Confirmed Signing with Link: [MTL] D Kaiden Guhle signs extension with the Canadiens (6 years, $5.55M AAV; begins 2025-26)

[Beukeboom Fan]

Absolutely ridiculous.

Right now the Habs have a pile prospects that may be better then Markov level. Guhle is already better then Markov defensively and in a few years, pile more points.

Markov was a great player but...we're hoping we got Chara and Hughes level players in our system.

We're starved from the days of Ministry of Defense. That's what we want back....

Strongly agree with JP here. IMO, you're INSANELY optimistic If you think that you have multiple prospects who are better than Andrei Markov, let alone Chara (best defensive d-man) or Hughes. The fact that Guhle is being favorably compared to guys who either won the Norris trophy, or a long time Norris contender who was by far and away Canada's best d-man in the Olympics is an absolute travesty. And I really like MON's d-man prospect pipeline. Just need to reduce the expectations by a ton.

 

[Nico Cauzuki]

Markov was a damn good defenseman but I wouldn't raise him to anywhere near Weber and even prime Subban level.

Right now the Habs have a pile prospects that may be better then Markov level. Guhle is already better then Markov defensively and in a few years, pile more points.

Markov was a great player but...we're hoping we got Chara and Hughes level players in our system.

We're starved from the days of Ministry of Defense. That's what we want back....

this post cant be serious.....

 

[HabsAddict]

Absolutely ridiculous.

At the time Markov was our "best defenseman" our other defenseman were Hamerlik, Georges and Brisebois.

NOBODIES idea of a good defense.

Subban then Weber came along and we finally got real top defensman.

If one Markov is the best we hope we get out of our current crop, we're in deep shit.

 

[jfhabs]

Markov was a damn good defenseman but I wouldn't raise him to anywhere near Weber and even prime Subban level.

Right now the Habs have a pile prospects that may be better then Markov level. Guhle is already better then Markov defensively and in a few years, pile more points.

Markov was a great player but...we're hoping we got Chara and Hughes level players in our system.

We're starved from the days of Ministry of Defense. That's what we want back....

I'm not sure what age you are and if you had the chance to see prime Markov. He was essentially the best Habs player of the 2000s and continued to be a high impact player well into the 2010s.

He was one of the top PP player of his generation. He made Komisarek and Souray multi millionaires and greatly help Kovalev revive his career.

From roughly 2005 to 2015 Markov was a top 10 defender in the league when healthy. If he had the luxury of playing with better offensive players, who knows how much he would've produced.

 

[HabsAddict]

Strongly agree with JP here. IMO, you're INSANELY optimistic If you think that you have multiple prospects who are better than Andrei Markov, let alone Chara (best defensive d-man) or Hughes. The fact that Guhle is being favorably compared to guys who either won the Norris trophy, or a long time Norris contender who was by far and away Canada's best d-man in the Olympics is an absolute travesty. And I really like MON's d-man prospect pipeline. Just need to reduce the expectations by a ton.

I guess 35 years of mediocrity has destroyed some peoples expectations.

 

[jfhabs]

At the time Markov was our "best defenseman" our other defenseman were Hamerlik, Georges and Brisebois.

NOBODIES idea of a good defense.

Subban then Weber came along and we finally got real top defensman.

If Markov is the best we hope we get out of our current crop, we're in deep shit.

I think the issue was a lot more with Hamrlik Georges and Brisebois than Markov being the number 1

 

[HabsAddict]

I'm not sure what age you are and if you had the chance to see prime Markov. He was essentially the best Habs player of the 2000s and continued to be a high impact player well into the 2010s.

He was one of the top PP player of his generation. He made Komisarek and Souray multi millionaires and greatly help Kovalev revive his career.

From roughly 2005 to 2015 Markov was a top 10 defender in the league when healthy. If he had the luxury of playing with better offensive players, who knows how much he would've produced.

I go back to the early 60s so you can educate me how great Markov was compared to Robinson, Savard, Lapointe...etc.

 

[jfhabs]

I go back to the early 60s so you can educate me how great Markov was compared to Robinson, Savard, Lapointe...etc.

Oh I see the issue then

 

[JianYang]

At the time Markov was our "best defenseman" our other defenseman were Hamerlik, Georges and Brisebois.

NOBODIES idea of a good defense.

Subban then Weber came along and we finally got real top defensman.

If Markov is the best we hope we get out of our current crop, we're in deep shit.

So your argument for markov not being high level is because of his supporting cast?

 

[Mersss]

22 year old Ryan McDonagh was so good he convinced people Dan Girardi was a norris caliber dman.

McDonagh simply put up much better results. Markov often got outshot, outchanced, and outscored while on the ice.

I refuse to call a guy a top 10 dman if he isn't winning his minutes 5v5

McDonagh dominated against the hardest competition, year in, year out

You do realize Markov made Mike freakin Komisarek look like the 2nd coming or Chris Pronger right...

The only reason Komisarek hot that contract with the Leafs is Markov

 

[HabsAddict]

Oh I see the issue then

You got it.

Maybe the "Ministry of Defense" i mentioned in another post should of been a clue.

For the first time in DECADES, we have a pipeline of youngsters that can be closer to the top of the league.

Give them 3 years.

 

[HabsAddict]

So your argument for markov not being high level is because of his supporting cast?

No. The argument is that is the best we had. Which wasn't much by any contending standard.

If we had Subban or Weber, Markov wasn't going to get the PP time he got.

 

[HabsAddict]

You do realize Markov made Mike freakin Komisarek look like the 2nd coming or Chris Pronger right...

The only reason Komisarek hot that contract with the Leafs is Marko

which is a testement how bad our defense was.

 

[Mersss]

which is a testement how bad our defense was.

Or a testament of how good Markov was. Making a pylon look like a legit top pair dman

 

[JianYang]

No. The argument is that is the best we had. Which wasn't much by any contending standard.

If we had Subban or Weber, Markov wasn't going to get the PP time he got.

The argument is just listing who the other dmen were but it isn't analyzing markov's abilities or impact.

Why wouldn't markov get prime powerplay time? Markov was a quarterback while Weber was a trigger man. They would co-exist. Subban and markov also coexisted.

They also had alot of success with markov being paired with streit on the PP, and souray prior to that in the same type of blueprint.

It would be boneheaded in any of these scenarios not to give markov prime PP time.

 

[danisonfire]

The argument is just listing who the other dmen were but it isn't analyzing markov's abilities or impact.

Why wouldn't markov get prime powerplay time? Markov was a quarterback while Weber was a trigger man. They would co-exist. Subban and markov also coexisted.

They also had alot of success with markov being paired with streit on the PP, and souray prior to that in the same type of blueprint.

It would be boneheaded in any of these scenarios not to give markov prime PP time.

It is non-sense. Markov was the "blueprint". The few times he was injured our PP instantly tanked and we pretty much fell from having one of the top PP's in the league to near the bottom when he left. He did this with several options.

Markov would 100% be on the first PP and feeding one of Subban and Weber laser accurate passes. Markov is one of the most creative passers I have ever seen and that is why our PP was so deadly with him on it. He would routinely make seeing eye passes through 3-4 players right on the stick of the guy to the side of the net for a free goal. He was the PP general.

 

[DaPhazz]

At the time Markov was our "best defenseman" our other defenseman were Hamerlik, Georges and Brisebois.

NOBODIES idea of a good defense.

Subban then Weber came along and we finally got real top defensman.

If Markov is the best we hope we get out of our current crop, we're in deep shit.

Holy mother of god of bad take. Did you actually watched the games back then?

Markov was an incredible player, way more important to Montreal during his years than Weber ever was.

 

[HabsAddict]

So many shorts on fire...

Markov was a very good defenseman. He had great vision and saw the game very well, which was his greatest asset.

Markov was ok as a defenseman. His primary defensive ability was to stick check and cut off the angles. We was not a net or corner cleaner. I was always amazed at his magic ability to come up with the puck in a corner, but barey remember if i saw him flatten anyone to take the puck away.

That is the reason i put him up as very good versus great is because i expect a defenseman to actually do what is in the job description. Including being physical with opposing players.

In the last 25 years of darkness, i rate Markov 3, behind Weber and Subban as a DEFENSEMAN.

In the last 60 years, i can't rate Markov as one of our great top 6 greats. Maybe top 10. Closer to JC Tremblay then Robinson, Savard, etc

That's MY rating, you may have a different rating.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Seems like the habs are taking some calculated risks with long term vision. In many ways the opposite approach the leafs took?

 

[JianYang]

Markov was a very good defenseman. He had great vision and saw the game very well, which was his greatest asset.

Markov was ok as a defenseman. His primary defensive ability was to stick check and cut off the angles. We was not a net or corner cleaner. I was always amazed at his magic ability to come up with the puck in a corner, but barey remember if i saw him flatten anyone to take the puck away.

That is the reason i put him up as very good versus great is because i expect a defenseman to actually do what is in the job description. Including being physical with opposing players.

In the last 25 years of darkness, i rate Markov 3, behind Weber and Subban as a DEFENSEMAN.

In the last 60 years, i can't rate Markov as one of our great top 6 greats. Maybe top 10. Closer to JC Tremblay then Robinson, Savard, etc

That's MY rating, you may have a different

Markov was very understated. No he typically didn't flatten people but that's not a pre requisite to being a good dman.... nobody knocks nick lidstrom for that.

This play is markov in a nutshell. People remember the deke, but look where it all started, and then look at how the chance started. I have no idea how markov was able to keep that puck onside, and that was his game..... out of the spotlight, and quietly effective.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Bridge deals backfire on teams more often than long term extensions for their young core players coming off of ELCs do. This should be another in a long line of these type of contracts that age well especially with the expected big cap rise. Smart GMs get out ahead of this and lock their key players up early.

This, plus you’re kinda planning on him being healthy anyways- if he isn’t that’s a big hole in your lineup, and that’s a bigger issue than the money/deal. Sure, in theory that money could be spent elsewhere, but it’s best spent paying a really good young defenseman.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

No. Markov. Slander.

 

[StreetHawk]

This, plus you’re kinda planning on him being healthy anyways- if he isn’t that’s a big hole in your lineup, and that’s a bigger issue than the money/deal. Sure, in theory that money could be spent elsewhere, but it’s best spent paying a really good young defenseman.

Really depends on your team’s timeline and cap situation. Plus are you in a destination market or not? Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton probably need to max term their guys if they can and not take that risk of a bridge.

Assuming the player starts at age 20 a bridge being 3 year term would take the player to 26 thus max term of 8 years to 34.

If you max out at 23 to 31, then to continue on you’re paying for those likely declining years from 35 onwards.

 

[Beukeboom Fan]

I guess 35 years of mediocrity has destroyed some peoples expectations.

If "expectations" is to have multiple guys on the Habs simultaneously in contention for the Norris, you are 100% correct that they need to be destroyed.

If any of the prospects gets to peak Andrei Markov, you should be thrilled as a Habs fan.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

I guess 35 years of mediocrity has destroyed some peoples expectations.

Mom?