Major lineup shakeup coming for Martin St-Louis as sources say young player will be removed
Noah Dobson is expected to return to the Canadiens lineup for Game 7 against the Lightning tonight in Tampa, three weeks after thumb surgery.
The information comes from Marco Normandin, the same reporter who broke the original surgery news in exclusivity earlier in the playoffs.
Normandin says Dobson is not at 100 percent, but the defenseman is insisting on playing in the winner-take-all matchup.
I’m told he’s definitely not 100%, but it’s a do-or-die game and he’s insisting on playing."
- Marco Normandin
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Thumb procedures of this kind typically need four to six weeks to fully heal. He is at three.
That timeline alone tells you everything about how this Montreal locker room is approaching a do-or-die night on the road.
Martin St-Louis now has a real decision on his hands, and not just about whether to dress him.
How much ice time can Martin St-Louis trust him with
The bigger question is deployment. Dobson posted 47 points in 80 games this season with 12 goals and 35 assists.
He also ran the second power play unit before the injury. Without him, that group lost its main puck-mover from the blue line.
The Canadiens went 48-24-10 in the regular season. Their offense averaged 3.5 goals per game, fueled in large part by transition from the back end.
That style takes a hit when your top right-shot defenseman is missing, and Montreal felt it across the series.
Tampa won the regular season series too, going 2-2 against the Canadiens but holding home ice through most of it.
Game 6 ended in a 1-0 overtime loss for Montreal at the Bell Centre. The offense went scoreless through 60-plus minutes when it mattered most.
That is the offensive jolt St-Louis is hoping Dobson can provide tonight, even at less than full health.
But there is risk here too. A defenseman playing on a healing thumb in a Game 7, against Jon Cooper's team, is not a small ask.
One bad pinch, one missed handle on the breakout, and the conversation flips fast.
Dobson is 26 years old and carries a $9.5 million cap hit. The Canadiens did not bring him in to watch from the press box during the most consequential game of the year.
If he plays and produces, this becomes a defining chapter of his Montreal story. If he plays and gets exposed, the second-guessing starts before the final horn.
Tampa knows. Cooper will test that thumb early, and often.
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| POLL | ||
MAI 3 | 848 ANSWERS Major lineup shakeup coming for Martin St-Louis as sources say young player will be removed Should Martin St-Louis really dress Noah Dobson at less than 100 percent for Game 7? | ||
| Yes | 540 | 63.7 % |
| No | 308 | 36.3 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
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HIER
16 MAI 2026
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| B | P | PTS | ||
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
| Tage Thompson | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jack Quinn | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Zach Benson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jake Evans | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ivan Demidov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Konsta Helenius | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zach Metsa | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Arber Xhekaj | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Bowen Byram | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Michael Matheson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan McLeod | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Norris | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | - | - | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | - | - | |
| STATS COMPLÈTES | ||||