Hockey

Mike Matheson gained points by not playing last night
Charles-Alexis Brisebois
Mike Matheson gained points by not playing last night
Credit: YouTube / Habs

Last night, Kaiden Guhle and Lane Hutson formed the Canadiens' first pairing against the Flyers. In reality, these guys should form the club's second pairing in the regular season, which is when Mike Matheson and Noah Dobson play in the same game as them. That makes a nice top-4, rounded out by Alexandre Carrier and a sturdy left-hander on the third pairing. #ArberXhekaj #JaydenStrubleBut in my eyes, even if Matheson didn't play yesterday's game, he must have earned points in the eyes of many fans and in the eyes of the club. Why am I saying this this morning? Because we've seen that developing a top-4 defenseman isn't easy. Far be it from me to pick on David Reinbacher, but yesterday was no easy task. I talked about it in a text this morning and I won't go into detail, but the defenseman tore it up on the ice.He proved he needs time in Laval – and that's just fine.

I definitely haven't given up on Reinbacher, who I still see playing with Hutson one day. And on paper, Guhle and Dobson seem like a pair that could work one day. But the fact remains that it's not for tomorrow morning, that. And in the meantime, I don't understand people who want to see Matheson, who scored over 60 points in 2023-2024 and eats up quality minutes like nobody else on this club, go. Right now, the Québécois is on a defensive top-2 and he belongs. To deprive the Habs of him (i.e., to trade him) in the short term would be a disaster, and that's not putting it too mildly. One day, time may have its effect: maybe Reinbacher will be on the top-4 while Matheson will be better served in a left-handed third defenseman role. But if this week's two games have reminded us of anything, it's that this scenario is still a long way off. In the short term, Martin St-Louis can't do without Matheson and hope to make the playoffs. Remember that Matheson is at the end of his contract and wants to stay. Losing him would hurt the club, since all the guys would move up a chair in the hierarchy. spacer title='Overtime']- Interesting.

– Oh yeah?

– The Blue Jays are not guaranteed to finish at the top of their division.

– He even wore an ‘A' on his jersey.

– Captain Chucky.

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