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Canadiens Analysis

Top 3 Canadiens Players That Must Stay Healthy In 2024-25

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1 year ago

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montreal canadiens injuries

Something very interesting happened to the Montreal Canadiens last season. Once the regular season was over, captain Nick Suzuki was not the only player who managed to maintain perfect attendance throughout the year. He was joined by Mike Matheson, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Jake Evans in the 82-game club, which was less of a club and more of a solo project led by Suzuki in previous seasons, as evidenced by the fact that the rest of the lineup had set records for the most man games lost in NHL history. Having five members of a team play in all 82 games isn’t normally seen as a significant achievement, but in this case it was definitely a step in the right direction.

There’s certainly an element of luck when it comes to staying healthy, but it’s also a key determining factor when it comes to finding success in a professional sports setting. Simply put, teams will not improve if they can’t maintain any semblance of good health. This logic applies to both the top teams in the league and the bottom feeders, but the impact is particularly heavy for a team like the Canadiens that does not necessarily have the depth in place to weather any type of injury storm.

I’d go as far as suggesting health will be the most important determining factor when it comes to the Canadiens’ place in the standings next season, beyond the individual growth that’s expected from one of the youngest lineups in the NHL.

The Kirby Dach Situation

It will be difficult for Kirby Dach to shed the perception that he’s prone to injuries. Regardless of how random his issues have been, he’s missed an unreasonable number of games since joining the Canadiens, a matter that is magnified by what he brings to the table for head coach Martin St-Louis. Few players can match Dach’s excellence in transition, and he represents the great hope that the Canadiens will be able to ice a second line that will provide somewhat consistent secondary scoring to support Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, and Juraj Slafkovsky on the top line.

When Dach is on the ice, the Habs are a completely different team. Not only do their underlying numbers improve by leaps and bounds, every player that plays alongside him tends to enjoy success from an individual standpoint. Unfortunately, Dach has missed almost two thirds of the games on the schedule in the last two seasons, which has mitigated almost all the positive impact he  made during the rebuild. To be even more accurate, Dach has only finished 58 of the 164 games played by the Canadiens in 2022-23 and 2023-24, representing an attendance record of just a hair above 35 percent.

The most frustrating aspect of the whole situation is that Dach worked hard last summer to improve his muscle mass, flexibility, and other aspects of his training with the explicit goal of avoiding another season-ending injury. He’s well aware of his impact, and wants to reward the Canadiens for giving him an opportunity to relaunch his career after a frustrating, injury-filled stint with the Chicago Blackhawks.

With Dach in the lineup, players like Joshua Roy and Alex Newhook are seen as legitimate options to complete a second line that can hold its own. However, if we remove his name from the depth chart, it’s evident that the Canadiens become a one-line team, which makes life much easier on opponents, and much harder on Suzuki, Caufield, and Slafkosvky, not to mention St-Louis.

Ideally, a strong lineup would allow someone like Dach to take his time when it comes to returning to the ice, but that’s simply not the case for the Canadiens. They need him to be healthy if they hope to take the next step in the rebuild, adding even more pressure to Dach’s already pressure-filled plate.

Arber Xhekaj’s Shoulder

Arber Xhekaj has enjoyed one of the most impressive ascensions to the NHL in league history. Literally. He made history by going undrafted and then jumping directly into an NHL lineup. No other player in league history can claim they achieved the same feat. What’s more, despite the confusing narrative about his overall value, the underlying numbers confirm that Xhekaj didn’t just tread water while playing on the third pairing, he outplayed all his counterparts by a significant margin, including those who were given the very same sheltered usage.

Interestingly, every time I mention Xhekaj’s numbers, I get a flood of angry comments from people who fell into the same trap as I did earlier on in his career. They suggest he’s just a flash in the pan, or that his value is minimal due to his usage. These theories are rather easy to disprove, and I invite everyone that made the wrong read on his value a few years ago to join me in admitting we were wrong, rather than trying to tear down a young man who defied the odds almost every step of his hockey career. If it were easy to emulate what Xhekaj did in the last two seasons, surely one of the highly-touted defencemen in the lineup would have matched his impact. It’s also a good lesson for all the aspiring hockey analysts out there. It’s impossible to get everything right, and going out of your way to justify a poor projection will inevitably lower the confidence level fans have in your overall ability to judge players.

But there is one legitimate criticism that has surfaced when it comes to Xhekaj’s first two seasons in the NHL, as he has had to close out both years by undergoing surgery to repair his shoulder, a concerning situation for a 23-year-old player.

Given that Xhekaj has already fought most of the toughest players in the league, the hope is that he will no longer have to put his body on the line to prove his worth to the organization. That’s not to say he shouldn’t fight at all, but he has more value to the Canadiens on the ice than he does in the penalty box.

Xhekaj is someone who has had to fight tooth and nail for every opportunity he’s been given, which connotes a conversation with Canadiens management, in which they confirm his importance to the team, would go a long way in reassuring him that he has a future with the team, regardless of how many souls he steals at centre ice.

WATCH: Arber Xhekaj Bullies Veteran Zach Kassian In One-Sided Fight

Key Players And Trade Bait

There are a few good options to close out the health-related article. If the Habs hope to add more draft assets at the 2025 trade deadline, veterans such as Christian Dvorak and David Savard will have to be considered healthy enough to help a contending team in a deep playoff run.

But when it comes to the team’s long-term success, Kaiden Guhle’s presence will be key. I wouldn’t say Guhle is injury prone per se, but he has no issue putting his body on the line at any given moment, which has led to some unfortunate sequences that knocked him out of the lineup for various stretches.

With a brand-new contract extension in place, Guhle will hopefully feel much less pressure when it comes to his future job security, and consequently pick his spots a little better, as to avoid potential injuries. It’s not an easy line to walk. Guhle’s aggressive nature is part of what makes him a key player in the organization. But his impact is tied to his heavy usage. And while that may not be reasonable for a 22-year-old with so little experience, it’s the reality of his value to the organization.

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