Kaiden Guhle: ready to return to the game

This is it.

Kaiden Guhle, speaking to reporters on the Habs beat , revealed that he feels ready to return to action. He’s not worried about playing tomorrow’s game.

This is good news for Guhle, who is recovering from an operation to remove his appendix.

Kaiden Guhle says he’s ready to return to action. He has no concerns about playing tomorrow’s game in Ottawa. Martin St-Louis said this week that there would have to be no risk for us to decide to use him in the last preparatory game.

– Anthony Marcotte (@anthonymarcotte) October 4, 2024

As Martin St-Louis pointed out earlier this week, and as Anthony Marcotte reminded us, it’s clear that the club doesn’t want to play him if he’s not fully fit.

The risk is just too great.

It’s worth noting that the Canadiens’ defenseman didn’t say he was going to play: he said he felt up to it.

I expect, though, if he’s saying this publicly and has met the media, that he’s well and truly ready to play tomorrow’s game against the ~~big, bad~~ Ottawa Senators.

If Guhle does play, I also expect Mike Matheson, who wasn’t in uniform on Tuesday, to be there tomorrow. In fact, I expect Matheson to be there tomorrow, regardless of Guhle’s condition.

This way, the coach can test his first pairing.

I don’t know if Lane Hutson will be there (for sure) tomorrow, as he didn’t play on Tuesday. Could we see him alongside David Savard, to test the potential top-4 for the first game of the season? Possibly.

And if so, we’ll have to see which other defenders are dressed. That could be a clue (not necessarily, but it could) to the club’s regular-season opener. It’ll also depend on the Sens line-up…

We still don’t know what the @CanadiensMTL lineup will look like tomorrow, and especially what the Senators’ intentions are. Kent Hughes is expected to contact Steve Staios today to find out more. At least, that’s what Martin St-Louis said at the press conference…

– Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) October 4, 2024

Overtime

– Interesting.

My column on #Habs defenseman Lane Hutson adjusting to the very bright spotlight in Montreal and why he should stay off social media. #HabsIO: https://t.co/Qpawg4jGoV

– Stu Cowan (@StuCowan1) October 4, 2024