To close 2023-24, the Montreal Canadiens iced a second line of centre Alex Newhook between wingers Brendan Gallagher and Joel Armia. Each of the three forwards ended the season on a high.
Armia scored six goals and nine points in his last 12 games. Newhook scored three goals and nine points in his last nine games. Perhaps most impressively, taking into account the decline in his production over the last few seasons, Gallagher, who jumped on that line to replace an injured Joshua Roy, scored five goals and 10 points in his last eight contests.
Newhook Gels Between Gallagher and Armia
It’s incredibly possible those last few weeks merely represented outliers in the careers of each of those three instead of a display of lasting chemistry. However, the opposite is also possible based on how Armia is entering the last year of his contract and will be playing for a new one, Newhook is just 23 and by most objective accounts a player on the rise, and, in spite of Gallagher’s decreased production, he hasn’t stopped helping to drive possession and play in the offensive zone.
The point is, in principle, that line could work again. And, while Newhook is a logical candidate to play opposite the newly acquired Patrik Laine on centre Kirby Dach’s second line, the emergence of Roy as a viable top-six option means Newhook, Armia and Gallagher (why not NAG for short?) could still end up being a thing… just as the third line, not second, which should tell you all you need to know about how vastly improved the team’s offense as a whole projects to be.
For a team that finished with just 236 goals, that’s good news. For some context, the average playoff team scored 274. Only a single non-playoff team scored more than 270, with the Detroit Red Wings (278) finishing tied with the wild-card Washington Capitals in the standings, only to fall short due to a tiebreaker. The implication should be clear, that the playoffs become more of a possibility the more goals the Canadiens score, which really shouldn’t have to be implied. It’s downright logical.
Laine Fills Need for More Offense
Granted, an effective offense all alone doesn’t guarantee the Canadiens anything. However, it’s worth noting that, in acquiring Laine, general manager Kent Hughes effectively filled the biggest hole they faced. And he did it with relative aplomb, getting a…
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