2024-25 First Quarter Grades: Goalies and Defencemen

The Canadiens’ first quarter was a difficult one for this rebuilding team, with more valleys than peaks. The first grade report of this season focuses on the defencemen and goalies.

Players must have played in five games to receive a grade.  Our writers each voted on a scale of one to ten for a rating for each player; the average rating appears here.

Goaltenders

Samuel Montembeault: Player Rating 6.3/10

Samuel started this season with a new contract, an undisputed number one netminder title, and preseason talk of him earning a chance to represent Canada in the 4 Nations tournament in February 2025. His first game was a 1-0 shutout against Toronto, where he stopped all 48 shots on goal. Since then he’s played badly just about as often as he’s played well. Montembeault started eight of the last nine games in this quarter. That may be more a sign of the coach’s lack of confidence in playing the backup, than trust in Montembeault’s game. To defend him a little, some of the blowout losses the team has faced with him in net have been more due to his teammates not executing their roles in the defensive system than poor play by Samuel. In the last three games of this quarter, Montembeault did earn his second shutout against Edmonton. Included in that short run was a 2.05 GAA and a .929 save percentage, which hopefully are signs of improvement in his overall game.

Stats: 16 GP, 6-9-0 record, 3.08 GAA, 0.898 SV%

Cayden Primeau: Player Rating 3.4/10

I thought this could be a breakout season for Primeau, now that he is an undisputed NHL goalie and not part of a three-man rotation like he suffered under last season. Unfortunately, he has had a terrible start with only one win in the first quarter, which came against Philadelphia. In that Flyers game, the opposition scored two goals late in the third to bring the game within a tie. I am not sure if Primeau’s confidence is struggling, but my confidence in his play is lacking. So far I have seen more questionable goals on his glove hand, goals due to bad positioning, and poor puck tracking which has led to goals. With both goalies in Laval off to great starts, I would not be against a call-up to help improve the backup position. I expect Montreal’s management to be more patient during this rebuild than I am.

Stats: 5 GP, 1-2-0 record, 4.59 GAA, 0.842 SV%

Defencemen

Lane Hutson: Player Rating 8/10

Lane is a very special player. It has been a long time in my 50+ years of being a fan that I have watched a Canadiens defenceman do things on the ice with the puck that Hutson does. His arrival into the NHL has been much anticipated by Habs fans who follow prospects, and he has delivered. Hutson’s dekes and fakes while handling the puck are extraordinary, and his edgework is already elite-level. His skating is very good, but his hockey sense helps him to gain the split-second advantage to generate plays, sometimes when nothing appears likely to happen. Of course, his defensive game is not yet at the same level, but that is not the same as saying it is much worse. His stick work and gap control are quite strong, and he has often broken up plays against bigger players before they can establish an offensive play. His desire to help the forwards by jumping into the offensive zone has sometimes got him caught too deep, leading to opponents starting the play with a numbers advantage. I am confident Lane will learn to pick his spots with more NHL experience, and he has All-Star-level potential as his ceiling with Montreal.

Stats: 20 GP, 0 G, 11 A, 11 Pts, -12, 12 PIM, 19 Shots, 15 Hits, 28 Blocked Shots, 22:55 ATOI

Kaiden Guhle: Player Rating 7.7/10

Guhle required appendix surgery during the exhibition season, which caused him to miss all but the last game. I expected that loss of ice time to put him a little behind his teammates to start the regular season. During the first five games, he was a regular partner with Lane Hutson in the three games the team lost, but that pairing looked very capable defensively and was not scored against even strength. Unfortunately during that fifth game against Los Angeles, Kaiden took a rough check that propelled him into the boards. He continued to play that game but suffered an upper-body injury that kept him out of the next five games. Guhle played most of this quarter on his off side, and has done well enough from the right side of the ice. Although Kaiden has been given the shutdown role in many games, he has an underdeveloped offensive game too. Guhle is very good at knowing when to jump into the play and that helped him gain the first quarter goal-scoring lead among team defencemen, despite missing games due to injury. Despite the team’s defensive struggles and terrible goal differential, Guhle’s plus-minus stat was an even zero; he is the only Canadiens defenceman not to have a negative rating.

Stats: 15 GP, 2 G, 4 A, 6 Pts, +0, 8 PIM, 19 Shots, 21 Hits, 41 Blocked Shots, 21:16 ATOI

Mike Matheson: Player Rating 6.9/10

Mike continues to be a big point driver for this team. His offensive numbers have him a little behind the same pace as last year’s career-best numbers, despite playing around a minute and a half less than last season’s average. His goal production is down but his assists are about the same. Like most of his teammates on defence, Mike has struggled at times adapting to the head coach’s hybrid defensive zone system, which has led to too many goals against during some of their more drastic team losses. Matheson answered the bell in a game against the Rangers when he came to the defence of Justin Barron after Jacob Trouba delivered a questionable high hit that knocked him out of the game. Mike is not a fighter but held his own and showed strong leadership. Plays like that illustrate his importance to the team, along with leading all Habs defenders in blocked shots and average ice time.

Stats: 20 GP, 1 G, 12 A, 13 Pts, -9, 27 PIM, 1 PPG, 29 Shots, 6 Hits, 48 Blocked Shots, 24:05 ATOI

Jayden Struble: Player Rating 6.7/10

Struble suffered an upper-body injury late in the exhibition season, which caused him to miss the first four games of the season’s start. After being a healthy scratch, he joined the lineup and didn’t miss a game after that. Much like Jordan Harris last season, Struble was moved to the right side, where he has played most games. Considering he shoots left, he has adapted pretty well. Typically coaches will only move defencemen to their off side if they are confident in their defensive abilities to handle the change. Struble does the offensive basics pretty well but his game is mostly based on strength since he can tie up most opponents without taking a penalty. Like many of his teammates on defence, he needs game experience to develop his game and show what he will ultimately become as a pro player. His only goal of the quarter was against Vegas. It was a nice shot based on a well-timed pinch to anticipate the play. If he continues to play like that while staying defensively sound, his ice time will increase. I believe he’s ready for more responsibility in shorthanded situations.

Stats: 15 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 4 Pts, -3, 25 PIM, 20 Shots, 28 Hits, 13 Blocked Shots, 14:53 ATOI

David Savard: Player Rating 6/10

The most veteran blueline on this young squad, Savard was appointed Lane Hutson’s partner for the last two games of last season, and has continued to be his most frequent partner this season. While I understand the need for a defensive-minded blueliner to balance Hutson’s up-ice adventures, I do not feel he is necessarily the best-suited player when both are in the defensive zone. Too many times I have watched both players making bad decisions leading to goals against. While it’s understandable for a rookie to suffer from these mistakes, it’s hard to accept it from Savard, a player in his 15th NHL season with over 800 NHL games at this level. If he wasn’t a right-handed shot with this team having a deficit of players on that side, I am sure David would be playing a bottom pairing. It’s not surprising that one of Montreal’s best defensive games was a 5-1 win over Columbus, the only game Savard missed due to an upper-body injury.

Stats: 19 GP, 0 G, 4 A, 4 Pts, -5, 4 PIM, 12 Shots, 18 Hits, 50 Blocked Shots, 18:43 ATOI

Arber Xhekaj: Player Rating 5.7/10

Xhekaj has had some bumps in the rocky road to start this season. Much like his teammates, at times he has struggled defensively adapting to the team’s systems, particularly in his own zone. Arber has been more disciplined but still has the third-highest amount of penalty minutes among his peers on the team. His bottom pairing minutes have also provided him fewer offensive opportunities, and his one assist was tied with Justin Barron for last on the blueline. I have not seen him execute his blueline shot as effectively as he has in the past two seasons, and he needs to work more on his passing effectiveness from his defensive zone on breakout plays. He was a healthy scratch for three games in this segment. There have been a couple of times that Arber has done a good job starting a rush, and I hope he builds his confidence in doing that more often.

Stats: 17 GP, 0 G, 1 A, 1 Pts, -5, 21 PIM, 14 Shots, 37 Hits, 16 Blocked Shots, 14:21 ATOI

Logan Mailloux: Player Rating 5.3/10

Logan was called up when Kaiden Guhle was knocked out of the lineup from an injury and got into five games. Mailloux showed good offensive skills during those games, evidenced by his three points including his first NHL goal. Logan has an excellent shot and anticipates scoring chances very well. Unfortunately, much like Barron, Logan’s defensive game suffered and his defensive decision-making is not close to the same level. It’s very likely that he did not develop that part of his game enough in the OHL and his one full season in the AHL. At 21, he is still very young; most defencemen need around 200 games at the NHL level to fully develop into the player they will become. Since Logan is a natural right-shooting defenceman, I am confident he will get another chance in the future with a call-up to Montreal.

Stats: 5 GP, 1 G, 2 A, 3 Pts, -4, 6 PIM, 7 Shots, 6 Hits, 7 Blocked Shots, 16:29 ATOI

Justin Barron: Player Rating 4.3/10

Justin has faced some setbacks this quarter in Montreal. He suffered an upper-body injury in the game against the Rangers, when a violent high hit travelled up to contact his head, and when he dropped to the ice his head also banged off the ice. It’s all but certain he suffered a concussion on that play, and was out of the lineup for the next three games. He was a healthy scratch for eight of the following ten games after being cleared to play. Barron’s defensive game is his Achilles heel since his decision-making in his own zone has been poor. After David Savard, Justin is the only natural right-shooting defender currently on the roster, so the organization has given him ice time to help him develop. But unfortunately, other left-shooting defencemen have been moved to the right side of the ice, while Barron has been a healthy scratch. In some games this season he has been somewhat better in his defensive game, but his lack of consistency is what keeps him from developing into a regular in the lineup. Surprisingly, Barron has been given more ice time in shorthanded situations, behind Matheson, Savard, and Guhle. I would like to see Barron put into the lineup as a forward sometime this season, as I believe his offensive skills might flourish in that role.

Stats: 9 GP, 1 G, 0 A, 1 Pts, -5, 6 PIM, 10 Shots, 14 Hits, 9 Blocked Shots, 15:43 ATOI