Montreal Canadiens
Canadiens’ Coach Happy With Makeup of New Blue Line
Montreal Canadiens assistant coach Luke Richardson noted that he’s happy with the makeup of the new-look blue line.
Montreal Canadiens assistant coach Luke Richardson is a former NHL blueliner. His focus in Montreal is to get the team’s current blue line performing at the highest level possible. As such, he noted in a recent interview that he’s pleased as punch with his team’s new defense corps. Noting that the makeup and dynamic of the new crew will give the team a new look and lots of options of play, he thinks there are a lot of exciting times ahead.
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Noting that the acquisition of Joel Edmundson has him excited, he admires his play and labeled him a strong defensive-defenseman. Calling him tough, strong and competitive, he said he’ll have no issue fitting right in with the existing group.
He noted that Alexander Romanov has an electric element to his game that is also very exciting. Romanov spent last season in the KHL and the Canadiens are hoping he can come in and help.
Richardson pointed out that both Victor Mete and Brett Kulak will see expanded roles with the team this season. Specifically, Kulak showed some of this stuff in the NHL bubble last season.
And, of course, the Canadiens still have Shea Weber, Jeff Petry and Ben Chiarot eating up big minutes.
Depth and Stability Is Key
What Richardson says he’s really amped about now is that the team finally has some depth that will keep the blue line competitive, not miss a beat and keep consistent all year.
When asked about how the team will balance that stability and depth, Richardson said, “What we have to do is see it.” Saying that the Canadiens won’t really know what they have until they see what they have, it might take a little time and experimenting with chemistry.
He noted that this isn’t even just for new guys, but testing the veterans out in different situations with the new depth to see if there are matches that makes sense. He noted specifically, that would really help with road games where the team doesn’t have last change and are at the disadvantage.
As for how he thinks they’ll fare in an all-Canadian Division:
I think it would be an extremely competitive division. It’s the NHL, it’s the best league in the world. But if there’s a Canadian division, there are definitely going to be some more bragging rights to fight for. It’ll make all the games even more intense and it would be very fun to see.
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