Likeliest Canadiens to Sit when Kapanen Returns to Lineup

Montreal Canadiens forward Oliver Kapanen is thought to be on the cusp of a return to the lineup, meaning someone who’s healthy currently will have to sit. Having been scratched with a lower-body injury for the team’s first few games, Kapanen represents an alternative to Alex Newhook at centre on the second line, where the former scored an impressive 22 goals as a rookie last season.

Considering how, with exception to a 24-second span to end Game 2 against the Pittsburgh Penguins in which Ivan Demidov scored two points, all three members of that line have been held pointless, head coach Martin St. Louis will probably be looking to switch things up. That means, despite Kapanen being far from the ideal second-line centre and someone the Canadiens scratched throughout the playoffs, he likely won’t stay out longer than he needs to.

Assuming both he and Newhook, who has at least displayed 50-point potential in past seasons, are safe from being scratched, who isn’t? Who is likeliest to sit out in favour of Kapanen? Here are the top (or bottom) three candidates:

3. Zachary Bolduc

Having just gotten a raise, Zachary Bolduc faces heightened expectations. The 30 points he scored in 2025-26 won’t realistically cut it. However, in scoring a key goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first game of the season, he’s technically producing right out of the gate.

It certainly would have helped his case were he to have contributed against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the team’s 6-5 overtime loss the next game. However, seeing as the team as a whole lacked a certain, let’s call it, “competence,” over the first half of that contest, that he didn’t stand out at all is something of a gold star under his name.

Now, Bolduc had been scratched while healthy last season. So, this wouldn’t be foreign territory for him, but, as things stand now, he would only be sat for lack of an alternative option to fit Kapanen back in, not because he’s playing badly. Thankfully, other alternatives exist.

2. Kirby Dach

While the clock seems to be ticking down on Kirby Dach’s time with the Canadiens, he still brings something to the lineup for the time being. He did receive criticism for his perceived effort level in the preseason, which seemed to lend some legitimacy (and justification) to reports the Habs offered him a two-way qualifying offer (before the two sides settled on a one-way, one-year extension that walks him to unrestricted free agency in 2027). However, it was the preseason, and, when it comes down to it, the fact he made the team and made it out in one piece considering his lengthy injury history, well…it probably was all for the best.

Ultimately, what’s most important is Dach was ready to go when the puck dropped on the actual season. Against the Maple Leafs, a game in which the Canadiens’ bottom six pushed them over the top en route to an eventual 3-2 victory, Dach, in collecting an assist, was actually one of the team’s better players, along with Bolduc. So far at least, he’s earned his spot in the lineup.

1. Alexandre Texier

Forward Alexandre Texier continues to be underappreciated for his contributions since joining the Canadiens as a mid-season free-agent signing last November. Despite finding himself at the bottom of most Habs team depth charts, he nevertheless scored 20 points in 43 games with the Habs last season, while adding a respectable eight points in the playoffs.

However, with a team as deep as the Canadiens, it’s no surprise he is currently last in ice time at 10:44 per game. As a result, especially looking at his zero points through two games so far, he’s the likeliest to be scratched to make room for Kapanen. Is it fair? Probably not, with a half-dozen others having failed to score points yet either, including Juraj Slafkovsky, who hit a career-high 73 last season.

Of the two, Slafkovsky, as a member of the aforementioned second line, is the one who is more guilty of failing to meet expectations. He’s also the one who’s getting paid $7.6 million per season on average compared to just $2.5 million for Texier. When your cap hit is that small it just becomes all the more easy for you to be overlooked and ultimately scratched.

When Texier was initially signed, expectations should have been low. While he did soon get playing time with Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield and find success, leading to his current two-season extension, he had been signed specifically to help offset numerous injuries.

Logically, once players began to return, Texier was always going to have to fight tooth and nail to keep his spot in the lineup, just like he did as a member of the St. Louis Blues, before getting his contract terminated to sign with the Habs. Less than a season later it’s far from a shock he finds himself in a similar situation, through little fault of his own. It has to be someone. By all metrics, he’s at least the likeliest. Hence he takes the top spot, here.