Logan Mailloux in the Montreal Canadiens' lineup as early as this season: Gaston Therrien just took us by surprise with his prediction
The Montreal Canadiens' training camp will kick off in a few days, and it can be said that hockey fans are very eager for the new season to start.
And as is the case every year, the majority of experts are commenting on the potential lineup of the Canadiens for the 2023-2024 season, and as reported by the site Rumeursdetransactions.com, a well-known analyst among hockey fans joined in.
While regular broadcasts started this week on RDS, Gaston Therrien shared with his colleagues his Canadiens lineup to kick off the season starting on October 11th in Toronto, and let's say there are a few surprises to note.
Here is the lineup proposed by the RDS analyst:
Note that Christian Dvorak is considered the 13th forward because he has not fully recovered from his knee surgery and might miss the beginning of the season.
But if there are few surprises in the offense, it's a different story on the defense as Therrien not only sees Logan Mailloux making the Canadiens lineup, but he places the newcomer Gustav Lindstrom on the second pair alongside Kaiden Guhle.
A few weeks ago, the possibility was raised that the Swedish defender would be used on the second pair, as former scout Grant McCagg had mentioned, but now Therrien is leaning in the same direction.
It must be said that Lindstrom has a bit more NHL experience than some of the young Canadiens defensemen, but to place him in the top 4? That's bold.
And what about the third duo that would consist of Arber Xhekaj and Logan Mailloux. I am convinced that many Canadiens fans would like to see these two young defensemen evolve on the same pair.
Unfortunately for Jordan Harris and Johnathan Kovacevic, they have been relegated to a fourth pair and unless Martin St. Louis only uses 11 forwards, one of the two will be warming the bench.
By the way, no sign of Justin Barron.
In summary, it is of course only a potential lineup for the Habs for the upcoming season and this proves that this year, the battles will be on defense as several young talents will want to carve out a spot with the big club.
| POLL | ||
Do you believe that Gustav Lindstrom will start the season among the top 4 defensemen for the Habs? | ||
| Yes | 42 | 24.6 % |
| No | 106 | 62 % |
| No, but Mailloux, yes | 23 | 13.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
