Making Sense of Why Mike Matheson Is The Habs Bill Masterton Nominee
On Wednesday morning, the Montreal Canadiens announced that defenseman Mike Matheson would be their nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which goes to the player that best exemplifies determination and love for the game of hockey. Every year this award ends up going to a player that overcomes hardships such as an illness or major injury. Matheson didn’t have much of a hardship to overcome, compared to many of the other nominees on other teams, but he does bring a lot of determination to play hard minutes against the league’s best every night. With that being said, what makes Matheson the most deserving Habs player to be nominated?
Mike Matheson is the Canadiens’ candidate for the Bill Masterton Trophy for the 2025-26 season!
News release ↓ #GoHabsGohttps://t.co/78SVfNSzp1
— x – Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 8, 2026
When looking at this season, there wasn’t any Habs player who showed determination by recovering from a big injury to bounce back against all odds. Sure, Kirby Dach could have fit the bill if he could ever stay healthy, but after injuring his knee last season and fracturing his foot early on during the 2025-26 campaign, he just continues his long history of injuries that continuously seem to plague him. It’s sad to say, but Dach is doomed to be injury-prone forever with his luck throughout his career. There was also Patrik Laine, who has had his fair share of major injuries over the past few years, but he never returned to the lineup after the 5th game of the season.
Josh Anderson is the Canadiens’ candidate for the Bill Masterton Trophy for the 2024-25 season!
News release ↓ #GoHabsGo https://t.co/yZ6vtn3nSi
— x – Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) April 9, 2025
Last season, the Habs nominated Josh Anderson, who had a great bounce-back season after having a really rough 2023-24 campaign where he lost his identity as a 20-goal depth scorer. However, he found a role as a defensive checking forward, which allowed him to successfully find a new identity with the Canadiens.
Similar to Anderson last year, Matheson also needed to accept a new role with the Habs this season. In his first three seasons with the Canadiens, Matheson always got power play time, but with the emergence of Lane Hutson and the acquisition of Noah Dobson, he was no longer needed on the man advantage. Despite this, Matheson was given more time on the penalty kill and late in games to help close out leads, thanks to David Savard’s retirement and no clear-cut top shutdown defenseman on the roster.
Is there a place the absence of Mike Matheson is felt more than on the penalty kill.
I don’t believe so.
— Joël 📝📺🎙️ (@RiseFromTheAshZ) January 2, 2026
In his new role, Matheson excelled as the team’s top shutdown defenseman for most of the season. He has even led the Habs in ice time for the 4th straight season, even without his power play time. Rather than just play out the final year of his contract and head elsewhere after losing his role, he doubled down on his new, more defensive-minded role and signed a 5-year extension to remain with the Canadiens for another 5 years starting next season. This is good because when he was out of the lineup for three games, the Habs really struggled defensively.
If Matheson’s actions don’t show dedication for playing for the Canadiens logo on his chest, then I don’t know what would. The veteran defenseman gives it his all by playing big minutes and never seems to miss a beat as he plays for his childhood team. It may not be the traditional expected Bill Masterton nominee, but in terms of Habs players, there was probably nobody better to exemplify the determination of playing the game he loves.
Who would have been your Bill Masterton nominee for determination if you had to choose one Canadiens player?
