ollowing a stellar sophomore season with the Prince Albert Raiders, Kaiden Guhle was selected 16th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft Tuesday night. (Lucas Chudleigh/Apollo Multimedia)

By Trevor Redden

Heading to the Habs

Guhle going to La Belle Province

Oct 6, 2020 | 7:31 PM

Kaiden Guhle may need to brush up on his French.

The Prince Albert Raiders defenceman, was selected 16^th overall by the Montreal Canadiens in Tuesday night’s 2020 NHL Entry Draft.

“Not good,” Guhle said about his French during a Zoom press conference,” but I will be working on it.”

During Sportsnet’s live coverage of the entry draft, they cut to a shot inside the Guhle household moments after the pick was made. Guhle started by hugging his mom Carrianne, before making his way to everybody else.

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“It was a huge honour,” Guhle said during his live interview on Sportsnet. “This team has been around for a long time, so to be a part of their organization is a huge honour. I’m very happy and very pleased to be a part of it.

Guhle was the third defenceman taken in the draft, behind Jake Sanderson (5th overall to the Ottawa Senators) and Jamie Drysdale (6 – Anaheim). Among WHL skaters, Guhle was the second player to hear his name called, behind only Seth Jarvis of the Portland Winterhawks (13 – Carolina).

Drafted first overall in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft, Guhle has been a top prospect from a young age and has carried expectations throughout his young career so far. As a 16-year-old rookie in Prince Albert, Guhle was slowly brought along on a veteran team that ended up winning the WHL championship.

In 65 games, Guhle put up 17 points in his first year and added three assists in 23 playoff games. In his draft year, the Sherwood Park, AB native took on a larger role and became one of the league’s premier defenceman.

“Yeah, it was huge for me. [Raiders head coach] Marc Habscheid and [assistant coach] Jeff Truitt were huge in not rushing me, they wanted to put me in the best positions for myself,” Guhle said. “When you’re young, you want to get on the ice as much as you can and be that player.

“Looking back on tonight, I think it worked out well. Marc and Jeff were huge for me, and all the players on that [championship] team that I got to learn from, they were all a huge part. That team was a big reason why I’m here today.”

A commanding defensive presence, the 6’2”, 186-pound blueliner took a big step offensively with 11 goals and 29 assists for 40 points in 64 games played before the season was shut down due to COVID-19.

The Canadiens like what Guhle can bring to the table.

“Size, skating, range, he brings some offensive skill to his game,” said Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin on Sportsnet. “He’s a little hard to play against. He checks all the boxes for us.”

Guhle is the first defenceman to be drafted in the first round by Montreal since Mikhail Sergachev was picked ninth overall in 2016. He is also the first Raider to be chosen in the first round of the NHL draft since Leon Draisaitl went third overall to Edmonton in 2014.

Kaiden’s older brother Brendan was drafted from the Raiders in 2015, taken 51^st overall by the Buffalo Sabres.