The problems at the Montreal Canadiens are numerous, but the state of the club’s center line is certainly at the top of the list.
Monday, it was Jake Evans, normally used to supporting roles on the third or fourth line, who piloted Montreal’s second offensive line alongside Alex Newhook and Juraj Slafkovsky.
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And the reason would be very simple, according to Jean-Charles Lajoie and Tony Marinaro. During the segment The Colosseumbroadcast on the show JiC on TVA Sports, the two hosts pointed out the performances of several players, including Kirby Dach, Christian Dvorak and Newhook.
“If Jake Evans is there, it’s because Dach isn’t doing the job, it’s because Dvorak isn’t doing the job, it’s because [Oliver] Kapanen doesn’t do the job, […] Newhook too,” said Lajoie.
It was then that Marinaro came up with an idea to solve this problem: get an established center player from a team that is languishing in the bottom of the National Hockey League (NHL), like Mikael Granlund of the San Jose Sharks .
“If the Canadian really wants to be in the mix, it wouldn’t be a good idea to identify a top-2 center from teams that are doing poorly, in the West, who might like to have a young player or picks in the draft, and get rid of a player,” Marinaro said.
“I’ll give you an example: the Sharks have the worst record in the NHL. Mikael Granlund is in the last year of his contract, continued the columnist. He is a good offensive player, he can help the Canadian as a second center player. It’s not the best, but it’s better than what they have right now.”
Granlund is in his second season with the Sharks. Last year, he had 12 goals and 48 assists for 60 points in 69 games. In 2024-2025, he presents a production of six goals and eight assists for 14 points in 13 games.
Watch the full segment in the main video.
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