How Important is Kaiden Guhle to The Habs?

What Guhle brings on the ice is really unmatched by the other defensemen on the team. He is really the only guy who can bring a little bit of everything at a good level. Guhle can hit, make great defensive reads, as well as block shots in the defensive zone. Whereas he also has the skating needed to keep up with the team on transition offence and can often join the rush effectively. Guhle also has a good, accurate wrist shot. The only issue is that his body is clearly injury-prone. 

Unfortunately, nobody can replace the impact he has on the team when he’s healthy. Lapierre explained that now that the high goal scoring is drying up in recent games, the issues that were hidden, like the defensive structure of the team without one of their best defensive players, are now slowly coming out. 

Based on his 4-6 week recovery timeline, Guhle should be back in the next two weeks. The good news is that he has already started skating again and should be able to get back to playing before the end of the month. With his return, hopefully, it will allow everyone in the defensive core to get back to where they belong in the lineup. This means that one of Struble or Arber Xhekaj will need to come out of the lineup, which will help balance things out. 

With the way things have been going the last few games, Struble seems like he may end up being the guy that comes out of the lineup for Guhle once he’s ready. Despite Struble being a good fill-in player for a limited time, it seems that if he starts playing too many games in a row, his game starts to tail off. During Tuesday night’s 5-1 loss to the L.A. Kings, Struble was benched for his struggles, and it seemed like Xhekaj now has the edge between the two defenders for the time being.

While Struble may look like the odd man out right now, it’s possible that this could change as both of these defensemen go hot and cold, but at the end of the day, they are just 6th or 7th defensemen. In reality, Struble is a perfect 7th defenseman as he always seems to look good after a few games in the press box.

Meanwhile, Xhekaj brings a physical presence as someone who can act as an enforcer so his more skilled teammates don’t get pushed around. Until the Canadiens get bigger as a whole, Xhekaj’s role with the team is essential. With that being said, Struble, whose game is probably better overall but more inconsistent with what he brings, is better to be the odd man out.

Other things that Guhle’s 2-way presence will help when he gets back are less pressure on Mike Matheson and Noah Dobson to have to play 25+ minutes a game, night on the top pairing. Matheson and Dobson will be much fresher if they play 22-23 minutes instead, while both Lane Hutson and Guhle can play 20-21 minutes a night. Guhle will also allow Hutson to move up ice more freely to create offence, as he will be able to cover on defence much better than Struble can.

Alex Carrier will also have less pressure to perform on the penalty kill, as at 5’11, 175 LBS, he doesn’t cover the space that someone 6’3, 200 LBS like Guhle could on the penalty kill. Carrier is a great #5 defenseman on a contending team who belongs on the 2nd PK unit, blocking a ton of shots. However, he can never be nearly as effective in the role that Guhle plays. 

Therefore, it’s evident that by having Guhle, everyone on the Habs’ defensive group is in a better spot. Just having Guhle in the lineup should help the team get out of the struggles that they have had at the beginning of November. Although the next 8 of 11 games are against playoff teams from last year and will be a serious challenge for the Habs, who have gone 1-4 against recent playoff teams this season.

Who would you sit when Kaiden Guhle comes back, Arber Xhekaj or Jayden Struble?