Kaiden Guhle Vital to Canadiens' Defense

Amid the massive addition to the Montreal Canadiens' defense, Kaiden Guhle has remained a constant top-four stud, and his talents will continue to shine in 2025-26.

Mar 28, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Montreal Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle (21) checks against the Carolina Hurricanes during the third period at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images / James Guillory-Imagn Images

The Montreal Canadiens defence has been a hot topic for some time, and the addition of Noah Dobson this offseason, and Lane Hutson's brilliant 66-point rookie season have drawn most of the attention, and rightfully so, considering their pedigree,

However, the Canadiens have an array of promising pieces on their defense, and one who has yet to arrive, but one guy that deserves plenty of recognition, and outside of Montreal, gets very little is Kaiden Guhle.

Est-ce qu'on vous a mentionné que Kaiden Guhle sait être l'homme des grandes occasions?

Did we mention Kaiden Guhle knows clutch?#GoHabsGo | #NHLYoungStarsWeek pic.twitter.com/TOH4UFyKHW

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) July 17, 2025

No. 21 on the Canadiens defense is steady as they come, he routinely makes the right play, and any way that Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis needs for him to play, Guhle is capable of doing.

Guhle has established himself as a fine top-four defenseman for the Canadiens, and the pieces slot into place quite nicely for the top four of the future, with David Reinbacher widely viewed as one of the Canadiens top-two right-shot defenseman. Of course, Hutson and Dobson are the other two that round out the top four.

In Guhle, the Canadiens have a 23-year-old defenseman who hasn't realized his offensive potential, but has displayed some sandpaper mixed with skill, delivering timely hits that stun the opposition, followed up by a great first pass to springboard the offense. And though he could stand to shoot the puck more, he has a fantastic one timer, slapshot and snapshot.

He is the type of defenseman that you win championships with because of his attentiveness to the small details, that may go unnoticed to many, but put him in his coach's good graces every night.

At his best, Guhle is a defenseman who is capable of scoring 35-40 points a season, but where he will make his biggest impact is with his ability to shutdown plays, scan for outlets and fire tape to tape passes that spark the offense. He is also not shy to join the rush, and support his forwards, opening up for passes, or even opting to use his sneaky good shot to stun goaltenders.

Guhle will never do what Hutson does, and will never shoot the puck like Shea Weber did, but he has a presence and maturity at 23 years old that could potentially earn him a letter on his sweater before all is said and done.

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