Canadiens Missing Kaiden Guhle at Practice, New Pairings

The Montreal Canadiens hit the ice ahead of their New Year’s eve matchup against the Washington Capitals, icing new defensive pairings due to an unfortunate incident in the dying minutes of the third period against the Florida Panthers.

But first, some good news.

Defenceman David Savard, who was sidelined with an upper-body injury in early December, was seen taking part in practice for the first time, although he was wearing a blue, non-contact jersey, indicating he’s not yet ready for a return to play.

And now the possible terrible news.

Kaiden Guhle, who left Thursday night’s game following an awkward hit that seemed to lead to a knee or leg injury, did not take part in practice. Guhle was spotted walking down the tunnel with a little help from a trainer following the incident, which involved Florida Panthers superstar Sasha Barkov.

And that's likely the end of Kaiden Guhle's night as his leg and knee bend awkwardly on a hit with Barkov pic.twitter.com/s6jwtcIBYn

— Scott Matla (@scottmatla) December 30, 2022

The Canadiens have not yet provided a medical update, but if they were to lose Guhle, the team would arguably have to play without their two best defencemen given that Mike Matheson is also sidelined with an injury that will keep him out of action indefinitely.

Kaiden Guhle ne jouera pas demain soir (bas du corps).

Kaiden Guhle will not play tomorrow (lower-body).

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) December 30, 2022

Heavy Loss

Seeing as Guhle logs heavy minutes against top competition on a nightly basis, losing him for any period of time would be a significant blow to the Canadiens’ blueline.

Not to mention, Guhle was enjoying a particularly great year from a production standpoint, and currently leads all rookie defencemen in even-strength scoring, with one goal and 10 assists in 36 games.

While we wish Guhle a speedy recovery, we can also consider that losing him will help the Canadiens in their bid to finish among the worst teams in the league, and thus secure another high-end Draft pick.

With Guhle absent at training, Johnathan Kovacevic was given a promotion to the top pairing, whereas Arber Xhekaj and Chris Wideman formed the third pairing.

Justin Barron was kept alongside his fellow rookie defender, Jordan Harris.

Unsurprisingly, Jake Allen seems to be favoured to start the game against the Capitals.

Les trios et duos du CH aujourd'hui à Washington.

Caufield-Suzuki-Dach
Hoffman-Evans-Anderson
Slafkovsky-Dvorak-Gallagher
Dadonov-Drouin-Armia
Richard-Pezzetta

Edmundson-Kovacevic
Harris-Barron
Xhekaj-Wideman

Allen
Montembeault

— J-F Chaumont (@JFChaumontJDM) December 30, 2022