The Montreal Canadiens are making headlines once again as head coach Martin St-Louis takes a bold step in an effort to jumpstart his team’s power play. After weeks of struggling to generate consistent offense with the man advantage, St-Louis has opted for a subtle yet potentially game-changing adjustment to his top unit.

The move comes on the heels of a spirited practice session that saw the Canadiens’ special teams under the microscope, with players working intensely on both power play and penalty kill drills.

While fans and analysts were buzzing with speculation about possible personnel changes—especially with the recent emergence of Ivan Demidov—St-Louis has decided to keep his faith in the current lineup. Instead of shuffling players between units, he has chosen to tweak the roles within the top power play group, most notably shifting Cole Caufield into a new position.

This strategic change aims to unlock Caufield’s offensive potential and add a fresh dynamic to a unit that has shown flashes of brilliance but has ultimately fallen short in recent outings.

As anticipation builds ahead of the Canadiens’ next matchup, all eyes will be on how this adjustment impacts the team’s performance. Will this calculated risk pay off and reignite the Canadiens’ power play at a crucial juncture in the season?

Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images

Yesterday was a big day for special teams for Martin St-Louis and the Montreal Canadiens. During the morning practice, we saw a lot of power play and penalty kill drills.

As for the power play, as we reported in the last few hours, there was no actual personnel change, meaning Ivan Demidov is still on the second unit, and the same five players remain on the top unit. However, there was still an intriguing change.

Possibly in an effort to shake things up or give a spark to a power play that’s been struggling in recent weeks.. Martin St-Louis changed Cole Caufield’s position.

Martin St-Louis Changes the Roles on the Canadiens’ Top Power Play Unit

It’ll be interesting to see the results.

“Looks like coach Marty is placing Cole Caufield at the bumper spot.

Meanwhile, still no Ivan Demidov on Habs PP1..”

– HabsOnReddit

This could allow Caufield to better utilize his one-timer, creating a second shooting threat alongside, of course, Patrik Laine.

Eric Engels also confirmed the setup.

“The Canadiens are currently practicing the power play:

1st unit: Hutson up top, Suzuki top right, Slaf on the goal line, Laine on the left wall, Caufield in the bumper.

2nd unit: Matheson up top, Suzuki on the left wall, Newhook in the bumper, Gallagher down low, Demidov on the right wall.”

It’s a good thing, because something had to change in this setup-without completely reinventing it either.

Do you like the idea?