Montreal Canadiens: New Year's Resolutions For All Habs Players
Defensemen
Justin Barron's resolution is to clean things up in the defensive zone and lock up a spot next to Kaiden Guhle for a long time. Barron is a terrific skater and can carry the puck from his own end to the attacking zone and create a scoring chance. He has plenty of great tools that could see him have a long NHL career, but he still needs to work on things defensively to stop overcommitting and getting beat so he can become a reliable top four defenseman.
Kaiden Guhle's resolution is to sign a very long term contract to make him a very rich young man. He is developing into a special player on the Canadiens blue line and will be eligible to sign a contract extension as of July 1, 2024. His entry level contract does not end until the summer of 2025 but he could lock in to an eight year extension long before that.
Jordan Harris' resolution is to get people to notice him. He doesn't get a lot of love from fans but is quietly one of the team's most effective defensemen. He could develop into one of those silent defensive defensemen who can just chew up 20-22 minutes a night and not let anything bad happen when he's on the ice. Heck, he's pretty much that already but everyone wants to talk about Xhekaj and Struble.
Johnathan Kovacevic's resolution is to drop the "h" from his first name and start spelling it like all other Jonathan's so I stop spelling it wrong.
Mike Matheson's resolution is to try passing the puck to Juraj Slafkovsky on the power play instead of spinning around in circles at the blue line.
David Savard's resolution is to play well enough to get traded for a first round pick again. Maybe that is a fan's wish for Savard, but he would benefit from being dealt to a Stanley Cup contender which has its own benefits for a player.
Jayden Struble's resolution is to find a way to apologize to Arber Xhekaj for stealing his roster spot. He has played too well to be sent back down which leaves Xhekaj stuck in the minors, but who in their right mind wants to be on Xhekaj's bad side?
Arber Xhekaj's resolution is obviously to find a way to force the team to call him back up. He didn't do anything wrong, just other players played really well while he was injured. He needs to show he is just too good for the AHL.