On this Saturday in October, there’s some news from the Montreal Canadiens. The biggest news is that defenceman Kaiden Guhle will miss four-to-six weeks with a lower-body injury. Also, there’s a couple smaller injury notes on forwards Kirby Dach and Patrik Laine. So let’s figure out the details and what it all means.
Montreal’s Defenceman Kaiden Guhle Is Out with Lower-Body Injury
The 23-year-old Edmonton, Alberta product was originally drafted by the Canadiens in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. He was selected 16th overall. 2025-26 marks the fourth NHL season of his career. Moreover, his competitiveness and on-the-puck style-of-play makes him a current key member of the strong Habs blueline group. On season thus far, in five games, he has a goal and an assist, in over 19 minutes of ice time. He’s played with Lane Hutson and Alex Carrier mostly, proving his importance to their defensive alignment.
Kaiden Guhle out 4 to 6 weeks. Patrik Laine and Kirby Dach are day-to-day. All with lower body injuries. @CanadiensMTL
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) October 18, 2025
The defensive pairings will shuffle around slightly, and the predicted gameday lines are a sign of that fact. Noah Dobson and Mike Matheson have been the Canadiens most consistent pairing, and carry a very respectable 62.1 expected goal percentage early on. They will be sticking together. With Guhle being injured, it seems Lane Hutson slots in with Jayden Struble. Furthermore, they were Montreal’s most successful d-pairing last year, believe it or not, at an xGoal% of 60.7%. Therefore, head coach Martin St. Louis is confident putting Struble in that situation. Finally, even though Arber Xhekaj and Hutson have been very strong together in limited action, Xhekaj gets paired with Carrier, at least to start.
Matheson-Dobson
Struble-Hutson
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) October 18, 2025
Some Forward News, Too
Then, what about the forward group. With Patrik Laine and Kirby Dach out, it will be a test for the Atlantic Division leading Canadiens. The two have struggled with injuries the past two campaigns, only combining for 129 games between them. The hope is they won’t miss much action. However, this presents an opportunity for their respective replacements.
It means for tonight, Owen Beck and Joe Veleno are set to make their season debuts for the Canadiens. For Veleno, a veteran of over 300 NHL games, would love to prove he is a fit for the lineup. Stepping up tonight on Saturday night, will be a huge first step.
Caufield-Suzuki-Slafkovsky
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) October 18, 2025
So overall, with the magnitude of these three injuries, it will present a big test for the Canadiens. They want to prove they are for real. The positive thing for them, is that the replacements are more than worthy of the challenge. Stay tuned to see, if they can get it tonight and how the defensive pairings will fair over the next month or more without Guhle.
Main Photo Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
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