With the recent acquisition of Noah Dobson, the Canadiens de Montréal now boast a very fine defensive brigade.
There are sure to be two right-handed defensemen in Montreal to start the season with Dobson and Alexandre Carrier (unless David Reinbacher surprises and breaks into the line-up).
On the other hand, this creates congestion on the left flank: Lane Hutson, Kaiden Guhle, Mike Matheson, Arber Xhekaj and Jayden Struble.
The first three are guaranteed to be in the starting line-up for the start of the season (unless a trade materializes involving one of these defensemen).
Xhekaj and Struble have shared the workload over the course of the season, and one of them will have to stand out from the other to get more playing time.
They’ll also have to prove they can spend time in the defensive zone killing penalties, as David Savard’s departure leaves a big hole to fill.
Savard did a lot on the power play, blocking a lot of shots by stretching out on the ice.
Arpon Basu of The Athletic talked about this hole to fill in a recent article and we can’t really put Dobson, or Hutson in this situation. That leaves Guhle, Matheson and Carrier as defensemen who can take minutes short of a man.
As Basu mentioned in his article, Xhekaj has already spent some time shorthanded, which could give him an edge.
He has a very imposing frame, so he can clean up in front of the net if there’s traffic to give the goalie a good look at what’s going on.
Struble can also be imposing, but he’s not in the same league as Xhekaj (there’s still a four-inch, thirty-pound difference).
He can still stir the pot and help the goalkeeper.
If I had to choose a 6th defenseman, I’d go for Xhekaj. As we all know, the mere fact that he’s dressed for a game makes opponents calmer, and they’re less inclined to injure (intentionally or not) Habs players.
Both defensemen are young and tough and still have a lot to learn, but in my opinion, Xhekaj has a (small) head start, especially since we saw a progression in his game in 2024-25. He takes fewer risks, takes fewer stupid penalties and is out of position less often.
Practice camp will give us a better idea of who’s ahead of the other.
-1751642663-q80.webp "The Receipt That Changed Everything: Saquon Barkley’s Quiet Gesture Sparks National Wave of Kindness")
-1750998566-q80.webp "Jihaad Campbell's injury shouldn't keep him from carving out a big role as a rookie for Philadelphia Eagles in 2025")