Montreal Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle made concrete progress in his recovery from minor adductor surgery he underwent in September. Per Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports, Guhle hit the ice at Canadiens practice today as a full participant. Guhle has missed the first two games of Montreal’s 2026-27 season as a result of his recovery.

The 24-year-old defenseman’s health status has been something Canadiens fans have unfortunately gotten used to keeping an eye on. The Edmonton native was limited to just 39 games last season due to injuries, and just 55 the year before. When healthy, he’s played like a legitimate top-four defenseman, but those moments of health have only infrequently been long stretches of good health. The hope in Montreal is likely that the two games he’s already missed will count as the bulk of games Guhle is sidelined for in 2026-27.

Other notes from around the hockey world:

• One of the standouts of the Chicago Blackhawks preseason process was young forward Nick Lardis, and as a result, he became a trendy preseason pick to enjoy a breakout season. Unfortunately for Chicago and Lardis himself, the early returns have not been hugely promising. The Athletic’s Scott Powers and Mark Lazerus wrote today that “Lardis is back in [Head Coach Jeff] Blashill’s doghouse.” On Saturday, Lardis was Chicago’s least-used forward, skating just over seven minutes. While this is hardly a sign that anyone should be dramatically altering their projections for the 21-year-old – it has been just a few games, after all – it is still a notable development given how much he excelled before the start of the season.
• Former Florida Panthers top prospect Henrik Borgstrom signed a two-year contract extension with his current club, HC Fribourg-Gottéron, per a team announcement on social media. Borgstrom is a former college hockey star at the University of Denver who was once seen as a future top-six NHL center, but flamed out at the NHL level. The 29-year-old has been a decorated player at lower levels of professional hockey; he is an AHL All-Star and Calder Cup champion. Last season, he led Fribourg-Gottéron to a championship in the Swiss National League, and this season has two points through two games.