The Canadiens will welcome back a key part of their back end tonight against Detroit. The team announced that defenseman Kaiden Guhle will return to the lineup, meaning he will be activated off long-term injured reserve.
The 23-year-old has been limited to just five games so far this season before a mid-October groin injury sidelined him until now. In those five outings, Guhle had a goal and an assist along with 16 hits in a little over 19 minutes per night of playing time.
In the first season of a six-year, $33MM contract, Guhle has been a very important part of Montreal’s back end. At least, that is, when he has been in the lineup. He has logged more than 20 minutes per game in each of his first three NHL seasons while averaging just shy of 20 points in each. However, he’s now missed 116 of a possible 290 games since his rookie campaign, meaning he has been out 40% of the time.
With Guhle’s return, the Canadiens now have their full defense corps available to them. The same can’t be said up front, however, with the team still without Josh Anderson, Kirby Dach, Jake Evans, Patrik Laine, and Alex Newhook with recovery timelines ranging from day-to-day to multiple months away from returning.
Earlier this week, Montreal assigned defenseman Adam Engstrom to AHL Laval with no corresponding roster move made at the time. As a result, the Canadiens had an open slot to activate Guhle so no other roster moves are required.
If this kid could stay on the ice it might make a real difference. He can play but he seems fairly easily broken.