzle often changes.
– St-Louis on his lines
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Afterseeing Dach on the second line, there were again quite a few questions abouthim and what he needed to do to stand out and grab a role in the lineup.St-Louis eventually said:
It’s justday-to-day stuff, you know: evaluate in drill, evaluate in scrimmage, evaluatein a game. I’m not looking for one specific thing. I expect him to push andfind his place, like everybody else- like Flo, same thing, like Beck. Thenwe’re going to try to make the best decision we can when it’s all said anddone. We’re trying to move along in this camp and be organized, with somepurpose for each and every day. Sometimes we get the group in certainsituations just so we can have good rhythm and flow, not necessarily, like, youknow, demotion, promotion, whatever it is; we’re just trying to be organized. […]Production doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re playing well, you know, sowe’re evaluating how they play the game, not necessarily production.
– St-Louis on what he needs to see from Dach
While whatSt-Louis said is understandable, generally speaking, the average fan will lookfor top-six players to bring lots of production and for the bottom-six playersto contribute in other ways. Looking at Dach this camp, it’s hard to see how hedoes contribute. He’s not getting on the scoreboard, but he’s not winningbattles by the boards either; he’s not making the opponent’s life harder withphysicality, and he’s not quick on the forecheck; it’s almost as if he seeshimself as a top-six player whose job is to provide offense and he won’t try tocontribute in other ways. When asked if he believes he can play a top-six roleon the team, Dach explained:
Yeah, Ifeel confident in whatever role the coaching staff deems fit for me. I feellike I can adapt and play in any kind of position or role up front. I thinkthere’s urgency every year. I think as a group we’re striving to achieve a goalof winning a Stanley Cup; you win one by being urgent. You can’t win onewithout being urgent.
– Dach on his role
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Whenprompted to explain how he approaches the balance he has to find between thedesire to stand out and the need to take care of the little details and playhis game, he answered:
I think youjust kind of focus on what’s being asked of you by the coaching staff, and,like you said, the details of the game, playing the game the right way. You getrewarded down the line if you keep doing the right things away from the puck,stay responsible defensively, and have good details all over the ice.
– Dach about what he tries to do on the ice.
Dach evaluatedhis camp in the following words when asked:
I feel good; I feel like I’veplayed well in the games. I’ve tried to make sure I’m doing the little thingsright, the details correctly, and what the coaching staff has asked of us, andto continue to just take a step forward each and every day.
– Dach on his camp
In Brossardon Thursday, playing on the second line with Slafkovsky and Kapanen, he didn’tget on the scoreboard, but he at least looked more combative on the ice,winning some puck battles rather than being dispossessed. Reading between thelines, though, Dach’s presence on the second line today shouldn’t necessarilybe seen as a promotion; it might have been the Habs trying “to be organized.” Maybethey wanted to see how Bolduc and Texier would do without Dach and withNewhook? It might also mean Dach is now the 13th forward and becomes the oddman out when Demidov returns. Whoknows…One thing’s for certain, though: soon enough, St-Louis will need at leastsome temporary answers about who to ice when the Canadiens kick off theirseason against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night.
Follow Karine on X @KarineHains Bluesky @karinehains.bsky.social and Threads @karinehains.
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