Player Discussion Our Rookie Defensemen

[FrankMTL]

As of this morning, we have three of the Top 5 scoring Rookie Defensemen in the NHL so far this season. We’ve played with four rookies on defence pretty much all season so far. Who has been the biggest surprise for you?

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[KevSkillz4]

Arber Xhekaj is the biggest surprise. I know that he can easily become a bottom pairing defenseman, but he show top 4 potential this year. He looks a real deal... the real replacement to Alexander Romanov to me. They are close, but I like the offensive potential Xhekaj more... he have better shot than Romanov.

 

[Lshap]

Xhekaj travelled the greatest distance from expectation to destination. Nobody expected him to be a legit defenceman with offensive talent. Great story.

Guhle is where we thought he'd be... but in two/three years. None of us thought he'd slip into the role of a top-pair D so well and so quickly. The kid is awesome.

Overall biggest surprise is having four rookies playing regular minutes most games, with more hopeful rookies in the pipeline right behind.

 

[BaseballCoach]

Xhekaj travelled the greatest distance from expectation to destination. Nobody expected him to be a legit defenceman with offensive talent. Great story.

Guhle is where we thought he'd be... but in two/three years. None of us thought he'd slip into the role of a top-pair D so well and so quickly. The kid is awesome.

Overall biggest surprise is having four rookies playing regular minutes most games, with more hopeful rookies in the pipeline right behind.

Kovacevic should not be a regular.

 

[MarkovsKnee]

Guhle. I expected him to eventually become top 2, but he's stepped in and been our most consistent defenseman. Kind of funny how he drew comparisons to Weber in junior then he makes the NHL: yeah, nope, nothing like Weber. Kid can skate and the move the puck. Exciting player.

 

[Tim Wallach]

My ranked order for potential is now: Guhle, Xhekaj, Harris, Kovacevic. Certainly in terms of influence on the game, that’s how I see it. Arber easily has top 4 written all over him if people can get past his long shot pedigree.

 

[BLONG7]

Kovacevic should not be a regular.

Great stopgap type of guy though................they all have been surprising......Barron and Mailloux on the way.

 

[Maitz]

Guhle will be our top dman by the end of the year. The biggesr surprise is Xhekaj by far, a guy that has never been drafted make the team out of the camp straight from the juniors? That pretty impressive, and he plays good minutes while being physical, solid defensively and has a good shot

 

[Tyson]

Barron with a bit more seasoning will pass up most of our current rookie D except Guhle.
With that said I am impressed with every young D on the current roster.

Harris has been really good the past 6 games.

 

[Dr Quincy]

I understand why Xhekaj is popular and how he fills a need/type... but overall I do think Harris has been better.

Obviously, Guhle is the top of the class by a wide margin.

 

[Tyson]

I understand why Xhekaj is popular and how he fills a need/type... but overall I do think Harris has been better.

Obviously, Guhle is the top of the class by a wide margin.

Harris has been better but the intangibles Xhekaj brings are not to be discounted.

 

[Chr1s97]

Guhle been what we expected, Harris been good but once again we was expecting big thing from him (maybe not as much as hes been giving us) but we were all scared that he dont sign with MTL because we knew that he good. For me the biggest surprise is Xhekaj. Being undrafted going from the junior str8 to the big league. Play with poise and pace. Already one of the most scared fighter, can deliver big hit, always stand up for his teammates, but impress me the most is how he’s able to walk the blue line and fine a shooting lane and his shot seem to always(or often should I say) find the way to reach the goalie. He have a heavy wrist shot. Like a poster said up the post, for most of all we think that he’ll be a bottom pairing D, but he’s showing us that he may have that top 4 potential D without mentioning that his progression been crazy. Where will he’ll be in 2-3 years from now….. ??? & I will like to ask a question, everybody see Guhle as a top pairing D (1LD)… what I would like to know is would y’all like to have Harris as a 2LD or Xhekaj ?

 

[Tyson]

Guhle been what we expected, Harris been good but once again we was expecting big thing from him (maybe not as much as hes been giving us) but we were all scared that he dont sign with MTL because we knew that he good. For me the biggest surprise is Xhekaj. Being undrafted going from the junior str8 to the big league. Play with poise and pace. Already one of the most scared fighter, can deliver big hit, always stand up for his teammates, but impress me the most is how he’s able to walk the blue line and fine a shooting lane and his shot seem to always(or often should I say) find the way to reach the goalie. He have a heavy wrist shot. Like a poster said up the post, for most of all we think that he’ll be a bottom pairing D, but he’s showing us that he may have that top 4 potential D without mentioning that his progression been crazy. Where will he’ll be in 2-3 years from now….. ??? & I will like to ask a question, everybody see Guhle as a top pairing D (1LD)… what I would like to know is would y’all like to have Harris as a 2LD or Xhekaj ?

How Xhekaj went undrafted into the OHL and no NHL scouts thought he was worthy of being drafted is mind boggling.
He went straight from being undrafted into the NHL and is good enough to play a regular shift.
How good can he become? I think top 4 D is accurate.

 

[Tim Wallach]

I think early on, Harris was fantastic, but he has struggled the last month or more. A lot more mistakes and getting over-powered. Still a fine level of play, but I can’t agree he’s outplaying Xhekaj any more.

 

[Matthew McConaughay]

Like i said before, i saw Xhekaj play for Hamilton, and i knew he was legit and was NHL ready, he was dominant for the Bulldogs, he was one of the reasons why Hamilton went that far, and the coach said it too, Xhekaj is also playing the fewest minutes, and has 10 points and a +2 , imagine if he played as much as Guhle and played on the PP like he should.

 

[abo9]

Gotta be Xhekaj

I definitely thought he'd need a few years of seasoning, perhaps not even make it at all.

Not that playing on the Habs D this year means much, but he's still beating the AHL guys to the spot, which a lot of our previous rookies havent even be able to accomplish

 

[Redux91]

As of this morning, we have three of the Top 5 scoring Rookie Defensemen in the NHL so far this season. We’ve played with four rookies on defence pretty much all season so far. Who has been the biggest surprise for you?

View attachment 626327

Considering Addison gets ample PP1 time with Kaprizov, Guhle just utterly blows me away lol
Xhekaj close 2nd

 

[Skip Bayless]

Guhle.

I thought we had a good top 4 D in the future before this year. But he's a top pairing D in the making.

 

[Sagikev]

Like i said before, i saw Xhekaj play for Hamilton, and i knew he was legit and was NHL ready, he was dominant for the Bulldogs, he was one of the reasons why Hamilton went that far, and the coach said it too, Xhekaj is also playing the fewest minutes, and has 10 points and a +2 , imagine if he played as much as Guhle and played on the PP like he should.

I understand why Xhekaj plays less though. As impressive as he is, he fumbles the puck from time to time. It happens to everyone, of course, but he does tend to fumble it a bit more than some others. He has great hands though, so I believe he'll clean his play with the puck as he gets older and more experienced. Clear top 4D in my mind. Can't wait to see what he can bring once we start making the playoffs.

 

[Matthew McConaughay]

I understand why Xhekaj plays less though. As impressive as he is, he fumbles the puck from time to time. It happens to everyone, of course, but he does tend to fumble it a bit more than some others. He has great hands though, so I believe he'll clean his play with the puck as he gets older and more experienced. Clear top 4D in my mind. Can't wait to see what he can bring once we start making the playoffs.

Agree 100%, he will only get better with time.

 

[blueberry]

Kovacevic should not be a regular.

Kovacevic has the best +/- on the team. He IS a defenseman after all, not flashy but pretty steady considering.

 

[themilosh]

Guhle. I expected him to eventually become top 2, but he's stepped in and been our most consistent defenseman. Kind of funny how he drew comparisons to Weber in junior then he makes the NHL: yeah, nope, nothing like Weber. Kid can skate and the move the puck. Exciting player.

I see Nick Lidstrom when I watch Guhle. Give him 3 more years, he's going to lead this team.

 

[KevSkillz4]

I see Nick Lidstrom when I watch Guhle. Give him 3 more years, he's going to lead this team.

I see Drew Doughty with Kaiden Guhle, i'm really happy that Habs drafted a beast at 16th overall. The potential of Guhle is outstanding, not just a top pairing defenseman, but he is going to be a big leader for many years to come.

 

[The Great Weal]

All of them really.

Guhle: Guy looked good in preseason but he's been getting some of the hardest minutes in the league facing tough competition and being thrown into the fire, and he's handled it awesomely.

Harris: I'd say his play has been inconsistent, but he's producing way more than anticipated.

Xhekaj: Showing that he's not just an enforcer and is a genuine difference maker with a great ability to get shots to the net.

 

[dackelljuneaubulis02]

Guhle's hands.

He flashed some in his draft year highlight package though it felt like hoping against hope that he'd be able to translate that to the NHL, and so quickly.