They didn’t whisper it—they broadcast it. Hours before puck drop in a rivalry that already hums with static, the Ottawa Senators made a choice so brazen it feels like a dare, and the Montreal Canadiens can hear it echoing down the tunnel. Names were shuffled, roles redrawn, an unexpected presence elevated under the brightest lights. The message isn’t subtle. It isn’t polite. It isn’t meant to be.

Around the league, the move is being called everything from fearless to foolish. Inside two locker rooms separated by a few concrete walls and a century of grudges, it lands like a spark. You can argue the analytics, you can parse the quotes, you can call it mind games, you can call it theater. But somewhere between a whiteboard and a bench, a decision was made that changes the temperature of everything.

On paper, it’s a lineup. On the ice, it could be a confession of intent. The Senators are not tiptoeing into this one; they’re stomping. They’ve taken a player whose name has become a chant—admired by some, loathed by others—and planted him where nobody expected him to stand. It’s a placement that defies recent form, ignores conventional caution, and tells the Canadiens: if you’re coming, come through him. Meanwhile, another chess piece—bigger, louder, harder to ignore—slides into the frame with a purpose that needs no explanation. Ottawa isn’t disguising a thing. It’s daring Montreal to notice.

In the other room, you can feel the history vibrating like a loose board. Certain memories never quite leave: a stick where it doesn’t belong, a stare that lingers too long, a promise made in October waiting for its February proof. Montreal’s bench knows the tape. So does its blue line. The names you’re thinking of? They’re thinking of them, too. There are players built for the quiet details of winning, and there are players built for nights like this. Tonight might require both.

Coaches will talk about five-on-five structure, about the forecheck, about keeping emotions in the right drawer. They’ll be right to try. But buildings have their own gravity, and some line combinations are less about X’s and O’s than about punctuation. This one feels like an exclamation mark dropped in the middle of a sentence the Canadiens were hoping to finish themselves. It shifts the emphasis. It makes you read every comma again.

What follows could be disciplined, or it could be something else entirely. It could be a study in restraint, or a collection of moments that fans will argue about all spring. There will be numbers to point at—ice time, matchups, zone starts—and there will be the things you can’t chart: who looks away first, who takes the first step, who waits a beat longer than usual before answering a question they’ve been asked all week. Some choices announce themselves immediately; others take a period or two to reveal their real purpose.

Either way, one truth is already clear: this wasn’t an accident. It was a signal. The only question is who hears it loudest when the puck finally drops—and who answers it.

Canadiens and Senators logo

Photo credit: HabsFanatics/NHL

Nick Cousins and the Ottawa Senators are clearly not too afraid of Arber Xhekaj, Josh Anderson, or the Montreal Canadiens.

When asked about it earlier today, Cousins was rather arrogant.

Changes Announced by the Ottawa Senators in Their Offense That Are Stirring Major Reactions: They’re Waiting for the Montreal Canadiens’ Tough Guys Head-On

Even worse, just to taunt the Montreal Canadiens’ players even more, the Ottawa Senators have oddly decided to place Cousins on their first line!

Cousins – Stutzle – Batherson

Greig – Cozens – Perron

Amadio – Pinto – Giroux

MacDermid – Eller – Zetterlund

Sanderson – Zub

Chabot – Jensen

Kleven – Spence

Ullmark

Merilainen

The Sens have therefore made a few changes, placing Cousins and Greig on the top two lines and inserting the tough guy Kurtis MacDermid into their lineup.

No, the Senators have absolutely no intention of hiding Nick Cousins.

It almost seems like they’re proud of him, and there’s absolutely no reason to put him on the first line with Tim Stutzle and Drake Batherson – but well, that’s exactly what they just did.

Kurtis MacDermid, aged 31, is a tough player standing 6 feet 5 inches tall and weighing 233 pounds, with 0 points and 7 penalty minutes in 5 games this season.

Nick Cousins, aged 32, is a forward standing 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighing 191 pounds, with a very low total of 3 points in 12 games this season, along with 20 penalty minutes.

Tempers will be high. Everyone remembers Cousins’ slash on young Habs star Ivan Demidov in preseason – and as Xhekaj reminded us earlier, the Canadiens haven’t forgotten.