Kaiden Guhle and Justin Barron are back to improve the Canadiens' defense

Kaiden Guhle and Justin Barron, the former World Junior defense pairing, will return to the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night. Guhle missed the last five games with an upper-body injury, while Barron missed the past three. The Canadiens were 2-2-1 with Guhle out of the lineup, which gives hope that his return will make them even better. Arber Xhekaj and Logan Mailloux were two players who struggled defensively for the Canadiens over that span, and having them out of the lineup should help their struggling goaltenders.

Guhle will return to the right of the first defense pairing, playing his off-side with Mike Matheson—Barron slots in on the third defense pairing with an intriguing grouping alongside Jayden Struble. Lane Hutson and David Savard round out the blue line on the second pair. Cayden Primeau will get the start, so the blue line must be in top shape before him. Primeau has a .871 save percentage and a 4.02 goals-against average.

Guhle was on a roll before he suffered an upper-body injury. The defender had a goal and three assists in five games, which was a welcome sight, considering he isn't known as an offensive contributor. His previous career-high was 22 points, and Guhle could smash that number if he keeps up this pace. I won't say he'll remain healthy and score at this pace for the rest of the season. It would put him at 15 goals and 46 assists in 77 games. Guhle doesn't have that kind of offensive floor, but the Canadiens would be happy with him in the 30-40-point range. The main goal is to keep him healthy.

Barron needs to improve upon his return. He had plenty of defensive issues, but the Canadiens can accept some flaws if he contributes offensively. However, he has just one goal in seven games this season, albeit a beautiful effort. Barron's roster spot benefits from Mailloux not being ready, but the recent report that the Canadiens are looking for a right-shot defenseman could hurt his chances of staying in the lineup.