Mike Matheson showed in 2 games why the Canadiens want him around the next 5 years

At one point last season, Mike Matheson was taking off his equipment on the road when he was presented with a theory.

Perhaps, he was told, he is better when he focuses more on his defence than his offence, when he eliminates risk and plays a safer game.

Matheson gave it a bit of thought, and disagreed. He was coming off a career-high 62 points one season prior, and he still felt he could help his Montreal Canadiens win games by creating offensively, something his elite feet allowed him to do. And then, assuming the theory came from his lack of production last season, Matheson pointed out he was not playing on the top power play anymore, and he was not getting nearly as many offensive zone faceoff assignments as he used to.

It was not an excuse, and it most definitely was not a complaint. It was simply a statement of fact, a fact that was very relevant to the discussion.

See, being an offensive defenceman has always been in Matheson’s blood. It was, and still is, a big part of his NHL identity, what makes him special and what makes him feel valuable.

But what made that statement of fact so important is that Matheson very willingly handed over that offensive role that gave him so much comfort, and put everything he had into playing a new role, a more defensive role, a shutdown role where he was tasked with facing the best players in the NHL and began his shifts very close to his own net more often than not.

Then, in the offseason, the Canadiens doubled down on that change in role when they acquired Noah Dobson, who would take Matheson’s role on the second power play unit. With 28 seconds of power play time in Friday’s 4-1 win in Las Vegas against the Golden Knights, Matheson crossed the six-minute mark in power play usage for the season.

Meanwhile, no NHL player spends more time killing penalties per game than Matheson. And he and Dobson still face among the most difficult minutes in the league.

The value this creates for the Canadiens, and the comfort it gives them in handing a five-year deal that will take Matheson through the age of 37, is that it demonstrates his adaptability, his willingness to put the team’s needs above his own, and his desire to win above all else.

“For me, I see this contract as hoping that we will continue to build, and that we’ll be winning some Stanley Cups over this contract,” Matheson told reporters in Las Vegas on Friday. “I can be honest in saying there might have been more money somewhere else. But my priority was to be part of this group. I think the biggest thing I want to do is win, and I think I have the best chance of doing that here.

“Having said that, I think the most important thing is also to have as much money available as possible to keep the guys we have and getting more guys in the coming years.”

That conversation with Matheson last season happened in Utah, and so it could not have been more appropriate that Matheson’s value to what the Canadiens are building also happened in Utah on Wednesday. Adam Engström made his NHL debut, and did OK. But with the Canadiens clinging to a one-goal lead in the third period, Engström did not see the ice over the final 13 minutes of regulation time.

Meanwhile, Matheson played 11:12 in the third period, helping to lock a game down for the Canadiens, a game they won 4-3. This was an example of why Matheson’s underlying numbers are sometimes less than flattering. He got statistically buried against the Mammoth on Wednesday. The Canadiens had seven shot attempts at five-on-five with Matheson on the ice, and the Mammoth had 26. Matheson was on the ice for 13 defensive zone faceoffs, and only four in the offensive zone.

But he helped get them to the finish line while the Canadiens tried to incorporate a rookie defenceman.

Engström is one example of a defenceman the Canadiens have in their system; another is David Reinbacher, the No. 5 pick in the 2023 NHL draft. Both have NHL top-four potential, but both will take time to get there.

With Dobson, Lane Hutson and Kaiden Guhle all signed long-term, Matheson’s departure as a free agent would have left a big hole on the Canadiens’ blue line as they await the maturing process to take hold for both Engström and Reinbacher. The five years Matheson got on his contract is not only a validation of his work, it also serves as an important bridge, insurance for a blue line that is already extremely young, and would have only gotten younger without Matheson.

Because one of the reasons why Matheson could have gotten much more money on the open market is that defencemen like him will not be available. And the Canadiens needed someone to fill that role over the next few years.

And when you have someone in house who fills that role so well, and has shown he will fill whatever role the team needs him to fill without complaint, you are best to keep him.

On Friday in Las Vegas, the Canadiens were again clinging to a 2-0 lead early in the third period, getting heavily outshot by the Golden Knights, when Mitch Marner was handling the puck in the Canadiens’ zone. Matheson closed on him in the slot area, stripped the puck from him and sent it up to newly-arrived Alexandre Texier, who promptly sent Jake Evans in on his second breakaway of the game, and he gave the Canadiens a 3-0 lead.

Classique Jake

Jake makes no Mistake#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/AfTDEVcPNS

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 28, 2025

The game, for all intents and purposes, was taken to the finish line.

And it happened thanks to a defensive play from Matheson.

A defensive play that led to offence.

Matheson has found the balance between the two. And the Canadiens will benefit from that balance for five more years.