The Canadiens’ top four are struggling on the blue line

Since the start of the season, Martin St-Louis has been playing with essentially a five-man defense.

Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble are used to fill the sixth-defenseman role, but they don't see much ice time when they're in uniform. And that also means Alexandre Carrier's ice time is inevitably decreasing.

That said, constantly using Matheson, Guhle, Dobson, and Hutson is taking a toll on each of these guys' performances. And that's not necessarily a good thing…
Right now, the Canadiens' top-4 on the blue line looks… tired.

We're making simple mistakes, we're forgetting to mark a guy in the offensive zone, we're sometimes playing pretty sluggishly… At some point, that's normal when you're overworked and you've almost nothing left in the tank.

Stéphane Robidas may have had a brilliant career in the NHL, but the defensive coach can't do everything on his own…

Stephane Robidas teaching Habs players how to play defense

pic.twitter.com/G8cqpQbGQy
— /r/Habs (@HabsOnReddit) March 15, 2026

Among the Canadiens' defensemen, Lane Hutson is having the best overall season. Imagine if he were always used on the right side!
Stéphane Gonzalez (BPM Sports) discussed this today on his show: Hutson is much, much better when he plays on the left (his natural position). The stats speak for themselves:

40 points, +30 in 31 games when playing on the left
27 points, -4 in 35 games when playing on the right

The difference is really noticeable.
He's still capable of racking up points playing on the right, but it's much harder in terms of the differential… and it shows just how much better he is defensively on the left.

Obviously, there aren't a million solutions.
But the problem is that the organization doesn't have confidence in Struble and Xhekaj. Could a guy like David Reinbacher quickly get the chance to prove himself?
Will he be given a chance, given the need to find a way to shore up the Canadiens' defense?

That remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure: the Canadiens must find that solution to fix their problem.
Because it's no coincidence that the team has allowed 26 goals in just seven games since the start of March…

In Brief
— He's going to be good.

Landon DuPont: remember that name! The 16-year-old defenseman is tearing up the WHL, with 35 points in his last 19 games! He will be eligible for the NHL Draft in 2027. #NHLDraft #LandonDuPont pic.twitter.com/ks4PWYODLm
— RDS (@RDSca) March 16, 2026

– Will he find the back of the net for the occasion?

The forward will rejoin the Rangers tonight.https://t.co/Du8d7HJC1k
— TVA Sports (@TVASports) March 16, 2026
– He's right. And that's good for the sport!

Aaron Judge had this to say when asked to compare the atmospheres at the WBC and the World Series pic.twitter.com/W71sROp4sl
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 16, 2026
— Two solid veterans.

Patrick Kane (No. 1) and Mikael Backlund (No. 24) entered the NHL together as first-round picks in the 2007 NHL Draft and remain among the 11 skaters from that class still active. They face off tonight when the @NHLFlames visit the @DetroitRedWings on @SportsonPrimeCA. pic.twitter.com/mnedfQCKYY
— NHL Public Relations (@NHLPR) March 16, 2026