Is Drouin even capable of staying healthy for a full season ?

Drouin will be the odd man out, somehow.

Drouin being a former 3rd Overall pick also, serves as an awesome cautionary tale when considering the KK situation.

Ex Hab Galchynuk also fits the former 3rd Overall pick story too.

I mean if Drouin's out you move Lehkonen to 3LW and bring Perreault/Paquette into the lineup

My opening night lineup:

Drouin - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - Dvorak - Gallagher
Toffoli - Evans/Poehling - Anderson (based on training camp, I would put the one with the most offensive upside)
Lehknonen - Evans/Poehling - Armia

Paquette (if one of Evans/Poehling has a poor camp, I would put Paquette on the 4th)
Perreault

Edmundson - Petry
Romanov - Savard
Chiarot - Wideman (if Wideman is disappointing, Kulak - Chiarot)

Other than the injury in 19-20, Drouin has missed 5 games with an injury in his 4 years as a hab. He isn’t injury prone.

Well Hab fans should hope for a bounce back season from him and hope the Metro Division eat each other up creating an opening for a wildcard spot.

So the opening night roster should look exactly like what you have above. (With the top 9 forwards being interchangeable on the lines)

When Byron comes back, if the habs are 100% healthy (which likely won’t be the case) they’ll likely waive either Paquette or Byron. Lines would likely be the same, but who knows, because with injuries and how everyone plays so much can change until then.

The PK is likely:
Dvorak - Armia
Evans - Lehkonen

Edmundson - Savard
Chiarot - Romanov

Petry and Romanov are a toss-up for the 4th D. Toffoli, Poehling, and Suzuki will also get semi-regular PK time, and Byron & Paquette when they’re in the lineup.

My guess for the PP is:
Gallagher
Caufield - Dvorak - Suzuki
Petry

Anderson/Poehling
Toffoli - Armia/Perreault - Hoffman
Drouin

Anderson will likely get PP time, no matter how much I dislike him playing there. Poehling may or may not be able to play his way into the net front position if he has a good preseason offensively. Armia or Anderson can play bumper on the 2nd unit. Perreault will play bumper on the 2nd unit when he’s in the lineup.

Yeah, of course we hope for that.

PP #1 will more likely be

Gallagher
Caufield-Suzuki-Drouin
Petry

Anderson
Lehkonen-Dvorak-Hoffman
Romanov/Wideman

Lehkone has a sneaky quick release and would be an excellent Bumper option.

Sure Lehkonen’s shot can sometimes be really good, but it’s not even close to Toffoli’s who you’re putting him on the PP ahead of. Not to mention the fact that Lehkonen isn’t a good playmaker at all. There’s a reason he hasn’t been on the powerplay for the last 3 seasons.

Also, what on earth is Suzuki in the bumper? He’s a playmaker, and that’s the one spot on the PP where you essentially never make passes. He’s played and worked really well on the right side for the entire time he’s been on the team, it would make no sense to move him.

I’m a Leafs fan but one of close friends is a Habs fan, so I have actually put some thought into this.

Armia/Lehkonen - Dvorak - Gallagher
Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield
Hoffman - Drouin - Anderson
Poehling - Evans - Lehkonen/Armia

OR

Hoffman - Dvorak - Gallagher
Toffoli - Suzuki - Caufield
Lehkonen - Drouin - Anderson
Poehling - Evans - Armia

the d-pairs being:
Chariot - Petry
Romanov - Savard
Edmundson - Wideman

extras are Paquette, Perreault, and Kulak

That’s just what I would do personally, but aside from the disappointing playoff series I don’t really watch a ton of Habs hockey.

LOL I had Toffoli on the 2nd unit RW then I remembered we had Hoffman and forgot to remove Lehkoknen, I really didn't line them up according to position. I have a hard time figuring out which position is which lol.

We'll need to have an evaluation period to see what works, but based on the change, I'd try something like this.

Anderson - Suzuki - Caufield
Drouin - Dvorak - Hoffman
Toffoli - Poehling - Gallagher
Lehkonen - Evans - Armia

Someone to drive the net (Anderson, Dvorak, Gallagher).
Someone to shoot the puck (CC, Hoffman, TT).
Someone to act as playmaker (Suzuki, Drouin, Poehling?).
4th line to take bulk of defensive responsibilities.

Poehling is the question mark, but he's sheltered by two vets and Evans or Dvorak can step in for defensive draws if necessary. Similarly, Drouin can swap with Anderson for offensive draws.

PP1
Hoffman - Suzuki - Caufield
Drouin - Petry
Setup quality shots from multiple positions.

PP2
Toffoli - Dvorak - Gallagher
Anderson - Wideman/Romanov
Volume shooting and crashing.

PK1
Evans - Lehkonen - Edmundson - Savard
PK2
Dvorak - Armia - Chiarot - Romanov

We have a lot of options for wingers, but Suzuki/Caufield, Drouin/CC,TT,Hoffman and Gallagher/Poehling should be combined to start.

I think the only problem i have with this is Toffoli in the bottom 6. I get that he would be great with one of the young centres, but maybe you put Gallagher there instead. He knows his role, he's (hopefully) not gonna get pissed about less ice-time bc he knows his role within the team. This also gives poehling/evans a (still) good player on their wing, and then if you do this, you move Anderson to LW

Didn't know Dvorak could PK, which is why I put Suzuki there... good to know for the future.
Surprised that you think that Petry will be a toss-up. I personally think that Petry will have a spot with Edmundson, and Chiarot will be with Savard. And like you said, Toffoli, Suzuki, Poehling, Byron, Paquette get time sometimes.
The sole problem I have with our 2nd PK unit is that we don't have someone to really take faceoffs. Armia/Perreault aren't exactly centres



I simply don't like Lehkonen or Armia on the top line. Plus the top line is WINGER - Suzuki - Caufield