Canadiens defenceman Kaiden Guhle set to return against Detroit

It's well known that the Montreal Canadiens infirmary has been filled to the brim this season with the likes of Patrik Laine, Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook. One of the Canadiens' most-missed on-ice presences will be leaving their side in the press box and joining the team on the ice, that of course being Kaiden Guhle.

Guhle had been rumoured to be returning to play soon for about a week, and the timing couldn't have been better. Montreal currently sits at the top of the Atlantic Division with 56 points and a game in hand on the Detroit Red Wings (Detroit also has 56 points) and will look to create some separation in the standings. Guhle will bring a much needed physical edge to the Canadiens. During the 2024 season, Guhle laid 104 hits and blocked 124 shots in 55 games. In 5 games this season, he has 1 goal, 1 assist, 16 hits and 5 blocks.

"It sucks" expressed Guhle on his time injured "It's always tough to watch up top. It's not that you lose a relationship with your teammates. You're on different schedules and you maybe don't see them as much as you usually would when you're playing, so that sucks."

""You can do all the rehab skates and scratch skates, you can do a million of those and you'll never been in game shape. I think it'll take me a period or two to get back to the speed of the game but I've unfortunately I've done it a few times before so I kind of know what to expect and kind of what to do going into these games."

Fellow defenseman Noah Dobson is excited about his teammates' return. "I know how hard he's worked to get back, it's not easy when you miss that amount of time. He's a big piece of our team, our back end, so we're all excited to get him back and it's only going to help our team going forward."

Saturday night's game against the Red Wings will be just the second game of the season against Detroit, with Montreal dismantling their opponent 5-1 in their first meeting on October 9th, just days before Guhle was initially sidelined. Both teams certainly have a different look than the last time they met, and with the season over halfway over, every divisional clash becomes just that extra bit more important. Also announced Saturday morning was that Jacob Fowler would be Montreal's starting goaltender against the Red Wings, once again skipping over Jakub Dobes in the current rotation.