Kaiden Guhle is (too) fragile, and a successful pairing between Montreal and Demidov

Maxime Truman
Kaiden Guhle is (too) fragile, and a successful pairing between Montreal and Demidov
Credit: Capture d'écran : Twitter

What a close call! The Canadiens had a narrow escape last night at the Bell Centre, managing to score a late goal in the third period and then winning in a shootout (without Nick Suzuki taking a shot) against the struggling Florida Panthers.

After two “flat” periods—those were the words used by Martin St. Louis himself—the Montrealers woke up in the third period, out-shooting their opponents 15–7 during that frame. Result: the Habs managed to add two points to their record… even though they had fewer shots than a bottom-of-the-table team that was missing 10 of its players!

Don't tell me the Habs were missing Carrier, Guhle, Veleno, and Laine…

Hockey will always be a mysterious sport. When the Canadiens were rebuilding and the Panthers were winning the Cup, we beat them almost every time; now that the rebuild is over and the Panthers are playing subpar hockey, we're struggling to beat them.

Go figure…

Kaiden Guhle has me worried (again)
When I saw Kaiden Guhle miss morning practice yesterday, I immediately thought, “Oh no, not again?”

And when I saw that Adam Engstrom was going to take his place against the Panthers, I faced the facts: “Oh man, not again!”

Not that Engstrom is a bad hockey player, but I think I have PTSD when it comes to the health of Guhle, Kirby Dach, and David Reinbacher. I used to include Patrik Laine in that discussion, but that chapter is now closed (unofficially, at least).

We're not quite sure what forced Martin St-Louis to sit Guhle out last night, but I don't buy the theory at all that they simply wanted to give a guy who plays a lot a day off.

Guhle has only 37 games under his belt in 2025-26, and he played less than 20 minutes per game during the long road trip, as well as in Sunday's game at the Bell Centre. Give me a break with the fatigue…

I don't buy the famous “treatment day” excuse either. We use that phrase for practices, not for games. When Kent Hughes himself publicly states that Guhle could miss more games before the end of the season, it means there's definitely an injury involved.

Kaiden Guhle is fragile and is clearly dealing with an injury—hopefully a minor one—right now.
Again!

Guhle is in his fourth NHL season and already has a very extensive medical history:

(Credit: FlashScore.ca)

When he returned to action last January, the Habs' medical staff also had to sit him out to prevent Guhle from playing too many games.

Guhle has always had a bad habit of spending too much time in the infirmary since he started playing hockey.

(Credit: HockeyDb)

He is currently in the first season of a six-year contract ($5.5 million annually). At 22, he's already a question mark for Montreal's front office. Will Kent Hughes try to trade him this summer? If so, will any GM dare to take a chance on such an injury-prone player? We'll see.

It's worth noting that all of this thinking can—and should—also apply to Kirby Dach, who once again managed to get injured yesterday, in his first game back from injury. Fortunately, he was able to finish the game.

But I'm far from convinced that Guhle and Dach will be available—and effective—in the playoffs…

Ivan Demidov loves Montreal

We were worried that Ivan Demidov would face language barriers when he arrived in the Canadiens' locker room almost exactly a year ago. We now know he speaks both French
and English very well: yesterday, during an intermission interview, he dropped the F
-bomb right on live TV
!

We'll forgive him.

After the game, Demidov told reporters in the locker room that he loves Montreal and that he loves being here.

To think that so many people criticized the Canadiens for signing the young Russian. #Ukraine

Montreal and Demidov are a perfect match. Nothing else!

More surprises to come

Montembeault on the bench Saturday… Gallagher, Veleno, and Guhle in the stands last night… Kapanen on the fourth line… Texier on the second
… Laine
and Dach on the third
… Engstrom with Xhekaj…

There were plenty of surprises last night against the Panthers. It must be said that with the coach no longer discussing his lineup with reporters, there's more room for surprises…

Between the second and third periods, Arpon Basu noted that Martin St. Louis won't be afraid to experiment in the final four games of the regular season. The coach wants to rest certain players, but he also aims to try things that could help the team secure wins in the playoffs.

Alex Newhook at center with Ivan Demidov—I didn't hate it. Newhook won over 70% of his faceoffs.

On the other hand, Kapanen on the wing on the fourth line—I'm not so sure.

How far will the coach's experiments go?

No, I don't see Patrik Laine being tested again, for those of you wondering.

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