Most Montreal Canadiens fans would agree that the team's season was great, but not perfect, as the young Habs improved by leaps and bounds. However, Mike Matheson didn't.

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The 31-year-old veteran had a very tough year, and fans' reactions at times were eerily similar to those they dealt to another Montreal native blueliner 20 or so years ago. Like Matheson, Patrice Brisebois was once a minute-muncher for the Canadiens, and more mistakes come with more ice time.

When those mistakes are committed, fans are annoyed that their favorite youngsters are not seeing more ice time instead of vets, who come to be considered problematic. No one can argue that Matheson didn’t have a tough season, but the heavy criticism he got wasn’t always deserved.

After having a career year in 2023-24 with 62 points in 82 games, the rearguard’s production was halved this season as he could only put 31 points together. It’s not that he didn’t get the ice time; he skated for over 25 minutes, but his role did change.

He started the season on the first power play but quickly lost his spot on the first unit to rookie phenom Lane Hutson and found himself on a much less dangerous quintet. His man-advantage production went down from 28 points in 2023-24 to just 10 points this year.

Oftentimes, he couldn’t hold the blueline and would turn the puck over in the offensive zone, leading to quality scoring chances for the opponents. Still, he’s been used a lot by Martin St-Louis and with good reason. He’s a good puck-moving defenseman, and even though he does make mistakes, he’s better than most of the Canadiens’ blueliners aside from Hutson and perhaps Kaiden Guhle, if he could only manage to stay healthy. He also blocked 168 shots this year, 13th highest number in the league. Even with the concentration lapses, Matheson was invited to represent his country at the World Championships; he is a great player.

It will be interesting to see what becomes of Matheson this coming season. If St-Louis keeps relying on him as much as he has in the last two seasons, it would be surprising to see Kent Hughes move him. Although plenty of young defensemen are waiting in the wings in Laval, Guhle, Jayden Struble, and Arber Xhekaj will all be looking for bigger roles. As for Hutson, it would be hard for him to have a bigger role.

It's hard to grade Matheson’s season. He’s been a workhorse and contributed significantly to the team’s success, even if he did commit plenty of turnovers and questionable plays. His production went way down, but his role drastically changed with the emergence of Hutson. For all these reasons, I feel it’s fair to give the veteran a C minus for his latest campaign.

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