Montreal Canadiens: Kaiden Guhle Off to Quick Start in WHL
Montreal Canadiens first round pick Kaiden Guhle has had an interesting season so far.
Much like everyone else, Guhle’s original plans were scrapped due to the global pandemic. The 16th overall selection in the 2020 NHL Draft was planning on suiting up for the Prince Albert Raiders in September, but the start of the season was postponed for months.
He finally started his WHL season over the weekend, but we did get to see him on a few other stages in the meantime.
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Guhle was at Canada’s World Junior camp for most of December and made the team. He played a third defence pair role for the silver medal winners, but excelled in his role. He played a physical, responsible defensive game and showed a little more offensive instincts than we originally believed he had. He scored two goals and three points in seven games for Canada and will be back at the World Juniors next season where he is sure to take on a much bigger role.
Between the World Juniors and the WHL season, Guhle got a taste of life as a pro as he went to Laval Rocket training camp. He even suited up for three regular season games and again, looked comfortable, poised and responsible in those three games. He played a depth role obviously, as an 18 year old in the AHL, but he didn’t look out of place.
While Guhle played a small role at the World Juniors and in his AHL action, he is playing an enormous role for the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL.
They finally were able to begin their 24 game regular season over the weekend. All games will take place in Regina as the Eastern Conference of the Western Hockey League gathers in a bubble environment for their games.
Guhle has been quite impressive in the Raiders first two contests. He is playing huge minutes at even strength, is the quarterback for the team’s top power play and is counted on as their shutdown defender.
In his first game, he got a shot through from the point on the man advantage that was tipped in front of the net and went in. It would turn out to be the game’s winning goal. On Sunday, the Raiders lost 2-1 in a shootout but Guhle scored their lone marker. He jumped into the offensive zone off the blue line and took a cross ice pass before firing a wrist shot into the top corner from the faceoff dot.
Next. Edmundson quietly plays pivotal role for Habs. dark
It’s just been two games so far, but Guhle is wearing the captain’s C on his sweater and is playing well in all areas of the ice. The Canadiens first round pick is certainly living up to that billing early on for the Raiders.