On Thursday night, Marc Dumont of Montreal Hockey Now went on the Sick Podcast to discuss the negative impact that moving Juraj Slafkovsky down to a line with Oliver Kapanen and Ivan Demidov has had on the Canadiens’ top 6. Dumont’s argument comes from advanced stats that the Habs’ top line with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki had been suffering more than many people realize with Zack Bolduc instead of Slafkovsky. As of Thursday night, the top line’s high danger chances had fallen by nearly 20%. However, have things changed after Friday and Saturday’s games, or are the Habs’ top two lines still suffering?
The numbers don’t lie. The #GoHabsGo 1st line was better with Juraj Slafkovsky on it…@MarcPDumont: “It went from an elite line, among the best in the NHL, to way below replacement”#thesickpodcast @TonyMarinaro @BWildeMTL pic.twitter.com/0cMwm0uEt4
— The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro (@thesickpodcasts) November 28, 2025
The stats as of Thursday night: the top line of Cole Caufield, Nick Suzuki, and Zack Bolduc had controlled just 40.6% of shots on goal when they were on the ice, which was down from a strong 59.2% of shots when Slafkovsky was on their line instead of Bolduc. For Dunont, the stat that matters most is the high danger chances. In that area, the top line controls just 40% of the high danger chances as opposed to 57.3% of the opportunities prior to Slafkovsky being placed on the 2nd line with Demidov and Kapanen.
If the #GoHabsGo hope to qualify for the playoffs, they’ll need a solid top six.
I’ve analyzed the results since the Canadiens removed Slafkovsky from the first line, and the differences are staggering.
The numbers don’t lie, the change isn’t working.⬇️https://t.co/bzWOelgfHx
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) November 27, 2025
The only area where the Habs’ top line was still above 50% was the actual goal percentage, where Caufield, Suzuki, and Bolduc had scored 3 goals and been on the ice for 2 at that point of Dumont’s declaration. However, even through that small sample, the line had taken a significant dip from the incredible 78.6% of goals scored when they played with Slafkovsky.
With his 3-point performance against Utah, has Zach Bolduc cemented his place on the 1st line?@BWildeMTL: “I don’t think he’s a top 6 forward… I think Slafkovsky should get back on that line”#GoHabsGo #thesickpodcast @TonyMarinaro @MarcPDumont pic.twitter.com/GQs4kEN3i2
— The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro (@thesickpodcasts) November 28, 2025
It made sense that the top line had faltered given the struggles it was having early on, but according to the stats that Dumont brought up, even Juraj Slafkovsky wasn’t having the same success with Kapanen and Demidov that they had with Alex Newhook.
Despite it looking like Slafkovsky had transformed that line for the better, Dumont shows that was not in fact the case, as the high danger chances had gone all the way down from 55.3% to just 36.4% of chances in their favour. With that being said, the line clearly hadn’t been doing as well as many people had thought.
The Habs have played two games since Marc Dumont spoke on the Sick Podcast, which includes a game where the Habs were very successful against the Vegas Golden Knights. How do the numbers look now?
The reality is that despite some nice success, the line of Demidov-Kapanen-Slafkovsky is continuing to allow more shots against them than they are controlling. As great as the line looks when they produce, it’s clear they aren’t working well as a 2-way trio right now. Although after a game like the Habs had on Saturday, it can be understandable why the numbers haven’t really improved. The line appears to be fun and can still be used as an offensive threat to take some pressure off the Suzuki line.
This skilled move by Juraj Slafkovsky leading to Ivan Demidov’s goal was the best Habs moment of the game today
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) November 30, 2025
Meanwhile, the top line with Bolduc is continuing to produce to improve, and they are now up to controlling 55.64% of the shots generated. Therefore, it’s clear that Bolduc is getting the hang of playing with Caufield and Suzuki, meaning this line has the potential to work for the time being at least. This will also allow Slafkovsky to be able to be the play driver on his own line as he continues to find amazing chemistry with Ivan Demidov.
In reality, the game against the Avalanche was an outlier, and therefore Caufield-Suzuki-Bolduc and Slafkovsky-Kapanen-Demidov can be two successful top 6 lines right now that will only get better as the chemistry keeps growing between the lines.
