Jake Evans must be #2 center until Kirby Dach, according to Rick Springhetti

Dose
Crédit: Jake Evans skates puck in overtime against Devils.

Ahhh, that famous debate about the Montreal Canadiens’ second center for next season.Several rumors circulated on the subject this summer, but for the time being, the club would remain intact (barring a surprise acquisition like the signing of Jack Roslovic, who is still a free agent). Kirby Dach seemed to be the backup solution for this position, but with the development of his rehabilitation, one wonders if he’ll be ready to start the season. If he isn’t, it’s starting to get a little more complicated. Alex Newhook has the profile to play on a top-6 with his speed, but personally, I don’t really see a center in him. Although he’s improved defensively, I don’t think he has the ideal profile to be the CH’s #2 center. We know that Grant McCagg isn’t giving up on Oliver Kapanen as a second center, but many find this idea highly unlikely. And in his most recent Habscast Recrutes, McCagg went ahead with his projected formation, which once again included Kapanen at top-6 center.

(Credit: Recrutes Habscast)

[content-ads]His lack of experience doesn’t work in his favor, that’s for sure, and it’s the main reason why he’s unlikely to be the Habs’ #2 center to start the season. What if Jake Evans were the Habs’ #2 center to start next season?

On this very Habscast, Rick Springhetti sees him in just that position.

The fact that he’s the best option in the face-off circle would greatly benefit Ivan Demidov (and possibly Patrik Laine) to have possession of the puck as often as possible.

And his defensive reliability would allow these two talented players to focus on their offensive game to generate as much offense as possible. Evans has already proven he can play an important role in the NHL, unlike Kapanen. And it would allow Newhook to bring some offense to the third line with Zachary Bolduc.

The next debate would be whether or not Newhook should be the center of the third line. As I mentioned earlier, Newhook’s profile doesn’t really fit a center, so I’d put him on the wing. On the other hand, that would mean Joe Veleno would be the third center, so a player like Florian Xhekaj would have to break through.

This would be my ideal scenario, as I often say that the younger of the two Xhekaj brothers would bring a very interesting dimension to the fourth line, but realistically, Florian Xhekaj would have to play another season with the Laval Rocket to fine-tune his game.

Let’s wait and see if Dach is ready for the first game of the season and then who will surprise us at training camp [spacer title=’Overtime’] – Filip Eriksson impresses so far.

– To be continued.

– That’s a good one.

– There are certainly a lot of good candidates already.