Western trip imminent: the Canadiens will have to recall a defenseman

The Montreal Canadiens announced a flurry of news this morning: for those who haven't seen it, Kaiden Guhle will miss four to six weeks of activity, which will be a major blow to the Canadiens' defensive brigade; Patrik Laine and Kirby Dach won't play tonight, forcing the club to make an emergency recall of Owen Beck.

Defenseman Kaiden Guhle (lower body, 4-6 weeks) and forwards Kirby Dach (lower body, daily evaluation) and Patrik Laine (lower body, daily evaluation) will not play tonight. Forward Owen Beck has been recalled from the Laval Rocket… –

Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) October 18, 2025

This means that Arber Xhekaj and Joe Veleno will also play tonight, given that the Habs have only six healthy defensemen and twelve healthy forwards at the moment. For tonight, that's fine. But after that, on Monday, the Habs will be at home again to face the Sabres. So, logically, by then, the Canadiens shouldn't need to issue another recall-unlessthey suffer another injury, of course

But it's after that that things get complicated. Why? Because on Tuesday, the Habs will head to Alberta for the first game of a four-game Western road trip. And once there, they'll need extras. The club can't leave without an insurance policy.

On the forward front, it's unclear whether the Habs will need to call up any guys. After all, since Laine and Dach are considered day-to-day, we don't know when they'll be back.Maybe Beck won't even have to be on the plane, depending on Laine and Dach's state of health. Butdefensively, it's going to take some help. After all, Guhle won't be back for a while, and right now, the Habs only have six healthy defensemen up top. When you play in Montreal and your club-school is in Laval, that's fine. Obviously, David Reinbacher's injury hurts. Whether it's to be a possible recall or to hold down the fort, having him healthy would have been useful.Besides, when will he be back? Three weeks ago, we were talking about at least four weeks. Theoretically, it must be getting closer… but who knows if the timetable still holds.

The Montreal Canadiens have confirmed that defenseman David Reinbacher suffered a broken hand (metacarpal bone) and is expected to miss the next four weeks.

[image or embed]– BarDown (@bardown.bsky.social) September 26, 2025 at 11:35

The most logical possibility is to see Pascal Vincent lose Adam Engstrom. He's probably the defenseman who could be most useful in the National League in the short term.For his development, though, he shouldn't be recalled just to be on the bridge, that said…The other two possibilities are Marc Del Gaizo and Nate Clurman. If it were only for a game or two (and if it were to be in the stands), the guys would be real possibilities. But right now, it takes someone for more than a month. In my eyes, Engstrom is the candidate of choice – internally. spacer title='prolongation']If Engstrom really is recalled, it will hurt the Rocket's defense. Yesterday, Josiah Didier was injured in a spine-chilling sequence.That's how life is in the AHL..