2025-26 Depth Assessment: Left Defencemen
The left side of the back end for the Canadiens appears to be in good shape for the foreseeable future. That’s especially important as it has become one of their thinner positions in the pipeline all of a sudden.
NHL
Signed: Kaiden Guhle, Lane Hutson, Mike Matheson, Arber Xhekaj
RFAs: Jayden Struble
UFAs: None
Hutson was one of the wild cards heading into last season. While the hope was that he could make the roster full-time, no one was quite sure what to expect. He then went and had a Calder-winning campaign, establishing himself as a long-term fixture of this team. There are probably still some varying expectations heading into next season (does he have another gear, will Noah Dobson cut into his production, etc) but no matter what, he’s still a top-four option at an absolute minimum (probably top two) and a core piece for this team.
Matheson’s role certainly changed in 2024-25. While he was on the top power play unit to start the season, he didn’t stay there for long. The end result was a drop of 31 points, 18 of which came with the man advantage. But despite the lesser role at five-on-four, Matheson still logged over 25 minutes a game, landing in the top ten league-wide. He logged huge minutes shorthanded and with David Savard now gone, that seems likely to continue next season. While offensively, his numbers could drop even more next season, Matheson is still in a spot to play a significant role for Montreal.
Guhle battled injuries again last season and hasn’t progressed a ton relative to his rookie season in terms of production or his role. I’m not saying that’s necessarily bad either as he has been a key top-four defender who logs some big minutes shorthanded as well. He’s starting a new six-year contract next season but as long as he keeps up what he has been doing, he’ll live up to the deal. As long as he can stay healthy (and that might be the biggest question for him), Guhle should be able to do just that.
Xhekaj is in the same situation as Guhle in that he hasn’t progressed a ton but unlike Guhle, that is a bit concerning. Through three seasons, he hasn’t progressed to be more than the number six defender that he was as a rookie, nor has he earned the trust of the coaches to take a regular turn on the penalty kill. He can hit and drop the gloves and those are useful elements on a team that doesn’t have a lot of either but there needs to be some defensive improvement at some point to earn a longer leash and be more than an even-strength-only player. Entering the final year of his bridge deal, there’s a lot riding on next season for him.
Struble is in a similar boat but being a year behind Xhekaj in age and experience, he has a bit more runway to make those same improvements as he’s even more of an even-strength-only player. He has been a capable sixth defender himself who has had flashes of success in the top four but the difference between who gets the sixth spot and who is the reserve is going to be who is a better fit on the right side (for lineup flexibility purposes) and who can get to the point of being reliable enough defensively to kill penalties to take some heat off Matheson and Guhle.
Needs Assessment: Low – The upper-end talent is there and the depth is there with five safe bets to make the roster barring further trades. For the upcoming season, they’re set. If Matheson walks next summer, then this side gets a little thinner talent-wise.
AHL
Signed: Marc Del Gaizo, Adam Engstrom, William Trudeau
RFAs: None
UFAs: None
AHL Contracts: Tobie Paquette-Bisson, Darick Louis-Jean, Ryan O’Rourke
AHL Free Agents: Vincent Sevigny, Tyler Wotherspoon
Engstrom had a solid first year in North America. Early on, Pascal Vincent didn’t throw a lot at him to let the rookie get his feet wet but it didn’t take long before he became an all-situations contributor. Notably, he also shifted to his off-side at times. With the depth on the left side in Montreal ahead of him, it feels like Engstrom is still flying a bit under the radar but he should have a bigger role with Laval next season and get his first NHL recall along the way as well.
Del Gaizo was signed on the second day of free agency and is someone who has shown he can hold his own on an NHL third pairing, a role he had for more than half of last season. Assuming the Habs don’t deal away from their depth and that Del Gaizo gets through waivers (something that happened several times in 2024-25), he should be a top-four piece for the Rocket. He’s not a big scoring threat but has a pair of 30-plus-point seasons in the AHL so he should be able to provide some secondary offence on a back end that has lost a lot of its firepower.
Trudeau has actually seen his production drop in each of the last two years but he was a reliable defensive defender with the Rocket, earning himself a qualifying offer last month as a result. With Wotherspoon gone, I could see Trudeau getting leaned on as the primary shutdown defender moving forward. That probably won’t help his production but his value to Laval might be even higher now next season, pending waiver clearance once he’s cleared to return from injury which might not be until early in the regular season.
Paquette-Bisson returns for a third stint with Laval and is someone they’re quite familiar with as a steady player who can move around on different pairings and play his off-side. His game doesn’t pop but as far as reliable AHL blueliners go, he’s very much that. O’Rourke was a second-round pick back in 2020 but was non-tendered by Minnesota last month after not progressing much in three seasons in Iowa. He has been a regular during that stretch so I’m not sure he signed with Laval with the expectation of being a part-time player. Louis-Jean has been an ECHL regular for the last three seasons and is likely to start in Trois-Rivieres and be the replacement for someone like Chris Jandric.
It’s a bit surprising that Wotherspoon isn’t back as he made it clear he wanted to return and the reliability of his defensive game made it seem like he was a logical candidate to come back. They’ve brought in some replacements but he’s a big loss. Sevigny largely spent last season in Trois-Rivieres but was one more injury away from suiting up for Laval in the playoffs. If a spot on an AHL roster doesn’t materialize, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him return.
Needs Assessment: Low – With Engstrom, Del Gaizo, Trudeau, and Paquette-Bisson atop the depth chart, this is a solid group with some decent depth behind it. One more signing – Sevigny or someone else – to start with the Lions would make sense but otherwise, they’re set here.
Other Prospects
This is the part of Montreal’s prospect pool that looks particularly thin. Yes, they have four players in this part of the system but three of them were seventh-round picks. Those players have some potential but are longer-term projects.
Luke Mittelstadt is someone that Rob Ramage admitted earlier this month the Habs tried to sign but he declined to return for his senior season at Minnesota. His best year production-wise came in his freshman year, one that saw him play for the U.S. at the World Juniors. But he’s more of a cerebral player who is adept at being in the right position at the right time. Expect the Canadiens to try to sign him again after the season and since he’ll be approaching free agency, they might have to burn a year to get him to put pen to paper on a contract.
Owen Protz is a fourth-round pick from the 2024 draft that I liked. A midseason trade that year gave him a better opportunity and showed he can be an impact player. That carried over to last season with OHL Brantford where he played big minutes. The physicality is there and the offence probably isn’t going to be in the pros. If he can continue to sharpen up his defensive game, he should be in good shape to get a contract by June. Notably, he was invited to Canada’s World Junior summer camp so it’s fair to say that he’s on their radar which is promising.
Rasmus Bergqvist was a seventh-round pick last year as a second-year-eligible player. His numbers weren’t flashy in Sweden’s junior ranks but he showed himself to be a dependable defender, earning a promotion to the SHL for most of last season and a spot on Sweden’s World Junior team after being off the radar entirely the year before. He’s trending up but the profile is that of a third-pairing defensive defender if he can put it all together. While his post-draft year was promising, the overall ceiling isn’t super high.
Finally, Maxon Vig was this year’s seventh-rounder in his second year of eligibility. He was a decent point producer in his first taste of the USHL and he plays with an edge which gives him a couple of tools to try to build off of. Unlike Bergqvist, his ceiling is a little higher but the floor is a lot lower as well. He’s a project pick, one that will need at least a couple of years to assess if he’s a legitimate prospect or not.
Needs Assessment: Medium – The number of prospects here isn’t bad but this is not a particularly strong spot in Montreal’s prospect pool. The presence of Hutson and Guhle, in particular, lessens the immediate need to shore up here but it wouldn’t surprise me if the Habs focused a bit more on this spot next draft.