Why not ? Why not try to develop Guhles game ? He's showed time and time again that his vision was superior, that his shot was more accurate, that he was a better puckhandler, a better skater and that he was just plan.. better ?
I love Guhle but I just don't agree with this assessment. I think Guhle is skilled and could be a serviceable PP1 guy but I don't agree that he has better vision/puckhandling etc than Matheson and certainly not that it's self-evidently clear. Better skater yeah but not in a way that matters a ton for the PP and Matheson is also a very good skater in his own right. I think Guhle is a better overall player than Matheson but I simply do not see Guhle as a better PP talent, nor do I see him as someone that we're going to build around being the PP1 guy.
Guhle could be serviceable there but Matheson is producing very well in that role right now, and I struggle to see Guhle hitting anything close to a 58P pace. It seems perfectly reasonable to me to have 2nd year Guhle focus on the stuff that is going to make him a monster for us (high-end rush defence and even strength play) while Matheson counteracts his own weaknesses through offensive production, especially when Matheson is living up to his end of the bargain by producing at a 58P pace. I'd get the anger more if Matheson was struggling to hit a 40P pace in that role but he's performing well.
I don't think Matheson is a true talent 55-60P dman either, but they're not just going to pull a prime aged player off PP1 when he's 13th in the league in D scoring because in theory Guhle could be 35th and grow into being 25th in the future in the same role. It's not like Guhle couldn't pick that skillset up later either if we end up in a spot where he's the obvious fit on the top PP unit. Matheson himself only broke 30P once before getting traded to Montreal and has had back to back career years in terms of production.
He's not a #3, he's never been a top 4 D. He's a bottom D.
I'd be fine to call him a 3-4, but otherwise this is just an agree to disagree situation if you think he's actually a third pair D.
The problem isn't per say that he's playing too much and making mistakes, the problem is that he's taking opportunity away from players that matter.
Guhle is played on his off side, doesn't play the PP and has to cover for Matheson. That in itself, is terrible.
No it's not terrible. Guhle is progressing just fine, all the other young D are getting important roles, Xhekaj is playing on PP2, Struble is getting consistent ice, nobody is averaging under 15 minutes, I just fail to see the problem. He's taking PP opportunities from Guhle when Hutson is going to end up being the guy there anyway. He's not taking opportunities from anyone else, and it's not like we have prime Shea Weber on the 2nd pair who we could otherwise pair Guhle with, he's going to be covering for Barron, Kovacevic, or Savard too if they put him back on the left side.
Guhle playing on his off side is something I'm a bit iffy on personally, but I don't mind experimenting with things like this during low-pressure tank years as he could potentailly be a long-term fit playing RD on a pair with Hutson.
If Matheson was playing top 4 while Guhle was on the other pair at LD and running his own pair with Savard or what ever and he got PP time, nobody would bat an eye. Matheson gets the Desharnais deployment and it's inexcusable.
So again it really all just comes down to PP time. I don't begrudge anyone for wanting to see what Guhle could do there but I can't get behind the idea that it's some horrendously bad thing for the guy on a 58P pace over the past 110 games to keep playing on PP1. Matheson is 13th in the NHL in D scoring and a point ahead of Erik Karlsson right now. If Desharnais was putting up 70-80 points in his soft minutes and was a top ~20 forward in scoring that would be an entirely different story.
They're giving Guhle a big role at evens and they're giving the PP2 minutes to Xhekaj while keeping the guy on a 58P pace on PP1 as we wait for Hutson to potentially take over that role and elevate the PP unit. Seems pretty straightforward to me and the best way of putting each guy in the chair that gives them the best chance to succeed.
