Terrible Canadiens lineup: Kotkaniemi ahead of Suzuki in 2024?

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David St-Jean
July 27, 2024 (2:49 PM)

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One thing is certain: Nick Suzuki is the best forward on the Canadiens and is far superior to Jesperi Kotkaniemi.

However, if we go back to 2019, when the captain had not yet played a single NHL game, the projections for the 2024 Canadiens lineup were very different from what we see today.

A big thank you goes to Kent Hughes, who has done an immense job since his arrival. If there had been no changes since 2019, here's what the Canadiens' lineup would look like today:

- FORWARDS

Domi - Kotkaniemi - Caufield

Lehkonen - Poehling - Ylonen

Teasdale - Suzuki - Evans

Harvey-Pinard - Olofsson - Armia

- DEFENSEMEN

Romanov - Mete

Brook - Weber

Juulsen - Fleury

- GOALIES

Primeau

Price

Nick Suzuki was truly underrated before he began his professional career, while other Canadiens' first-round picks, such as Kotkaniemi and Ryan Poehling, were clearly overrated.

Only five of the projected 12 forwards are still with the organization, which says a lot about the changes made since 2019.

On defense, it's a disaster. Only Alexander Romanov remains a regular NHL defenseman, while Noah Juulsen is still trying to find his place as the 6th defenseman on a team.

Of course, without injuries, Shea Weber and Carey Price might still be part of the lineup, but life had other plans.

I'm curious to see what the lineup will look like in five years, but I'm convinced that if we did the same exercise today, we wouldn't be as far off thanks to the excellent work on rebuilding and the long-term contracts given to key players.

Source: Habsolumentfan.com
La prédiction de l'alignement 2024-25 du CH d'il y a 5 ans était atroce!