Kaiden Guhle ( ; born January 18, 2002) is a Canadian
ice hockey
Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
defenceman
Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from Goal (ice hockey), scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the la ...
currently playing for the
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...
of the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
(NHL). He was drafted 16th overall by the Canadiens in the
2020 NHL Entry Draft
The 2020 NHL Entry Draft was the 58th NHL Entry Draft, held from October 6–7, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pan ...
.
Early life
Guhle was born on January 18, 2002, in
Sherwood Park,
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, Canada
to parents Carrianne and Mark.
He was born into an athletic family; his mother was a figure skater, his father played basketball, and his older brother
Brendan Guhle is a professional ice hockey player. As a result, the Guhle brothers began power skating at a young age.
Playing career
Amateur
Prince Albert Raiders (2017–21)
Guhle was selected with the first overall pick in the 2017 WHL draft by the
Prince Albert Raiders
The Prince Albert Raiders are a major junior ice hockey team in the Western Hockey League. The Raiders play in the East Division of the Eastern Conference. They are based in the city of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada. The team plays its hom ...
. In
his first full season with the Raiders, the team won
Ed Chynoweth Cup
The Ed Chynoweth Cup is an ice hockey club championship trophy awarded to the playoff champion of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Originally called the President's Cup when the league was founded in 1966, the trophy was renamed in 2007 to honou ...
as the finals champion of the WHL. They played in the
2019 Memorial Cup, but did not advance out of the round-robin.
During the 2019–20 season, he had 40 points in 64 games.
On October 6, 2020, Guhle was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round, 16th overall, at the
2020 NHL Entry Draft
The 2020 NHL Entry Draft was the 58th NHL Entry Draft, held from October 6–7, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pan ...
. He was later signed to a three-year,
entry-level contract
A two-way contract is a professional sports contract that stipulates that an athlete's salary is dependent upon the league in which the athlete is assigned to play. This is opposed to a one-way contract that would pay the same salary regardless of ...
with the Canadiens on October 21, 2020, which included bonuses to a maximum of $420,000 in each season. However, in November he was loaned to the
Brooks Bandits
The Brooks Bandits are a junior A ice hockey team in the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL). They play in Brooks, Alberta, Canada, with home games at the Centennial Regional Arena.
History
The Brooks Bandits were awarded an expansion franchis ...
of the Alberta Junior Hockey League until December 20.
With the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
resulting in the
2020–21 WHL season being reduced and delayed, Guhle began the season playing three games with the
Laval Rocket
The Laval Rocket (french: Rocket de Laval) are a professional ice hockey team playing in the American Hockey League (AHL) as an affiliate of the National Hockey League (NHL)'s Montreal Canadiens. Based in Laval, Quebec, Canada, the Rocket play th ...
in the
AHL before joining the
Canadian junior national team preparations. Due to a subsequent hand injury, he played only two games with the Raiders in the WHL, before resuming full training in June of 2021.
Guhle made a strong impression at the Canadiens' training camp prior to the
2021–22 NHL season
The 2021–22 NHL season was the 105th season of operation (104th season of play) of the National Hockey League (NHL). The league expanded to 32 teams with the addition of the Seattle Kraken. The league had an October-to-April regular season sche ...
, and as a result coach
Dominique Ducharme
Dominique Ducharme (15 May 1765 – 3 August 1853), from Lachine, Quebec, was a French Canadian fur trader, settler, militia officer, and public servant.
He was named François Ducharme at birth, the son of Jean-Marie Ducharme. In 1793 Duch ...
seriously weighed retaining him in the lineup, though noting it would not make sense to do so unless there was a regular place for him in the top six. Guhle himself said that he had not expected to still be in consideration a day before the roster announcement. Ultimately he was not taken up, and returned to Prince Albert for the
2021–22 season.
Guhle played seventeen games with the Raiders, registering 2 goals and 13 assists, before being traded to the
Edmonton Oil Kings
The Edmonton Oil Kings are a major junior ice hockey team based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that play in the Western Hockey League. As of July 2008, they are owned by Daryl Katz's Oilers Entertainment Group, which also owns the Edmonton Oilers ...
on December 1.
Edmonton Oil Kings (2021–22)
The trade was part of the Oil Kings' bid to challenge the
Winnipeg Ice for the WHL championship title.
[ Guhle record five goals and twenty assists in 25 regular season games with the Oil Kings, and was named the WHL Central Division's defenceman of the year.] After missing the final weeks of the regular season due to injury, he returned for the first game of the 2022 WHL playoffs, and scored three goals and two assists in the Oil Kings' four-game sweep of the Lethbridge Hurricanes
The Lethbridge Hurricanes are a Canadian major junior ice hockey team currently members of the Eastern Conference (Central Division) of the Western Hockey League (WHL). The team is based in Lethbridge, Alberta, and play their home games at the ...
in the quarterfinals. The Oil Kings also swept the Red Deer Rebels
The Red Deer Rebels are a Western Hockey League junior ice hockey team based in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada. The Rebels play at the Peavey Mart Centrium.
History
A "Name the Team" contest ran in Red Deer from October 7 to 17, 1991. The top t ...
in the second round, before winning the matchup with the Ice in the WHL Eastern Conference Final 4 games to 1. Guhle scored two goals and an assist in the series-clinching Game 5 win. They went on to face the Seattle Thunderbirds
The Seattle Thunderbirds are a major junior ice hockey team based in the city of Kent, Washington, south of Seattle. They are part of the U.S. Division of the Western Conference in the Western Hockey League. They play their games at home in ac ...
in the WHL Finals, winning four games to two, the second Chynoweth Cup win of Guhle's career. He was named the WHL Playoff Most Valuable Player at the conclusion of the series, setting a team record for most goals by a defenceman in a single postseason (8). The Oil Kings played in the 2022 Memorial Cup
The 2022 Memorial Cup (branded as the 2022 Memorial Cup presented by Kia for sponsorship reasons) was a four-team round-robin format ice hockey tournament held at TD Station in Saint John, New Brunswick from June 20–29, 2022. It was the 102nd ...
, but did not advance past the round robin.
Professional
Montreal Canadiens (2022–present)
Following the conclusion of the Memorial Cup, Guhle began to rehabilitate a lower body injury that he had been playing through during the playoff run. As a result of this he did not participate in the team's development camp in July. He said that he "wanted to make sure that I was ready because there's a long season coming up. Hopefully, my first professional season." Participating in pre-season games, Guhle was widely considered one of the most impressive young players in the Canadiens system, and was a perceived frontrunner to make the team's defensive lineup. He scored three goals in the pre-season. On October 10, it was confirmed that Guhle had made the Canadiens' opening night roster for the regular season. In his NHL debut on October 12, 2022, Guhle played a team-leading 22:34 minutes of ice time in a 4–3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...
. With injuries to the team's more senior left-side defencemen, Mike Matheson
Michael Matheson (born February 27, 1994) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). Matheson was drafted by the Florida Panthers in the first round, 23rd overall, of the 2 ...
and Joel Edmundson
Joel Edmundson (born June 28, 1993) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman and alternate captain for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for the St. Louis Blues and Carolina Hurricanes.
Gr ...
, Guhle continued to play top-line minutes for the Canadiens. He recorded his first NHL points, two assists, in a 3–2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...
on October 17, and was named the second star of the game. Guhle scored his first NHL goal in an October 27 3–2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. The team was established in 1970, along w ...
, helping the team to its first road
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
victory of the season. After he sustained a knee injury in a December 29, 2022 game against the Florida Panthers
The Florida Panthers are a professional ice hockey team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...
where he collided with Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov
Aleksander Aleksandrovich "Sasha" Barkov (russian: Александр Александрович Барков; born 2 September 1995) is a Finnish professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League ...
, it was announced that Guhle would miss at least two months of the remainder of the season.
International play
On November 3, 2018, Guhle was named captain of Team Canada Red at the 2018 World U-17 Hockey Challenge. Following this, he was selected to join the Canada men's national junior ice hockey team
The Canadian men's national under-20 ice hockey team is the ice hockey team representing Canada internationally in under-20 competition. Their primary participation in this age group comes at the International Ice Hockey Federation's World Juni ...
at the 2021 World Junior Championships. He finished the World Juniors with two goals and an assist in seven games as the team earned a silver medal following a loss to the United States. The following year, Guhle was named captain of the Canadian team for the 2022 World Junior Championships. After playing two games, the tournament was cancelled as a result of Omicron variant
Omicron (B.1.1.529) is a variant of SARS-CoV-2 first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by the Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa on 24 November 2021. It was first detected in Botswana and has spread to become the ...
spread. Guhle said it was a disappointment given it being his final year of eligibility.[ While the tournament would later be rescheduled for the summer, Guhle was unable to participate due to injury.][
]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
International
Awards and achievements
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guhle, Kaiden
2002 births
Living people
Canadian ice hockey defencemen
Edmonton Oil Kings players
Ice hockey people from Alberta
Laval Rocket players
Montreal Canadiens draft picks
Montreal Canadiens players
National Hockey League first-round draft picks
Prince Albert Raiders players
People from Sherwood Park