Canadiens Camp Battles: The Imperfect Centre Situation
The Montreal Canadiens have been looking to add a premier forward to the lineup or roughly two seasons now. Although they’re among the most active teams in the league when it comes to inquiring about potential targets, the NHL’s trade market is yet to yield the desired player.
It isn’t simply a matter of adding a top-six forward. The newcomer must also be relatively young and share the same commitment to the cause that defines the current group of Canadiens players.
Simply put, it’s much easier said than done.
With that in mind, all signs point to the Canadiens’ main training camp, set to open on September 16, featuring the same options down the middle that were available to head coach Martin St. Louis last season.
Montreal Canadiens Centre Options (Even-Strength Scoring)
Captain Nick Suzuki will lead the charge, the ultimate beacon of stability, both for the team and among the pivots.
There will be internal competition between Alex Newhook and Oliver Kapanen to determine who drives the charge alongside Ivan Demidov, while Phillip Danault and Jake Evans handle their usual demanding defensive assignments.
This leaves Kirby Dach as the ultimate wild card.
There’s no denying that injuries have limited Dach’s opportunities and diminished his overall value to the franchise. Yet whenever he managed to string together a stretch of games, his even-strength production improved compared to previous seasons. Notably, he increased his goals, primary assists, secondary assists, and points per 60 in 2025-26.
He hasn’t fully found his rhythm yet, but the progress remains encouraging.
Likewise, it’s worth noting that Suzuki finished as the most productive centre relative to his ice time, though only by a slim margin. Newhook’s more limited usage resulted in fewer shifts, yet he still posted a very impressive 2.51 points per 60. He also faced a significantly lower quality of competition, but his strong production rate remains worth keeping in mind as training camp approaches.
Kapanen enjoyed a fantastic rookie season, finishing with 22 goals and 15 assists in 82 games. The biggest red flag, however, was his low rate of primary assists per 60. Demidov handled most of the playmaking on that line, but ideally a centre, especially one expected to play in the top six, would show greater ability to drive the play himself.
Montreal Canadiens Centres: Underlying Numbers (Even-Strength)
When evaluating their underlying numbers, the first thing that stands out is Suzuki’s excellent possession metrics. He is essentially the only centre who finished on the right side of 50% across the board once everything was said and done, except for his share of high-danger scoring chances (HDCF%). High-danger chances remain a serious area of weakness for the Canadiens as a whole, so his 49.8% mark can still be considered excellent relative to his teammates.
Suzuki controlled 53.4% of the shot share (CF%), 52% of the expected goal share (xGF%), and an outstanding 62.3% of the actual goals. As for the rest of the centres, it is fair to say they fall well short of elite in this particular breakdown.
Both Newhook and Kapanen struggled mightily in shots, high-danger scoring chances, and expected goals, however, they did control the majority of the actual goals.
Dark Horse Candidate
Seeing as we’re discussing camp battles, I also added rookie Owen Beck’s numbers to the mix, even though we’re dealing with a relatively low sample size of 15 games. And there were nights when Beck was used on the wing, rather than down the middle of the ice.
Regardless, it’s worth noting that Beck produced very solid numbers in a defensive situation that was not conducive to excelling, similar to the usage given to Danault or Evans.
He’s also quite excellent at the faceoff dot, another asset that should help him eventually carve out a roster spot in NHL.
Montreal Canadiens Brass Tacks
Realistically, the Canadiens will once again solve the centre issue by committee, relying on different options in various situations.
Kapanen will likely be given an overabundance of offensive-zone shifts, while keeping him away from the serious defensive assignments. Newhook will face a slightly higher quality of competition, but his underlying numbers suggest that there’s a significant discrepancy between his production, and his ability to control the play. Both centres must be handled with care, or risk spending an overabundance of ice time in the defensive zone.
Evans, who shoots right, will be counted upon to dive head-first into the type of hellish usage that could sink most players, with Danault, who shoots left, serving as a fantastic contingency plan depending on where the faceoff is located.
This once again leaves Dach as the odd-man out, even more so since he struggles to win faceoffs. He is on the outside looking in, but he can serve as a great backup plan should injuries take hold of the lineup.
Simply put, Martin St-Louis will have to deal with yet another imperfect scenario when it comes to the centre situation in Montreal.
All Montreal Canadiens statistics are even-strength unless otherwise noted, via Natural Stat Trick.
