Neither Nick Suzuki nor Cole Caufield remember their first line partners from training camp before their respective rookie seasons. As Caufield himself wisely reminded us, we must curb the inevitable urge to draw premature conclusions.
However, the coaching staff makes decisions which, even at the very beginning of camp, give a good idea of the value of certain players in their eyes.
On Thursday morning, as the approximately 70 players at Habs camp took to the ice for the first time, Emil Heineman was paired with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield for a simulated game. Joshua Roy found himself to the right of Kirby Dach and Sean Monahan.
They provide an indication of the organization’s level of interest in seeing how these young players respond alongside established NHL teammates.
Heineman’s case is particularly interesting, for two reasons. First, he has quickly climbed the club’s hierarchy of prospects in recent months. A good camp last year and a strong first impression with the Laval Rocket at the end of the season made him one of the most watched forwards at the recent rookie tournament. He is one of the few who has a legitimate chance to pull off an upset.
Then, and above all, Martin St-Louis and his assistants will have to find a right winger in Suzuki and Caufield. This quest is anything but trivial, because it will define the identity of the team’s first trio, at the start of the season at least.
So far, this search has been arduous. Over the past two seasons, several contestants have gotten auditions, but few have really stood out.
Even if St-Louis said Wednesday that it had “several options” on hand, finding the ideal right winger is not an easy task, at least if the past is anything to go by.
Kirby Dach has had the most success over a long period of time. It was with him that the other two looked best. When the three were together on the ice at five-on-five, the Canadian had half or more of the shot attempts, shots on target, goals and expected goals.
If we stop strictly at goals scored, Josh Anderson was an interesting option. This combination, however, is not without risk: in 2022-2023, for every expected goal from this trio, the opponent almost got three. And we know what happens when you play with fire: it’s not just hot, it’s dangerous.
Sean Monahan appears to be the stability candidate, and he could well receive the job at the end of the interview round. But his time on the right of Caufield and Suzuki was too short last year to make him a permanent candidate.
In the press scrum on Thursday, the two engines of the first trio listed the qualities that they consider essential to complete their duo.
Suzuki: “Someone who is able to make plays and win battles, and who is able to support us. »
Caufield: “The level of combativeness [compete, in English] is essential. You have to compete in all three zones. »
We could add to these criteria a higher than average responsibility on the defensive level, which is not the strength of the other two. This is probably where Monahan helped them the most.
It’s an understatement to say, but not all the candidates who have had their chance to date have shown the same mastery of the concepts mentioned above.
A long detour which brings us back to Emil Heineman. Without answering a question specifically about his association with Caufield and Suzuki, he certainly scored points by telling reporters that he loved the “intense” game that allowed him to use his build to recover and protect the puck.
The chances that the Swede will start the season in Montreal are difficult to quantify. This is probably what prompted him to put his Thursday hearing into perspective, emphasizing the “learning” and “development” he wanted to get from the exercise. More feverish than nervous, he especially wanted to “not complicate [his] life” and try to “help” them on the ice.
Suzuki nevertheless described him as a “big, powerful winger” who positions himself in the right place to shoot. “He can definitely shoot! “, Caufield repeated with a laugh.
But can he make it with the big club? What about the first line? It is not on day 1 of camp that the question will be decided. But it’s certainly worth asking.
