Canadiens Depth Chart: Trades Improve Defensive Prospect Odds

While most of the focus has been on the new potential Montreal Canadiens forward lines now that sniper Patrik Laine is in the mix, the trade will also impact the possibility one of the team’s best defensive prospects will earn a roster spot out of camp.

Jordan Harris, the player exchanged for Laine, is a very underrated defenceman who could stand to use an uptick in ice time now that he is a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets. But that would not have been the case in Montreal, where a defensive logjam has limited minutes throughout the blue line. It’s also important to note Harris is now waiver eligible, which further limited the options for the Habs.

The other defenceman traded by the Canadiens this offseason, Johnathan Kovacevic, is in the same boat. While he did a very good job absorbing minutes for the Canadiens, a right-handed defenceman landing on the waiver wire is a recipe for a guaranteed waiver claim, the exact reason Kovacevic ended up in Montreal in the first place.

Impact On The Left Side Of The Canadiens Blue Line

The player who is set to benefit the most from the Harris trade is clearly top defensive prospect Lane Hutson. The Canadiens are well aware he possesses the type of game-changing skill set necessary to find success in the NHL, but with Harris in the mix there was a chance he could have ended up playing some games for the Laval Rocket in the AHL. The potential demotion was especially evident when we considered Kaiden Guhle and Mike Matheson are locks, while Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble are better suited to playing a third-pairing role.

ON TOPIC: How Lane Hutson’s Chaotic Approach Will Benefit The Montreal Canadiens

Now that Harris has moved on, the possibility Hutson will start the season with the Canadiens has improved significantly, to the point that projecting him to start in the AHL is no longer realistic. Furthermore, Guhle could end up playing a stretch on the right side of the blue line again, though that’s far from an ideal situation for a player who is expected to one day take the permanent reins on the first pairing.

Some players have few issues playing on their offside, but there’s no avoiding that it’s a much more difficult situation in which to thrive, particularly for younger players who are still finding their rhythm in the NHL. Harris, for example, played well on the left, but struggled to generate controlled exits on his offside since his puck retrieval skills were mitigated, leading to a loss of value in transition.

Impact On The Right Side Of The Canadiens Blue Line

Justin Barron is no longer waiver eligible, and David Savard is the only defenceman on the right side of the blue line who can provide a veteran presence. Things can change, but for now it’s safe to say they will both have a roster spot by the time the Canadiens open their season on October 9 versus the Toronto Maple Leafs.

This leaves one top-six spot that is coveted by two of the team’s best defensive hopes. Both David Reinbacher and Logan Mailloux are aiming to start the season with the Habs, setting up a rather interesting camp battle between the two highly-touted prospects. The flip side of the camp battle is that the player who does not end up earning a job will likely be tasked with No.1 pairing minutes in the AHL rather than watching games in the press box as the seventh defenceman, which could end up being more beneficial to their development in the long run.

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If I had to pick a front-runner, logic dictates Reinbacher’s well-rounded game is probably best suited to play in the NHL next season. He’s better at defending the rush, and his active stick should lead to more takeaways. With that in mind, I’d be lying if I said I did not see the value in giving him as much ice time as humanly possible in the AHL instead of relegating him to a support role in the NHL.

Mailloux, on the other hand, would improve the team’s options on the powerplay, an important factor in turning the corner in the rebuild. Additionally, most modern hockey analysis completely ignores the value of having a solid powerplay, but there’s no denying having a healthy man advantage is a common theme for most successful NHL franchises. Mailloux older than his Austrian counterpart, and his lone game in the NHL last season led to very impressive underlying numbers, as he controlled almost 58 percent of the expected goals while he was on the ice. It’s a small sample size that came during sheltered usage, but it was also undoubtedly a very encouraging start to his NHL career.

Alex Newhook opens the scoring for Montreal 👀

Logan Mailloux has his first career NHL point. pic.twitter.com/iWK0CvK7pu

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) April 16, 2024

Montreal Canadiens Brass Tacks

The third option would be alternating between the two players, allowing them to take turns dipping their toes in the icy waters that greet most rookies in the NHL, the same strategy the Canadiens adopted two years ago when the majority of the blue line was populated with first-year players.

Waiver eligibility will certainly come into play as well, as will the lineup decisions made by head coach Martin St-Louis. If Guhle is forced to play on his offside, there’s even a chance neither Reinbacher nor Mailloux will start the season in the NHL.

But given recent trades, their path to the Canadiens is much clearer, and that’s exactly what you want to see in an organization that is banking on growth from key prospects to power their evolution into a team that can eventually contend for the Stanley Cup.