Montreal Canadiens: Ranking The Canadian Division Team’s Defensemen

Ottawa Senators

Thomas Chabot – Erik Gudbranson

Mike Reilly – Nikita Zaitsev

Erik Brannstrom – Joshua Brown

Chabot is absolutely legit and it a top pairing defenceman in the NHL on many teams. He just signed a huge long term contract with the Ottawa Senators which says a lot on its own because their notoriously cheap owner doesn’t like to pay anybody. The problem is, he doesn’t really have anyone to play with him.

Gudbranson was a third overall pick but never lived up to that hype. He is big and physical, but gets beat far too often by speedy forwards and doesn’t shut things down in his own zone as well as most with his stature. He was traded from the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Anaheim Ducks for Andreas Martinsen and a 7th round pick and was then acquired by Ottawa from the Ducks for a 5th round pick. Now he is on their top pairing which shows just how thin they are on defence.

Reilly was cast aside by the Habs when he couldn’t beat Chiarot, Victor Mete, Brett Kulak or Cale Fleury for ice time. The fact he landed on the Sens top four is an indictment on its own. He looks to be paired with Zaitsev who showed some promise as a rookie with the Toronto Maple Leafs before  dropping from 36 points to 13 and then 14.

Brannstrom has a lot of potential, but showed he wasn’t ready for full-time NHL duty last season. He should get his feet wet this year on a third pair, but he isn’t going to dominate – at least not yet. Brown, or Braydon Coburn, will partner and mentor Brannstrom and play reliable defensive minutes without offering much of anything offensively.

Overall, Chabot is really the only above average defenceman on the team. His partner would be a healthy scratch on several teams and he will have to play more than 20 minutes on this team. That’s just not a recipe for success.