First Look At New Canadiens Lines And Pairings From Practice
The Montreal Canadiens are yet to open their main training camp, scheduled for September 16, but the team ran new line combinations and defensive pairings at their practice facility in Brossard, giving us some insight as to how the lineup may look heading into the 2026-27 season.
The Canadiens had a full complement of players at practice on Thursday, leading to some interesting lines and defensive duos.
An Early Look At Canadiens Lines
As per tradition, the first line of Juraj Slafkovsky, Nick Suzuki, and Cole Caufield remained unchanged, but there was some movement on the second line, with Alex Newhook and Ivan Demidov serving as Kirby Dach’s wingers.
This is a departure from the Demidov and Oliver Kapanen duo that dominated the second line in 2025-26. Even though their underlying numbers were far from encouraging, it must be said that both Kapanen and Demidov enjoyed successful seasons from an offensive standpoint.
This new combination adds a little more size to the mix, though it remains to be seen if Dach can keep up with the speedsters on his wing. Both Newhook and Demidov love to push the pace of the play, whereas Dach is a little slower in transition.
The third line featured Phillip Danault as the pivot, with Zach Bolduc and Alexander Texier on the wing, while the fourth line saw Jake Evans reunited with Josh Anderson, as well as a new addition in Kapanen.
Le groupe est complet ce matin à Brossard et dispute un match intra-équipe.
L’alignement au départ (premières répétitions):
Caufield-Suzuki-Slafkovsky
Newhook-Dach-Demidov
Bolduc-Danault-Texier
Anderson-Evans-Kapanen
Hutson-Dobson
Matheson-Xhekaj
Engstrom-Carrier…
— Anthony Martineau (@Antho_Martineau) September 10, 2026
Montreal Canadiens Defensive Pairings
Again, we should guard against making any long-term projections based on these pairings, but it was very encouraging to see Lane Hutson paired with Noah Dobson on the first defensive duo.
Truth be told, Dobson and Mike Matheson had a very difficult season last year when evaluating their possession metrics, indicating a change was overdue. Matheson’s new defensive partner was rough-and-tumble blue liner Arber Xhekaj, who is yet to sign a contract extension with the Habs.
The third pairing saw rookie defenceman Adam Engstrom paired with Alexander Carrier, a smart combination of offensive prowess and defensive acumen, while the final combination saw another rookie, David Reinbacher, play alongside Jayden Struble.
With all due respect to Reinbacher, it’s encouraging to see Engstrom in the third pairing, at least for now. He’s a versatile defenceman who may not receive as much praise as other prospects, but his 15-game audition with the Canadiens last season led to very solid underlying numbers.
