While Martin St. Louis rotated between Jayden Struble and Arber Xhekaj, Adam Engstrom was dressed for the Canadiens’ last four games. And the Swede just surpassed the 15-minute mark for the first time in his career against the Flyers, stepping up in Mike Matheson’s absence. Although Struble was scratched against the Rangers on Dec. 13, and Xhekaj was left out against the Penguins and the Oilers on Dec. 11 and 14, Engstrom, 22, never came out of the lineup during this period. What he brings is clearly valued by St. Louis. One might have found his profile as a fluid skater redundant, knowing that Noah Dobson, Lane Hutson, and Matheson share that identity on the Canadiens, but that is not the head coach’s view. “To be an NHL defenseman and be effective, you have to be a pretty good skater,” St. Louis emphasized after Thursday’s morning practice. “If you’re a bit less of a skater, you’d better have good hockey sense and good intelligence. There isn’t just one way to do it, but you have to be able to kill plays.”
