With the offseason departure of Joel Edmundson and a long term injury to David Savard, the Montreal Canadiens are short on experienced defensemen in their lineup these days.
There was a time not long ago that subtractions like that would be catastrophic to the club and submarine their whole season. However, the emergence of a solid group of young defenders that are coming into their own at the same time has mitigated the losses and as of now, the results on the ice have not suffered.
It was unprecedented to see so many Canadiens defensemen play well in their first introduction to significant NHL action over the course of last season, that it would have been reasonable to assume letdowns in the form of a sophomore jinx could be coming. However, that has not been the case to this point.
With the exception of 29 year-old Mike Matheson, all of the current regulars on defense have less than 100 games of NHL experience. Johnathan Kovacevic, still only 26 and with just 90 career games under his belt, is the second most tenured player on the back end and has been filling in capably on the top pair.
The rest of the group is under 24 and showing tons of reasons for fan optimism that this could be the most depth the Canadiens have had in this unit since the 1990’s.
Justin Barron, Kaiden Guhle, Jordan Harris and Arber Xhekaj may still be a little wet behind the ears but they have been playing with confidence and poise beyond their years since being thrust into larger roles due to the early season injury shuffle.
It is so refreshing to see the Habs putting the onus on growth by giving these young players an opportunity to have more responsibilities and allowing them to make mistakes, which mind you they are not making many of.
Last year was a great developmental year for the group and showing them this faith should only further their progress, rather than potentially hindering it by bringing in additional veterans to clog their path.
It’s only been a few games but the kids are alright. They have been rewarding the trust shown in them by head coach Martin St. Louis with their steady play. If Barron, Guhle, Harris and Xhekaj can continue to take strides as they have, it will go a long way towards building the defense corps into a force for years to come.
Considering the top prospects in the system are also d-men, namely Lane Hutson, Logan Mailloux and David Reinbacher, it seems the foundation of the contending Canadiens team of the future will be the strength of their blue line. Don’t look now but the future may already be here.
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