There’s no sugar-coating the Kaiden Guhle injury for the Montreal Canadiens. It’s a huge blow to a team that, with exception to fourth-liner Emil Heineman, had finally been healthy with the recents results to by and large match.
Seeing as Guhle plays a third-ranked 21:14 per game as a widely regarded complete defenseman, losing him for any kind of period of time is going to hurt, especially for a team that has suddenly found itself in the thick of the Eastern Conference wild-card race. Having just lost their third consecutive game, the Canadiens need this like anyone does a flat tire on their way to the airport. There’s never a good time for an injury, but it seems like this is an especially bad one, if general manager Kent Hughes had secret designs on making the playoffs this season.
Obviously, for myriad reasons, the primary concern should be Guhle’s long-term health. The Canadiens weren’t realistically looking at a postseason run, meaning his injury shouldn’t impact the outlook of the campaign as a whole. Ultimately, with exception to Guhle’s lacerated quadriceps the 2024-25 season can already be deemed a success, even if fans are left wanting more.
Struble vs. Mailloux
So, promoting Jayden Struble earlier than expected from his temporary demotion, as the Canadiens have done in the wake of Guhle’s injury? Instead of prospect Logan Mailloux, effectively opting to continue to take a slow and steady approach to the latter’s development, it’s the right move.
Now, there must have been some temptation there, based on how Mailloux’s come on as of late (even more) for the Laval Rocket in the American Hockey League. Seeing as Mailloux is a right-handed defenseman, the position Guhle had been playing at the time, and their arguable top prospect on that side, it makes at least some sense. However, Guhle, who had been paired with the left-handed Lane Hutson against the Winnipeg Jets when he got injured, had played mostly on the left side himself this season.
For the most part, Hutson’s partner has been Mike Matheson, who returned to his natural side to partner with Alexandre Carrier against the Jets. Granted, Matheson is a leftie too. So, it’s not like everything fits together perfectly, but the Hutson-Matheson pairing has nonetheless been the top one over the course of the Canadiens’ months-long run to enter the playoff picture. It makes sense that head coach Martin St. Louis would go back to it, especially now, conceivably opening a spot for Struble on the left (even if the left-handed Struble himself has been deployed on the right during much of the just 26 games he’s played this season).
Canadiens Need to Play Struble
Now, Struble’s lack of usage by all appearances prompted his demotion, officially a conditioning stint, to the AHL less than a week before Guhle’s injury. That says a few things. For starters, the seventh-defenseman position had already been earmarked for him. With him back in the NHL, the Canadiens are still down to six without Guhle. So, another call-up would be needed to bring them back up to seven. So, Mailloux could still soon be on his way, but, for all the reasons listed here, that would still be less than ideal.
Guhle’s injury is a horrible situation. However, it still represents an opportunity to give Struble some reps, while allowing Mailloux, who remains exempt from waivers for the foreseeable future, to develop at his own pace. If the Canadiens must call someone else up, why not Gustav Lindstrom?
Lindstrom already has NHL experience. He has already been relied on in the past by the Canadiens, having even been re-signed by Hughes this past October (after having been claimed off waivers by the Anaheim Ducks) presumably as something of an insurance policy with a situation such as this in mind.
It’s a given whatever time Lindstrom gets with the Habs will be in a similar capacity to Michael Pezzetta up front, in near-full acknowledgement he’s only there in case of an emergency. He doesn’t need to play every night like Mailloux should, because his development, simply put, isn’t a priority. It’s a different situation than when the Canadiens called up top-prospect Owen Beck to replace the injured Heineman in a bottom-six role, because that’s where he’s projected to ply his trade.
Considering the 23-year-old Struble played 56 games in a largely successful rookie season last year, he shouldn’t fall into the same category as Lindstrom. He maybe should as Beck, which says something with regard to how he should be viewed internally. The Canadiens realizing he should be playing more probably prompted the conditioning stint in the first place. He needs to get in games regularly. There is no reason why he shouldn’t at this point.
