Over the next couple weeks, the Montreal Canadiens have a chance to have a fully healthy forward group for the first time all season once both Ivan Demidov and Florian Xhekaj return from injury.

As a result, I have decided to share what my ideal forward lines would be if/once all forwards on the Montreal Canadiens roster are healthy.

Here are the lines that I would run:

Line 1: Cole Caufield – Nick Suzuki – Chris Kreider 

Although it may not be the popular choice or even the top line the Montreal Canadiens end up using, it has the potential to give the team a more balanced forward group. A good top line needs an elite duo with another player that can make room for his linemates and allow them to create their magic. With Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki, the Canadiens have that elite duo, while at this point in his career, Chris Kreider is less of a go-to guy and more of a complementary player for a top six line. 

Kreider may not have seemed like a good fit during the first couple games of the 2026-27 season, but he was still getting used to playing with his new team. In about two weeks’ time, Kreider will have played about 15 games in a Canadiens uniform and will be used to the system, making him a better fit for whatever line that he plays on than he was during the season opener. What Kreider can bring to the table is being a player that can dig the puck out of the corner and the puck to his more skilled linemates. However, where he would really earn his keep is standing in front of the net attempting to tip shots that come through the traffic. Kreider is notoriously one of the best players at deflection goals and could allow the top line to produce more by focusing on creating room for his linemates by drawing the opposition towards the net. 

Line 2: Juraj Slafkovsky – Oliver Kapanen – Ivan Demidov

As mentioned above, Kreider on the top lineup can allow for the Canadiens to have a more balanced lineup, and the reason for that is because of the three players on the potential second line. The trio of Juraj Slafkovsky, Oliver Kapanen, and Ivan Demidov proved that they have a ton of chemistry during their 38 games that they played together. During that span, it allowed the Canadiens to have two offensive lines that their opponents needed to worry about. 

Heading into training camp, this line was expected to start the season together, but due to Kapanen starting the season out with a lower-body injury, the trio was not able to recreate the magic that they did during the 2025-26 season. Even with Kapanen out, the other two players were still expected to do damage as the elite duo, but unfortunately a foot injury that Demidov sustained during the preseason lingered into the regular season and slowed his game down. After just two games, Demidov was shut down for two-to-four weeks with a lower-body injury to recover.

Now that Kapanen is back and Demidov should be back within the next two weeks, the Canadiens should consider going back to this trio to see if they can recreate the magic that they had last season. The reason it worked was that Slafkovsky and Demidov were able to share the play-driving role, while Kapanen would use his hockey IQ to find the spots to get open in the high-danger areas. 

Line 3: Alexandre Texier – Phillip Danault – Zach Bolduc 

Of all the lines that the Canadiens are currently running, this is the one that they should keep together once all the forwards are healthy again. The Alexandre Texier-Phillip Danault-Zach Bolduc trio, commonly referred to as the French Connection, has been the Canadiens’ most consistent line. They have been a possession-dominant line that has consistently controlled the scoring chances when they are on the ice. Despite this, the goals themselves haven’t come as the advanced stats say they should. Luckily on Saturday night, Texier scored, which was the first goal by the trio that counted in the last five games (Bolduc and Texier both had goals called back against the Detroit Red Wings last Saturday).

As a trio they may not score a ton, but they control a lot of the puck possession on the ice and prevent their opponents from getting scoring chances when they are on the ice, and that’s all you can ask from an energy line like the French Connection. All three players bring different elements to the table that allow them to click.

Danault is the strong defensive presence and brings great experience to the line. Bolduc brings the power forward type game as the line’s main forechecker that can punish the opposing team’s defenders and also has a very good shot. Meanwhile, Texier is the best of the three at protecting the puck along the wall, which allows the trio to cycle the puck. In fact, this line has some similarities to the line that Danault had with Brendan Gallagher and Tomas Tatar during his first stint with the Canadiens. 

The main difference is that the line with Texier and Bolduc has a little less offense but their 70.7% expected goals resembles the same advanced numbers that Danault’s line with Gallagher and Tatar had during the 2021 season. It’s very possible that the success that the French Connection’s line has had doesn’t last, but for the time being they should stay together. 

 Line 4: Alex Newhook-Jake Evans-Josh Anderson 

A line of Alex Newhook-Jake Evans-Josh Anderson may be listed as the fourth line, but they are really just another third line. The main reason for this trio is because of the chemistry that Evans and Newhook showed together during the 2026 playoffs. Evans arguably played the best hockey of his career next to Newhook, who got red-hot during the Canadiens playoffs run. Due to that success, the Montreal Canadiens should consider pairing them on a line again. 

Josh Anderson comes in as the third player on that line because he can match Newhook’s speed while also giving the line someone who plays a big hard forechecking game. Not to mention Anderson has scored three goals in his last three games while playing on a line with Newhook. Anderson won’t continue scoring nearly every game, but he can continue this success by continuing to play with a fellow speedster in Newhook. 

This line has the potential to become the Canadiens’ main energy line as they play with a lot of speed and have the potential to produce a good amount of depth offense with the two wingers.

Unfortunately, for rookie Florian Xhekaj, there isn’t enough room for him to be a regular when the entire roster is healthy, however he would be first man up if a player goes down, given that he’s been better than Kirby Dach.