BROSSARD, Que. — As Kirby Dach and his new linemates at Montreal Canadiens training camp, Patrik Laine and Alex Newhook, skated toward the bench during the camp’s second scrimmage on Friday, and as they arrived, a loud noise could be heard coming from their general direction.
It was Dach yelling in frustration, and what he said is not meant for general audiences.
That line had a difficult day. They were on the ice for a bunch of goals against and they had trouble creating a whole lot. But as frustrated as Dach was in that moment, it will be important for him and his linemates to understand that their starting line is further back than the other established NHL players at this camp.
Laine just started skating again a couple weeks ago, and is clearly a bit behind everyone else in that area. Perfectly normal. Dach hasn’t played a game that counts in 11 months, and though he’s been skating regularly since the end of last season, that can only take you so far. And then there’s Newhook, who has to navigate all that rust on his line.
It’s not easy, even in a scrimmage, albeit a scrimmage being played at an incredibly high pace and with a lot of competitiveness involved. Newhook, remember, only joined the team last season, so he’s never really played with Dach — even though Dach mentioned they had played together at a younger age with Hockey Canada. And Laine obviously just got here.
So, some patience will be required, and it will probably be given because everyone understands this is going to be a work in progress.
“I think Laine and Dacher, they haven’t played for a long time,” coach Martin St. Louis said Friday. “It’s not an easy game at this level, so when you’ve missed time, it’s hard to come in. They’re both players who have very high expectations for themselves. So it’s to manage them day to day and make sure they understand to relax, to be patient.
“We all know what they’re capable of, and with time and more reps, I think you’ll see their play improve. Not just individually, but to get back into the team game.”
The truth is, this line’s success is crucial to what the Canadiens want to accomplish this season. Having two lines that can score consistently will be of great benefit to Nick Suzuki’s line, which saw all the difficult matchups last season and still produced at a very high rate over the second half of the season. Dach said he spent a lot of time watching Suzuki play last season, and is hoping to incorporate some elements of the captain’s game into his own.
“Honestly, I think we’re pretty similar. Maybe just height-wise there’s a little bit of a difference, but we both kind of play the game the same way,” Dach said. “I definitely watched him a lot last year closely and kind of started to pick up some of his habits. We bounce ideas off each other. I think he definitely shoots the puck a little bit more than I do and that’s something I’ve pinpointed and wanted to make a statement about this year and add into my game, especially playing with Patty.
“A lot of people are going to know that we’re going to be looking for him and trying to find him, so if I can throw a few on net and kind of shake things up every once in a while, that’ll free him up.”
For both Dach and Laine, this is an opportunity to give their careers a second wind. They have both dealt with injuries the past few years and are both looking forward to a new start this season.
Dach was around the team all last season despite being injured, something he said Friday he was very appreciative of, but that also meant he heard all the talk of how different things would have been for the Canadiens had he been around. Now that he’s back, does he feel the pressure to live up to that expectation? Not really.
“I just take it a step at a time,” Dach said Friday. “There’s not many teams in this league that get by with winning with one player, right? It’s a team game for a reason, and being part of a team is something we all love to do, and that’s what makes our sport so special. I think the more pieces we can add into our recipe and our team, the better off we’ll be.”
That’s a good way of looking at things, but at only 23 years old, Dach has already had several starts and stops in his career. Every time it seems like he’s building momentum — like the second half of the season two years ago and training camp last year — it seems to get cut off by an injury. But on that, too, Dach seems to have a healthy outlook.
“I think the progress to success is never a straight line, it’s always about the ups and the downs and how you can handle those waves of momentum when it’s taken away from you,” he said. “I’m not really setting expectations out there; I know in my head the kind of player I want to be and the player I am. It’s just about going out there and producing and helping my team each and every night to get the win.”
While patience with this line will be a given, it’s easy to see the different skill sets of the three players and how it could lead to being a successful line once the kinks are ironed out.
“Obviously Laine’s got a great shot and Dacher’s very good at transporting the puck and winning pucks back. Newy beings a lot of speed that can push teams back, create space underneath, quick to loose pucks. Dacher, Laine, big boys,” St. Louis said. “All this said, I feel they have great elements to complement each other, now it’s to get them more reps. As they’ve missed a lot of time, to jump right back in it at this level, I’ve got to be patient a little bit.
“But I feel they’ve got great elements to complement each other.”
Other observations and quotes from Day 2 of Canadiens training camp:
Joshua Roy is picking up where he left off
Joshua Roy was playing some promising hockey last season when blocking an Evan Bouchard slap shot in Edmonton on March 19 put an end to it. Playing on a line with Christian Dvorak and Josh Anderson in training camp, Roy is being put in a good position to succeed this season in a third-line role.
And on several occasions in Friday’s scrimmage, Roy showed what makes him valuable to a line, his ability to keep plays moving with smart puck placement or a nifty pass or simply knowing where to go on the ice at the right moment. Remember, this is someone who thrived playing on Connor Bedard’s wing at the world juniors. He is a highly adaptable player who learns his teammates’ tendencies quickly and complements them. Even accentuates them.
Here is an example. Watch No. 89 as he waits for a moment after taking the pass from Anderson before giving it back to him.
Joshua Roy lance Josh Anderson en échappée et ce dernier touche la cible! pic.twitter.com/UnOosHmZtV
— RDS (@RDSca) September 20, 2024
That’s a nifty little play. Of course, Anderson scoring on a breakaway is the big headline on that play, but Roy’s decision to hold that puck for just one second and allowing Anderson the time to get some separation is what stands out.
It clearly did to St. Louis.
“I just think he’s always ready for what’s next,” St. Louis said of Roy. “He’s a very intelligent player, but not just with the puck. Without the puck he’s very smart, he plays well off the puck, so he’s always ready for what’s next.
“He doesn’t kill the play. He’s playing the game. If it’s time to chip a puck to speed, he’ll do that. He’s got poise to buy a little time and hit the guy who’s going to be free. He lets the play evolve.”
Being smart without the puck is about as big a compliment as you can get from St. Louis. It’s a good sign for Roy.
A fourth line that’s not really a fourth line
A mea culpa from me, in Thursday’s story about the opening day on the ice of training camp, I listed Brendan Gallagher as being on the right wing of a line with Jake Evans and Joel Armia. I was wrong.
Gallagher is in fact playing on the left side, which he did in the scrimmage Friday, with Armia on the right. It is a line with three right-hand shots, which is unusual, but they were by far the most effective line we saw Friday.
“They were really good today, a lot of purpose in their game. I liked their game. They played the game,” St. Louis said, busting out another Martyism. “They supported one another. Gally on his off wing, I always liked playing on the off-wing myself. Gally on his off-wing can expose the puck less on breakouts, he can shield more. I know (Armia)’s playing his strong wing, I’ve got three righties. I don’t love always having three righties or three lefties on one line, but sometimes they work so well together you live with it.
“We’ll see where that takes us, but I really liked what they did today.”
Gallagher has not played on the left side much over the course of his career, and every time he has, he’s honestly looked a bit lost. We’ll see if having a full training camp to get used to that will make this time different, but it is reflective of something that will need to become a strength of Gallagher’s as he enters this stage of his career. He will need to be adaptable.
Gallagher no doubt does not love the fact he is on what’s considered to be the fourth line, but if he can help make that fourth line a strength for the team, he will do it. At the end of last season, I talked to him about this changing reality for him, and while he admitted to never wanting to lower his own standards, he also realizes what is happening around him and what he needs to do to contribute to the team at this point in his career.
That conversation was about him learning how to kill penalties instead of being a power-play guy, but it would also apply in this situation, playing the left side on a fourth line.
Though really, between this line and the Dvorak line with Anderson and Roy, it would not be hard to see a situation where the line that’s going the best out of the two on a given night getting the bigger minutes.
(Photo of Kirby Dach: David Kirouac / USA Today)
