When Tomas Tatar was acquired just before the season began, it wasn’t entirely clear what role he’d play on the team, especially after the disappointing post-season performance with the Vegas Golden Knights. Much of the forward lineup was up in the air when the Canadiens took to the ice for the first time, but it quickly became clear that Max Domi and Jesperi Kotkaniemi were answers in the middle of the ice, leaving the only decisions left to be made on assigning the wingers.
Domi moving to centre meant the experiment of Jonathan Drouin at centre no longer needed to be forced, putting him in the left-wing category along with Tatar and a host of others.