Matheson challenges century-old Canadiens record

Montreal Canadiens defenceman Mike Matheson came close to breaking a century-old franchise record.

The Pointe-Claire, Quebec native recently scored his 40th point with the Canadiens on an assist in a 4-3 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night. The assist marked Matheson’s 40th point with the Canadiens in just 56 games.

That accomplishment put him in a unique spot in the Canadiens record book.

From the NHL: With Mike Matheson’s assist last night (56GP), he became the second-fastest defenseman in franchise history to record 40 points with the Canadiens (NHL debut or otherwise) behind Sprague Cleghorn (46 GP) over 100 years ago.

— Kenzie Lalonde (@KenzieTSN) October 29, 2023

Unfortunately, Matheson was 10 games too slow to actually set the record. Sprague Cleghorn set the standard all the way back in the 1921/22 and 1922/23 seasons, scoring 40 points in his first 46 games as a Hab.

Cleghorn would only play four seasons with the Canadiens before he would be traded to the Boston Bruins in 1925 in exchange for $5,000 in cash.

The Canadiens have had a plethora of great offensive defenceman play for the club since, including Hall of Famers Doug Harvey and Larry Robinson, but none came as close to the record as Matheson did.

Matheson’s tenure with the Habs has been a prosperous one, as the 29-year-old put up a career-high 38 points in 48 games with Montreal last season. He is off to a quick start this year as well, scoring two goals and six points in just eight games to lead all Canadiens defencemen in points.

One of his goals featured a Bobby Orr-esque rush up the ice where he split two New Jersey Devils defenders and scored on a breakaway.

This production has catapulted him up to the Canadiens top pair alongside Johnathan Kovacevic. Matheson is currently averaging 24:47 of ice time per game this season, almost four minutes more than captain Nick Suzuki.

It’s been quite a journey for Matheson. He was originally drafted 23rd overall by the Florida Panthers in 2012. He spent five seasons on the East Coast before getting traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2020. The Penguins then sent him to the Canadiens in the summer of 2022 in exchange for Jeff Petry.

We’ll see if Matheson can continue racking up the points from the blue line when the Canadiens head to the desert to take on the league-leading Vegas Golden Knights on Monday.

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