With roster changes and the arrival of new talent, Martin St. Louis and his staff have likely already begun planning both the power play and penalty kill units. Special teams will impact the Montreal Canadiens chances of clinching a playoff spot for a second consecutive season.
In his post free agency press conference, Kent Hughes confirmed that he’s still working the phones to improve the team ahead of opening night. He wasn’t ready to promise changes, but promised that they’re trying.
I can’t imagine St. Louis sitting around waiting for his general manager to make another deal. He’s preparing with the players on the current roster and review if there’s any further changes following a subsequent transaction.
Power Play Options
When Alex Burrows stepped down as an assistant coach prior to last season, St. Louis took over the responsibility of the power play. He felt his experience as a player and his brief stint as a power play consultant for the Columbus Blue Jackets equipped him to handle the additional duties.
Montreal’s power play saw a notable jump last season, climbing from 17.5 percent in 2023–24 to 20.1 percent. It’s easy to point the finger to behind the change to explain the improvement, but there were several factors that led to the result. Without jotting down the entire list, Lane Hutson promoted to the first unit starting from the U.S. Thanksgiving, and Patrik Laine’s 15 power play goals were major contributions.
This was the typical deployment of the power play units after the Four Nations Faceoff break, when the Canadiens went on a run to clinch a playoff spot.
| PP Unit 1 | PP Unit 2 |
| Patrik Laine – Nick Suzuki – Juraj Slafkovsky – Cole Caufield – Lane Hutson | Brendan Gallagher – Nick Suzuki – Emil Heineman – Alex Newhook – Mike Matheson |
New Faces
Noah Dobson’s and Zachary Bolduc’s off season acquisitions are new weapons for the man advantage. The late-season addition of Ivan Demidov is also a power play threat for opposition to be aware of. The trio will take some of Nick Suzuki’s ice time, bump Brendan Gallagher off and take the role previously held by the traded Emil Heineman.
This is how I see the composition of the two units to start the season.
| PP Unit 1 | PP Unit 2 |
| Patrik Laine – Nick Suzuki – Juraj Slafkovsky – Cole Caufield – Lane Hutson | Zachary Bolduc – Kirby Dach/Alex Newhook – Ivan Demidov – Mike Matheson – Noah Dobson |
I expect the coaching staff to deploy the first unit the same way as last season. Patrik Laine is essentially a power play specialist and he will obtain an opportunity to have an important role in this facet. Similar to Hutson’s rookie season, Demidov might gradually be eased into a more important role.
On paper, the second unit is more dangerous than a year ago. Bolduc played in the bumper position with the Blues and can slot into that position on that unit. Dobson’s shot from the point, and the added option of Demidov on the flank will force the penalty kill units to be on their toes. The second rotation typically jumps on the ice on the fly, and that shields the weakness down the middle.
If the team struggles on the power play, St.Louis can swap players between units based on the identified aspect that he wants to stir up. If the new additions click, the Canadiens may finally have the depth for two dangerous power play units.
I think you need to split Laine and Caufield onto different units.
That is what I would try, at least.
It was a definitely an option I thought about too, but I think Martin St.Louis will go with the same unit to start the season, and then change if needed. Thanks for reading!