Game 1: Montreal Canadiens @ Toronto Maple Leafs
Start time: 7:00 PM EDT / 4:00 PM PDT
In Canada: Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French)
Streaming: ESPN+, Sportsnet+
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The key young players from last season’s playoff run are still with the Montreal Canadiens for the start of the 2025-26 season, but there are also some new faces set to make their official Habs debut this evening in Toronto.
On defence, the 26-year-old Noah Dobson comes into the fold to not only replace David Savard, who has retired since Game 5 of the series with the Washington Capitals, but be a top-pairing-calibre player for at least the next eight years of his new contract with the team.
At forward, the big addition is Zachary Bolduc, who netted 19 goals after really finding his game in the final third of the 2024-25 campaign while a member of the St. Louis Blues. He would need to score 17 to match the highest total Joel Armia (currently with the Los Angeles Kings) ever had with the Canadiens, so that’s a mark to watch for.
The vacated role at second-line centre that was occupied by Christian Dvorak (who now plays for the Philadelphia Flyers) has been taken up by Oliver Kapanen. Kapanen looked very strong in a spot between Alex Newhook (another of the second-line options the Canadiens rolled through last year) and rookie Ivan Demidov in the pre-season, so much so that their positions were secured even before the final pre-season game.
The main draw will continue to be the top line of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Juraj Slafkovský with Lane Hutson dancing at the blue line behind them. All four players looked eager for the season to start during the pre-season when they toyed with their opponents, and now we’ll get to see them when the points mean something.
Montreal Canadiens projected lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| #13 Cole Caufield | #14 Nick Suzuki | #20 Juraj Slafkovský |
| #15 Alex Newhook | #91 Oliver Kapanen | #93 Ivan Demidov |
| #76 Zachary Bolduc | #77 Kirby Dach | #11 Brendan Gallagher |
| #92 Patrik Laine | #71 Jake Evans | #17 Josh Anderson |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| #21 Kaiden Guhle | #48 Lane Hutson |
| #8 Mike Matheson | #53 Noah Dobson |
| #72 Arber Xhekaj | #45 Alexandre Carrier |
| Starter | Backup |
|---|---|
| #35 Samuel Montembeault | #75 Jakub Dobeṧ |
Toronto Maple Leafs projected lineup
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
|---|---|---|
| Matthew Knies | Auston Matthews | Matias Maccelli |
| Bobby McMann | John Tavares | William Nylander |
| Dakota Joshua | Max Domi | Nick Robertson |
| Steven Lorentz | Nicolas Roy | Calle Jarnkrok |
| Left Defence | Right Defence |
|---|---|
| Jake McCabe | Chris Tanev |
| Morgan Rielly | Brandon Carlo |
| Oliver Ekman-Larsson | Simon Benoit |
| Starter | Backup |
|---|---|
| Anthony Stolarz | Cayden Primeau |
