Mike Matheson appears close to a return, possibly as early as Thursday against the Boston Bruins, after missing the last six games due to an injury. On Wednesday, he practiced in full and is reportedly set to travel with Montreal to Boston, which is usually a good indication that he is expected to play.
This creates a little bit of a challenge for Martin St. Louis because it isn't clear where Matheson slots in on the blueline. This is a group that has played well without the veteran defenseman and is coming off arguably their best performance of the season against the Minnesota Wild.
Matheson has been a key part of the Canadiens' blueline over the past few seasons, averaging over 24 minutes of ice time per game over the past five seasons. Through eight games this season, Matheson has four points and is averaging slightly under that 24 minute mark with 23:45.
What are the best pairs for the Montreal Canadiens with Mike Matheson in the lineup?
The Canadiens probably don't want to break up any of the pairs they recently used: Lane Hutson-Noah Dobson, Kaiden Guhle-Alexandre Carrier, and Arber Xhekaj-Adam Engstrom. Each line has performed really well, but leaving Mike Matheson on the bench isn't really an option either.
If Matheson is able to return against the Bruins, Engstrom is the most likely to come out of the lineup. However, the pair of Xhekaj and Engstrom have had the best xGF% of any pair with over 30 minutes of ice time at 62.48%, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The next closest pair in xGF% is Mike Matheson and Alexandre Carrier at 61.92%, but these two have the lowest time on ice together of these pairs at only 33 minutes. While it isn't a big sample size, it could make sense because it keeps together their best pair of Noah Dobson and Lane Hutson
This would then leave Kaiden Guhle to be paired with Arber Xhekaj, a pairing they haven't really used much. However, both players are playing very well this season, and it could work to give Montreal the best possible pairs with the six players expected to be active.
The one thing Martin St. Louis doesn't want to do is disrupt the momentum the blueline has had as of late. It wouldn't be surprising when everyone is healthy that the Canadiens are regularly rotating seven defensemen so these pairs may not be permanent but should be what they begin with.
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