We received big news today from young Montreal Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle.

In the last few minutes, we learned that Guhle took part in his very first full practice today – wearing a regular jersey and skating with his teammates.

His return to game action is truly imminent, and it will be a major boost for Martin St-Louis’ squad.

Kaiden Guhle Pulled from Press Conferences

That said, for reasons unknown, the Canadiens made a point to announce that Guhle will ultimately not be available to answer questions from reporters today.

“The Canadiens say that Kaiden Guhle will not speak to the media after participating in practice this morning with his teammates for the first time since undergoing surgery to repair a lacerated quadriceps muscle on January 29, but we should get some sort of medical update from head coach Martin St-Louis.”

– Stu Cowan

We’ll be closely watching for this expected update from Martin St-Louis.

Did the Habs want to avoid Guhle getting too excited and announcing his return prematurely?

We can only speculate, but one thing’s for sure – Guhle is expected to be back in action within the next few games, right in the middle of the NHL playoff race, and that’s huge for Martin St-Louis and his group.

More details to come.

Update: Martin St-Louis has just announced that Kaiden Guhle will travel with his teammates, so a return to play really does seem imminent in his case.

“Kaiden Guhle will travel on the road with the Canadiens, but Habs head coach Martin St-Louis is not sure when he’ll be ready to play.”

Stu Cowan

Fantastic news!