The Montreal Canadiens are back at the Bell Centre, or at least the half that didn’t play on Monday night, as the team will take on the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday night.
The Canadiens top line of Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovský will make their 2025-26 pre-season debut, as will the line of Alex Newhook, Zachary Bolduc, and Joshua Roy.
La formation du Canadien en vue du match de ce soir contre les Flyers :
Caufield – Suzuki – Slafkovsky
Bolduc – Newhook – Roy
Blais – Veleno – Rohrer
Tuch – F. Xhekaj – Thorpe
Guhle – Hutson
Xhekaj – Carrier
Bisson – Reinbacher
Dobes
Kahkonen
— Marc Antoine Godin (@magodin.bsky.social) September 23, 2025 at 10:35 AM
It is a big opportunity for Roy. Newhook and newcomer Bolduc have been a duo since the beginning of camp, and Roy is looking to bounce back after a 2024-25 pre-season that saw him lose what was expected to be a pretty firm lock on a roster spot.
There appears to be one regular forward slot available, and Roy gets the first look next to the two players looking for a third linemate.
It will also be a third line with plenty of intrigue with newcomers Samuel Blais, Joe Veleno, and Vinzenz Rohrer getting his first NHL pre-season action. Blais and Veleno are fighting for NHL roster spots and Rohrer cannot go to the AHL. If he doesn’t make the team, he will be heading back to the Swiss league.
The fourth line of Luke Tuch, Florian Xhekaj, and Tyler Thorpe is a heavy line, that may play together in the American Hockey League.
On defence, Kaiden Guhle and Lane Hutson will be on pairing, alongside Alex Carrier and Arber Xhekaj as Xhekaj gets the first look on what is expected to be the team’s third pairing. David Reinbacher will get his first NHL game action since the game he was injured in last year, playing next to returning defender Tobie Paquette-Bisson.
Jakub Dobeš and Kaapo Kähkönen will split the game in net, as they are competing for the backup spot behind Samuel Montembeault.
The Flyers will have several Quebecers in the lineup, including former Canadiens Anthony Richard and Nicolas Deslauriers. Former Canadien Christian Dvorak is also expected to play for his new team.
La formation des @NHLFlyers ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/HdiLW8Fn2n
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) September 23, 2025