Controversial new publication from the NHL involving Logan Mailloux
The summer has been uneventful regarding personnel movements and trades for the Montreal Canadiens and Kent Hughes.
General Manager Hughes has been patient in his rebuild and has not rushed the process.
He will rely on almost the same roster, with the biggest change being the return of Kirby Dach.
A possible arrival in North America of Ivan Demidov could also shake up the Montreal lineup a bit.
The NHL site took advantage of the fact that personnel movements are almost complete around the league to project the final rosters of the league's 32 teams. However, the projected lineup for the Canadiens is confusing.
Joshua Roy, Logan Mailloux, and Lane Hutson removed from the 2024-25 Montreal Canadiens lineup by the official NHL site
Is the young Mailloux being a target to the NHL?
See the details:
Forwards
The most striking thing about Farrell's four lines here is the (deliberate or not) omission of Joshua Roy. Given the end of the season he had with the Canadiens, it would be surprising to see him back with the Rocket at the start of the campaign. Especially if we consider the 2024-2025 season as one of development and not performance.
Another small point that bothers me here is the fact that Jake Evans is prioritized over Christian Dvorak at center. We can say what we want about number 28, but he shouldn't be on the 4th line.
Defense
This is where Farrell's projected lineup is most shocking. The journalist omitted Logan Mailloux and Lane Hutson, favoring Justin Barron and Jordan Harris. So, the players with the most experience in the league were chosen over the younger ones.
We also see that Kaiden Guhle has been placed on the left, not on the right as we have often seen. He thus, in a way, takes Hutson's place in the team's lineup. A Hutson/Savard duo would make a lot of sense to start the season.
On the right, I see Harris more as the 7th defenseman than in the main lineup. Inserting Mailloux in his place might be more beneficial for the young man's progression and the club's future.
My projected lineup:
Juraj Slafkovsky -- Nick Suzuki -- Cole Caufield
Alex Newhook -- Kirby Dach -- Josh Anderson
Joshua Roy -- Christian Dvorak -- Brendan Gallagher
Joel Armia -- Jake Evans -- Rafael Harvey-Pinard (upon his return from injury)
Mike Matheson -- Kaiden Guhle
Lane Hutson -- David Savard
Arber Xhekaj -- Logan Mailloux
Jordan Harris
One thing to know: this is just a projection, both from Farrell and me.
We are having fun imagining the team's lineup and are not privy to insider information.
We will have the answer to this question at the end of the next camp, at the beginning of next October. So, Kent Hughes has plenty of time to modify his team and Martin St-Louis to figure things out.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 27 | 709 ANSWERS Controversial new publication from the NHL involving Logan Mailloux Who will play the most games with the Canadiens this season? | ||
| Justin Barron | 81 | 11.4 % |
| Jordan Harris | 124 | 17.5 % |
| Logan Mailloux | 128 | 18.1 % |
| Lane Hutson | 376 | 53 % |
| List of polls | ||
