Montreal will be doing its own auditioning, just for a different reason. Kaiden Guhle, the Canadiens' top young defenseman, is out 4-5 weeks after adductor surgery he had over the summer, which means the pairings behind him get a longer look than they would if he were healthy. Split-squad preseason games are built for exactly this — fringe roster spots get decided in nights like this one, not in the games that count.
This is also just the first of two preseason meetings between these two before they open the actual regular season against each other on September 29, so nothing here settles much. Treat it as an early measuring stick on personnel, not a form read — the rosters that show up tonight won't be the ones that show up in two weeks.
- OutKaiden Guhle (D) — The Canadiens announced Wednesday that Guhle is recovering from a minor surgery to his adductor muscle that he underwent over the summer, and he's expected to return in 4-5 weeks.09/16
Montreal's spring ended rough, eliminated by Carolina after dropping four straight to close that series, and the Canadiens have had all summer to sit with it. None of that carries into a September exhibition game with a patchwork lineup, but it's the backdrop for why every young defenseman filling in for Guhle is getting extra attention from a coaching staff still shaping what this roster looks like.
The actual hockey matters less here than who's on the ice. Watch McKenna's shifts with Tavares and Nylander, watch which Montreal defensive pairing gets the minutes usually reserved for Guhle, and don't read too much into whatever the scoreboard says by the third period.