New Pairs can be interesting - just look at Lea and Trennt last season. Who at this time last year would have ever thought that a new CAN pair would place 3rd at Nationals and get to go to 4CC and worlds all in under one year together. And then to place 4th at 4CC and 6th at worlds and have the 4th best Free Skate. Maybe from a new pair where one or both of the partners were in a world medal team before, but this was not the case here, and in fact Lea had very little Pairs experience.
I don't think it was predictable, but it's also not that unbelievable to see Trennt excel with a new partner during a transitional season in which some former top teams were retired or missing in the case of the Russians and mysteriously, China's Peng/ Jin.
Everyone knows what a great pairs guy Trennt is. Fans have been suggesting for several seasons that he could do exponentially better with a partner who matched his talent level (and his physicality). That's not to say he wasn't good and competitive with Evelyn. They were a gritty, gung-ho team and fun to watch. But there was a ceiling to how much they could accomplish together.
Trennt & Evelyn managed to improve their twist, but they never had a lot of pop, power, and speed, which are necessary to compete at the highest level. Evelyn possibly could have improved more with a taller partner. But, things are what they are. You give it your best and move on when necessary. Certainly, Evelyn & Trennt performed decently well at 2022 Worlds behind Cdn World medalists, James/ Radford. So that gave Canada three spots, which is needed to further rebuild their pairs discipline.
Some observers tend to play down Lia's lower-level pairs experience. I think it definitely gave Lia an advantage to already know basic pairs elements, no matter the brief competition experience she had in pairs. As Lia was on the rise in singles, she began achieving notable results, and her personality shined during interviews. I was excited when I heard that Lia/ Trennt were pairing. She's a calm, gritty competitor, and an excellent match for Trennt. It won't be surprising to see them advance further. I do hope they're able to get better material musically and choreographically. They need to move beyond their coach doing all their choreography.
It will also be interesting to see how much Nic & Emma progress this off-season. Since they both are new to pairs, there's a steeper learning curve. They do already have a nice 'long lines' look on the ice.
Altho' for sure it's less surprising to see a German + Russian pairing, than it is to see a (as yet unconfirmed) U.S. + Georgian/ Russian pairing.
unless someone beats me to it 
