Guhle: Slick skater with a sandpaper touch

MONTREAL - In selecting Kaiden Guhle with the 16th-overall pick at the 2020 NHL Draft on Tuesday, the Canadiens picked up a sizeable and tough defenseman who's well-built for the modern NHL.

"I'm a very physical, very good-skating two-way defenseman. I like to be hard on other teams' best players," said Guhle, coming off his second full season with the WHL's Prince Albert Raiders. "I like to make a good first pass, jump into the rush, and use my skating to my advantage. I definitely like to be very physical on the ice."

The top-ranked prospect coming out of the Western Hockey League in the 2020 Draft, Guhle - whom the Raiders took first-overall in 2017 - believes his speed will make him an asset in today's NHL. But he also affirms that the sandpaper side to his game will be a big help - and it's modeled after a player who's already very familiar to Canadiens fans.
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"I like to take things out of players' games like Shea Weber: he's got a mean streak to his game. He's gritty, so I like to take that from his game," shared Guhle, who stands at 6-foot-2 and weighs 186 pounds. "And I like to take skating from lots of other people."
After netting three goals for 17 points to go along with a plus-17 differential in 65 games in 2018-19, the Sherwood Park, AB native was named co-recipient of Prince Albert's Rookie of the Year honor. But it was winning the WHL title with the Raiders that season that really lit a fire under the young defender.
"Winning a championship at a young age, when I was 16 in Prince Albert, that was huge. Ever since we won, I've just been thinking about winning, and all I want to do is win. That was huge for me," described Guhle, who played all 23 games in the Raiders' championship run. "I think that's part of the reason I play [with a mean streak]; I'll do anything to win. Winning, to me, is just the best thing in the world. I want to do that every single night, at every single game."

Marc Bergevin got set at the virtual podium well before the clock indicated it was his time to speak, meaning that he and his staff had already closed the debate on whose name they'd be calling in the 16-spot.
"The obvious: you have a player that you like above everybody else. That's why we took him; we like a lot of things about his game: his leadership, his skating, his size, his mobility, his character. And he's won before," the Habs general manager said of Guhle, who led all Raiders rearguards with 40 points (11G, 29A), registered a plus-23 differential, and was a co-winner of the team's Defenseman of the Year award in 2019-20. "For us, that was very appealing not to pass up on."

Guhle understands that what has made him successful in the Junior ranks will only get him so far in the NHL, where the game is even faster and the opponents are even bigger and stronger. Despite all the attributes his new general manager just spoke of, Guhle knows he has a long way to go before he can make a go of it in the big show.
"My decision-making under pressure can get a little bit better at times; I think there are some times where I'm just throwing the puck away. I obviously think that can get a lot better," admitted Guhle, who captained Team Canada - Red at the 2019 U17 Hockey Challenge and was an alternate captain for Canada at the 2019 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. "I think the offensive side of my game can also improve. That's what I've been working on a lot this summer."

Of course, he has the perfect mentor to help him take the ultimate next step: his older brother, Brendan, was drafted in the second round by Buffalo in 2015 and has 59 games of NHL experience with the Sabres and Anaheim Ducks to help guide him to the big leagues.
"Brendan and I both hate losing. You don't want to get shown up by your older brother, and your older brother doesn't want to get kicked around by his younger brother. We're both very competitive like that, and I think that helped us a lot - even now. We're on the ice all the time, we're in the gym together. We're both very competitive people. We both hate losing," concluded Guhle. "That's definitely another big reason why I compete so hard."
The Draft continues Wednesday with Rounds 2-7 beginning at 11:30 a.m.