Guhle signs 6-year, $33.3 million contract with Canadiens

Kaiden Guhle signed a six-year, $33.3 million contract with the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday. The contract, which begins in the 2025-26 season, has an average annual value of $5.55 million.

The 22-year-old defenseman had 22 points (six goals, 16 assists) last season. He ranked second for the Canadiens with 178 blocked shots and third in time on ice per game (20:51).

“I believe in this group that we have," Guhle said. "We've basically had the same group for two years now, and from this offseason it looks like there weren't too many big changes and we'll have a lot of the same guys coming in, so three years in a row with basically the same kind of guys. And I love the city. The city has been nothing but great to me. The fans have been unbelievable and definitely the best fans in the League, if not in sports. I think it's just the city and the guys, and I believe in this group so much and I think we'll be able to make a big splash here in the next year and really start to make a push for it."

A first-round pick (No. 16) by Montreal in the 2020 NHL Draft, Guhle has 40 points (10 goals, 30 assists) in 114 games.

“I think they've done a great job," Guhle said. "I believe in this group and the guys in the room, and I think obviously that the management does, too. We've all been together for, this is going to be my third year now, and some of the guys longer, and I think it's exciting to get to see what we can do. This is a lot of our guys’ third year in the League, and I think we're obviously not anywhere close to where we want to be but ... we're getting there and we're getting close. And I think it's pretty cool to see the management, it shows that they believe in us. So, it's pretty cool to see that and giving us a chance to kind of show them that we believe in ourselves, too, and give us a chance to prove to them that we’ve got a good group."

The Canadiens also signed defensemen Arber Xhekaj ($1.3 million AAV) and Justin Barron ($1.15 million AAV) each to a two-year contract on Tuesday.

NHL.com independent correspondent Sean Farrell contributed to this report