Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis is willing to be patient with Patrik Laine.
Laine will be in the lineup for the Canadiens’ first preseason game Monday night at the Bell Centre against the Philadelphia Flyers (7 p.m., RDS). It will be Laine’s first game since he suffered a broken left clavicle last Dec. 14 that required surgery and then the next month he entered the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program while dealing with mental-health issues.
The Canadiens acquired Laine from the Columbus Blue Jackets on Aug. 19 — along with a second-round pick at the 2026 NHL Draft — in exchange for defenceman Jordan Harris. Laine had 6-3-9 totals in the 18 games he played with Columbus last season.
Laine will be at right wing on a line with centre Kirby Dach and left-winger Alex Newhook against the Flyers.
“We want to use this camp to getting him up to speed with our collective game, but also him individually getting up to speed,” Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis said Monday morning after the team that will face the Flyers practised at Brossard’s CN Sports Complex. “He hasn’t played in a long time, he hasn’t been on the ice as much as a lot of guys. So he just needs to get his reps and we’re going to manage his workload game-wise and probably in the gym, too. We want him to feel better every time he touches the ice and that should be the case.”
Laine didn’t practise with his teammates on Saturday, taking a therapy day instead. He was back on the ice Sunday and skated again Monday morning.
“It’s based on information we’re gathering day-to-day and see how do we get to where we want to be,” St. Louis said when asked about Laine’s therapy day. “We know what he’s capable of … we want to get him there. At what speed we get him there … it’s not as important as getting him there. So if you just want to get him there fast, sometimes you’re not going to get there. So you got to be careful of the pace that you want to get there at. So I think we’re managing the day-to-day stuff with him and we have a pretty good staff in there that we gather information and make educated decisions on how to proceed.”
The Canadiens will play six pre-season games and the New Jersey Devils will be at the Bell Centre Tuesday night (7 p.m., RDS). The Canadiens will open the regular season on Wednesday, Oct. 9 at the Bell Centre against the Toronto Maple Leafs. St. Louis isn’t setting Game 1 of the regular season as the target date to have the 26-year-old Laine up to full speed.
“That would be nice, but I don’t think it’s a priority,” the coach said.
Monday’s game will be the first for Dach since he suffered a season-ending knee injury that required surgery in Game 2 last season on Oct. 14.
“I know it’s a pre-season game, but I’m still excited for it,” Dach said. “I think everybody’s excited for hockey to kind of start and get going again. This is the first game of working towards our goals for the year and it all kind of starts tonight with the group that’s playing and we got to set a good example and start off the pre-season on the right foot.”
Veteran Canadiens defenceman David Savard will be paired with 20-year-old Lane Hutson against the Flyers. They were also a pair for the final two games last season after Hutson made the jump from Boston University, where he posted 15-34-49 totals in 38 games last season.
St. Louis was asked Monday morning what he wants to see from the 5-foot-10, 162-pound Hutson that shows he’s ready for a full-time job in the NHL.
“I just want him to go play,” the coach said. “Do what he knows how. He’s got great individual skills. I want him to keep getting familiar and understanding our collective game on both sides of the puck and I’m confident he’s going to do that. I think he’s a pretty smart player.”
The 33-year-old Savard is heading into his 14th NHL season and has played against Laine in the past — including the 2017-18 season when the Finnish winger scored a career-high 44 goals. Savard knows how difficult Laine can be to defend when he’s on his game.
“He’s just dangerous to score from everywhere,” Savard said. “He doesn’t need much time to shoot and when he’s on his game he’s really good at finding pockets to shoot and his shot’s so dangerous. I’ve been on the wrong side of it quite a few times against him. He’s one of those players that needs half a second and as soon as you lose him for a bit it’s in the back of your net.
“We have guys that will be able to find him and it’s just for him to get back in his rhythm and if he does that, well I think it’s going to be fun to watch.”