After the Montreal Canadiens struggled in the early goings of the 2024-25 season, the coaching staff had to find ways to make the team more performant. One of the changes that was implemented was to move Kaiden Guhle back to his natural side on the left and put veteran blueliner Mike Matheson on his off side on the right.
The swap happened right before the Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres 7-5 and since then, the Habs have won three of their last four games. Asked how he found out about the move this morning, Guhle told the media he found out on the board rather than being told about it, which he said was probably the best way to find out.
Yesterday after practice, Martin St-Louis was given a day off from the media and it was defensemen coach Stephane Robidas who spoke to the media. Speaking about Arber Xhekaj, he mentioned he had come a long way and had gotten better at doing the little things that make him a better player, such as staying on the right side, where it’s harder to beat him.
Asked what the thinking was behind the Guhle-Matheson swap was, he replied:
I think the objective was to simplify things for him. It wasn’t an issue defensively, it was more with the puck. Playing on your off side brings complications for some players and we thought Mike had incredible skills so we thought maybe, you know he adapted to it very well. You know it’s two players we ask a lot from and they do very good work.
He was also asked why it had always been Guhle on the right side when the results with Matheson there have been so good and he further explained:
Both are able to play on their off side. […] You have to remember that Guhle is a young defenseman, he’s 22 or 22 he doesn’t have the experience Mike Matheson has. We thought perhaps it would give him a little boost of energy. Defensemen play on the right or on the left, and often, during the game you find yourself on the other side. So, you know how we play, the game has evolved, it’s no longer “I’m a right-shot D so I’m staying on the right”, you need to have a certain versatility. We’re lucky to have a guy like Struble who’s a lefty but can play on the right. We also have Guhle and Matheson who can both do it, to their credit.
The blueliners’ coach is glad to have had the experience of playing on his off side in the NHL and he made the media laugh when he said, it didn’t go very well back in the day when he tried to play on his “wrong” side. Now, in hindsight he can understand what made it hard for him to be successful in that role and better prepare his men.
Related: Canadiens: About the Guhle Contract…
It will be interesting to see if the current configuration sticks, especially with a big test coming up on Saturday night with the Vegas Golden Knights on tap, they are the fourth highest scoring team in the NHL.
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