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Canadiens: Three Possible Scenarios At The Blue Line

By Patrick Lortie

MONTREAL, QC - APRIL 15: Alexander Romanov #27 of the Montreal Canadiens skates against the New York Islanders during the first period at Centre Bell on April 15, 2022 in Montreal, Canada. The New York Islanders defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-0. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - APRIL 15: Alexander Romanov #27 of the Montreal Canadiens skates against the New York Islanders during the first period at Centre Bell on April 15, 2022 in Montreal, Canada. The New York Islanders defeated the Montreal Canadiens 3-0. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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Jordan Harris (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
Jordan Harris (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /

The Canadiens showed us a few very interesting young defenders this past season. Justin Barron, Jordan Harris, Corey Schueneman and even Kale Clague have shown signs of promise.

You get 8 defenceman travelling with the team and can spread games out easily with the following pairings:

Romanov-Barron

Edmundson-Savard

Guhle/Harris-Schueneman/Clague

The top 4 can easily be interchangeable. You go with who’s playing best and you see who has the best chemistry. That being said, if you’re going to let the young players play then you need to let Romanov and Barron play the bulk of minutes, all while leaving Edmundson and Savard to play at their own level.

Barron is our best prospect on the right side of the blue line and if his foot heals up nicely this summer and he comes into training camp with confidence, his spot is his to lose. You’re risking of over-exposing him by giving him top pairing minutes, but you gotta go with what you have.

The third pairing could be an interesting situation since you have four players eyeing a spot. Both Schueneman and Clague have shown to be reliable on both sides of the ice, while Kaiden Guhle and Jordan Harris would split time in order to gain NHL experience an even level.

If Guhle and Harris progress quickly and show their true potential, Joel Edmundson suddenly can become expendable and your left side of Romanov, Guhle and Harris suddenly becomes stable for years to come.

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