{"id":397761,"date":"2026-01-08T15:50:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T15:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/397761\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T15:50:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T15:50:10","slug":"montreal-canadiens-reassign-adam-engstrom-pro-hockey-rumors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/397761\/","title":{"rendered":"Montreal Canadiens Reassign Adam Engstrom \u2013 Pro Hockey Rumors"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Montreal Canadiens announced<\/a> today that defenseman Adam Engstr\u00f6m<\/a> has been reassigned to the team\u2019s AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket.<\/p>\n

Engstr\u00f6m, 22, finishes what was his first-ever NHL recall with 11 games played. While he wasn\u2019t able to collect his first NHL point, Engstr\u00f6m showed some flashes playing in what was a sheltered third-pairing role. He averaged 12:32 time on ice per game, which ranks as the second-lowest average time on ice per game among Canadiens defensemen this season, ahead of only Arber Xhekaj<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite the limited usage and lack of any production, Engstr\u00f6m doesn\u2019t return to the Rocket empty-handed. He showed flashes of what made him the Canadiens\u2019 No. 6 prospect, according to Elite Prospects<\/a>. Engstr\u00f6m\u2019s game is built around his mobility and his poise, and in December The Athletic\u2019s Arpon Basu wrote<\/a> that the Canadiens \u201cclearly have a promising talent in Engstr\u00f6m.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now slated to return to Laval, it\u2019s likely Engstr\u00f6m will resume playing a key role for the Canadiens\u2019 AHL affiliate. He scored 16 points in just 20 games before his recall, and could form a formidable top pair alongside 2023 No. 5 pick David Reinbacher<\/a>. If the Canadiens face an injury to the left side of their defense, expect Engstr\u00f6m to be first in line for a recall.<\/p>\n

Engstr\u00f6m\u2019s reassignment also signals that top-four defenseman Kaiden Guhle<\/a> could be nearing a return to the ice. Guhle has been out since Oct. 16 with a groin injury. He underwent adductor muscle surgery on Nov. 14 and was originally given an eight-to-ten week recovery timeline. Tomorrow will be eight weeks since that point, placing Guhle squarely within that originally projected return window.<\/p>\n

If the Canadiens do end up getting Guhle back, his return would be a significant boost to the team\u2019s defense. While it wouldn\u2019t be without complications \u2014 star defenseman Lane Hutson<\/a> would likely have to be shifted to the right side, where he has been less dominant than he\u2019s been on his natural left side \u2014 the overall effect on the team\u2019s blueline will almost certainly be positive.<\/p>\n

Guhle is a key top-four defensive defenseman for the club and should help lighten the load placed on the shoulders of veteran Mike Matheson<\/a>. Matheson leads all NHL defensemen in short-handed ice time per game with 4:18 per contest, and ranks No. 8 in the NHL in time-on-ice per game despite barely receiving any power play time. If Engstr\u00f6m\u2019s reassignment does indeed signal a Guhle return, the Canadiens defensive deployment is likely to soon change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Montreal Canadiens announced today that defenseman Adam Engstr\u00f6m has been reassigned to the team\u2019s AHL affiliate, the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397762,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5103],"tags":[6167,401,265,5,264,21,5147,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-397761","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-montreal-canadiens","8":"tag-adam-engstrom","9":"tag-ahl","10":"tag-canadiens","11":"tag-hockey","12":"tag-montreal","13":"tag-montreal-canadiens","14":"tag-montrealcanadiens","15":"tag-nhl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115860277048561393","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397761\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}