If not Mike Matheson, than who? That’s how the media must have approached voting for the Montreal Canadiens’ Jacques Beauchamp-Molson Trophy, which Matheson officially claimed this weekend, capping off an honour-filled past few days for the defenseman, during which he was also named the team’s nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.
Considering the nature of the Beauchamp-Molson Trophy, which is “awarded annually to the Canadiens player who played a dominant role during the regular season without earning a particular honour,” it’s all kind of anti-thetical, isn’t it? After all, while voting for the award, on the part of journalists who cover the team, is independent of the team’s nomination process for the Masterton, it is members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) who selected Matheson to be the team’s candidate for the latter (recognizing his perseverance and dedication to the sport).
Matheson Gets More Recognition for His Contributions to Canadiens
So, how can a defenseman be considered for a trophy given to the Canadiens player seen as the most unrecognized when the same voters just recognized him for a separate award? When he literally leads the team in ice time, no less? Matheson is literally the team’s most-used player, meaning he’s officially the player most recognized as being capable of contributing to the team’s performance by the organization itself.
Furthermore, Matheson, a one-time 62-point scorer who, prior to Lane Hutson’s Calder Memorial Trophy-winning campaign in 2024-25, had put together the highest-scoring season of any Canadiens defenseman in literally 15 years (Andrei Markov in 2008-09), can’t conceivably be seen as flying under any kind of radar, unless it’s a malfunctioning one.
Granted, Matheson’s decline in scoring, which obviously coincided with Hutson’s debut, makes him less of a top-end contributor on the team and technically more of a likely candidate for the Jacques Beauchamp-Molson Trophy. However, his 37 points are nothing at which to scoff, especially as he’s hit a new career-high 34 points at even strength. That’s literally the strength at which most of each game is played, which is just more of an indictment of the voters here. Matheson is the team’s fourth-highest scorer under those circumstances and, if they feel his praises aren’t being sung high enough, that’s on them.
What’s worse is the runners-up cited by the team’s official announcement on the matter were defenseman Noah Dobson and forward Oliver Kapanen. Now, Dobson, who leads the league in blocked shots and who the Canadiens will undeniably miss significantly now that he’s reportedly injured ahead of the playoffs, is still the team’s highest-paid player, who has scored more points overall than Matheson. So much as considering him for the award in question is akin to suggesting owner Geoff Molson doesn’t get enough money for his stewardship of one of the most valuable franchises in the league. Meanwhile, Kapanen, who, in to his credit having scored a near-rookie-class-leading 22 goals, is probably at risk of having too many flowers thrown his way for being the beneficiary of favourable deployment (and undeniably making the most of it).
I’d be worried if the model said Kapanen was driving his line… He’s playing his role well enough right now, finishing and filling in blanks. His results away from Demidov are catastrophic, and I don’t know that his 22.5% sh % with Demidov is refelctive of his true talent. pic.twitter.com/0BIaEAKOqA
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) January 15, 2026
Matheson Follows in Anderson’s Footsteps
Now, in defense of voters, the Canadiens are fairly deep. By the letter of the law, some of the other candidates who kind of make sense are Zachary Bolduc, who’s been a recent healthy scratch, Alex Newhook, who has missed significant time to injury, or Josh Anderson, who won the award the last season. And giving out this specific award to the same person, especially multiple years in a row, defeats its purpose. Interestingly, just like Matheson, Anderson doubled as the team’s Jacques Beauchamp-Molson Trophy winner and Masterton nominee last season, further calling everything into question, especially the trophy’s validity.
Related: Canadiens’ Anderson More a Beauchamp-Molson Than Masterton Contender
Obviously, Anderson deserved recognition last season, but primarily for bouncing back after a horrid 2023-24. Matheson deserves ongoing recognition for his contributions as well, but not so much because they go unnoticed. It’s because they continue to come at a bargain $4.875 million cap hit (with his five-year extension and $6 million cap hit coming into effect next season). However, this award is not the way to do it, with someone like Jake Evans much more deserving of the honour. Despite having missed time due to injury, he continues to put the puck in the net at pace consistent with the degree to which he scored last season, when he tied a career-high 13 markers.
Whether or not you agreed with Canadiens failing to trade Evans at the time, he has arguably given full value this season for the four-year, $11.4 million extension he earned last one. And it’s hard to envision the Habs making the postseason like they did last season without him. That’s arguably true this season too, with a career-high 55.6% success rate taking faceoffs, two shorthanded goals and two game-winning goals, including one in overtime.
While you can successfully argue Matheson has made more of a difference for the better, including three game-winning goals to Evans’ two, that misses the point. Matheson has made a significant difference, largely in line with expectations. You can argue Evans has as well, based on his great 2024-25. Maybe he should have won the Jacques Beauchamp-Molson Trophy then instead? That he wasn’t recognized (and continues not to be, through this lens) kind of is.
