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Injury Notes: Devils, Canadiens, Sabres

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New Jersey Devils head coach Lindy Ruff shared that winger Timo Meier will be a game-time decision for the team’s Thursday night matchup, after sustaining an injury in the team’s recent win over the Winnipeg Jets. Ruff also added that Jack Hughes is progressing but isn’t ready for a return just yet.

These are tough updates to a Devils team that’s already suffering because of injuries. Meier is one of three healthy Devils forwards with 10 or more points through the team’s first 14 games. His absence would mark yet another blow to the team’s top six, which is currently missing Hughes and Nico Hischier. The Devils have taken a committee approach to replacing their top two centers, giving Michael McLeod, Dawson Mercer, and Erik Haula more ice time as a result. Haula has been the most productive of the trio, netting five goals and eight points in 13 games, while McLeod has managed six points in 14 games of his own. Mercer is the odd-man-out, with three goals serving as his only scoring this season.

Other injury notes:

Montreal Canadiens Recall Gustav Lindström, Loan Joel Armia To AHL

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The Montreal Canadiens have recalled defenseman Gustav Lindström, according to a team announcement. In a corresponding move, the Canadiens loaned Joel Armia to their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket.

The rationale behind these two roster moves is quite clear. The Canadiens were carrying only six defensemen, in large part thanks to the fact that they are carrying three goalies on their 23-man roster.

With defenseman Jordan Harris dealing with an injury and currently a game-time decision for tonight’s contest against the Vancouver Canucks, the Canadiens needed an extra defenseman on their roster to provide security in case Harris can’t play.

With David Savard injured, the state of the Canadiens’ defensive depth chart leaves Lindström as the team’s seventh defenseman. So the veteran has been elevated to the NHL roster, leaving the Rocket just before their game against the Manitoba Moose.

In order to recall Lindström the Canadiens needed to clear room on their roster, and to do so they’ve sent Armia to the AHL. Armia, who cleared waivers earlier this season, was a healthy scratch for the Canadiens’ win last night over the Boston Bruins. With four goals and five points for the Rocket this season, he’d be a major addition to the Laval lineup should he dress for any games.

Canadiens Have Shown Interest In Xavier Bourgault

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  • Speaking today on TSN 690 (audio link), TSN’s Darren Dreger indicated that prospect Xavier Bourgault is “a piece the Canadiens have coveted for a while”. The 21-year-old was the 22nd pick back in 2021 and is in his second season with AHL Bakersfield.  A strong scorer in junior, Bourgault had a decent rookie campaign with 34 points in 62 games last season while he has four in seven contests so far this year.  Montreal is one of the teams still carrying three goalies although Jake Allen might not work in their salary structure, extension talks have started with Samuel Montembeault, and Cayden Primeau isn’t the proven solution between the pipes that Edmonton should be looking for.

Montreal Canadiens Send Down Gustav Lindstrom

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Earlier today, it was reported that the Montreal Canadiens would be activating forward Christian Dvorak off of their long-term injured reserve in preparation for tonight’s game against the St.Louis Blues, and they have now made a corresponding roster move to make space. The team announces they have sent defenseman Gustav Lindstrom to their AHL affiliate, the Laval Rocket.

Originally, Lindstrom had been emergency recalled to replace David Savard, who was injured in the team’s October 23rd game against the Buffalo Sabres. Since then, he has generally been used as the team’s seventh defenseman, squeaking into two games, averaging just a touch under 12 minutes of ice time per night.

As the main player piece coming back from the trade that sent defenseman Jeff Petry to the Detroit Red Wings back in August, Lindstrom was always going to have a tough time cracking Montreal’s blue line. Although it’s not one of the best defensive cores in the league at this time, the abundance of young talent, as well as a few veterans had Lindstrom on the outside looking in.

Starting the year in Laval, due to the call-up, Lindstrom has only suited up in four games for the Rocket, adding zero points and carrying a -6 rating in that short span. Nevertheless, on a subpar Laval team, Lindstrom should easily fit into the team’s top-four, and attempt to help correct the ugly start to the season.

Canadiens To Activate Christian Dvorak Off LTIR

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The Canadiens will welcome back center Christian Dvorak to their lineup tonight as the team announced (Twitter link) that he will make his season debut tonight, meaning that they will activate him off LTIR.

The 27-year-old was acquired back in 2021 to replace Jesperi Kotkaniemi whose offer sheet with Carolina went unmatched; Montreal flipped the first-round pick they acquired from Kotkaniemi as part of the trade package that went to Arizona.  However, Dvorak hasn’t quite been able to lock down a full-time spot in Montreal’s top six since then.

Last season, Dvorak had 10 goals and 18 assists in 64 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury in March and undergoing surgery thereafter.  The recovery took a bit longer than normal, resulting in the Canadiens starting him on LTIR.  In the end, he’ll miss just the minimum number of games.

With Dvorak returning, Alex Newhook is expected to shift back to the wing.  Newhook had been moved down the middle when Kirby Dach suffered his season-ending knee injury last month with the team being thin on center options but now Dvorak can slide into that role.

Montreal will need to create a roster spot to activate Dvorak.  That can either be done by assigning defenseman Gustav Lindstrom to AHL Laval or by placing Rafael Harvey-Pinard on IR with the winger already being ruled out for tonight’s game.  With the Canadiens having Carey Price on LTIR as well, they won’t face any challenges on the salary cap front with Dvorak’s activation.

Rafael Harvey-Pinard Considered Day-To-Day

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  • In another small bit of injury news, the Montreal Canadiens have announced that forward Rafael Harvey-Pinard is also considered day-to-day due to a lower-body injury. After an impressive debut last season putting up 20 points in 34 games, Harvey-Pinard only has four assists in 10 games this year, averaging around 13 and a half minutes of ice time per night.

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Successful Knee Surgery For Kirby Dach

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  • The Canadiens announced that center Kirby Dach underwent successful knee surgery today. Dach sustained a season-ending torn ACL and MCL in Montreal’s second game of the season earlier this month while playing against Chicago, his former team.  Surgery was delayed until today to allow the swelling to go down.  Dach is expected to be fully recovered in time for training camp next fall.

Mike Matheson Is A Game-Time Decision On Monday

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Head coach of the Montreal Canadiens Martin St. Louis has announced that Mike Matheson is a game-time decision for the team’s Monday night matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights. The defenseman has been battling a minor lower-body injury that drew his availability into question.

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Canadiens’ Mike Matheson Out Day-To-Day

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The Montreal Canadiens have announced that defenseman Mike Matheson is out day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The 29-year-old suffered the apparent injury during the club’s 4-3 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets. Matheson has been on a tear to start the season with two goals and four assists in his first eight games of the campaign. Matheson dealt with several injuries last year in what was a shortened season for the Pointe-Claire, Quebec native. He dressed in just 48 games in 2022-23 registering eight goals and 26 assists and was a +7.

The Canadiens are already missing David Savard with a broken left hand and can ill afford to lose Matheson for any length of time after a surprising 5-2-1 start to their season. The Canadiens were expected to be in a transition year but have impressed thus far winning a lot of close games.

The severity of Matheson’s injury is unknown; however, early indicators are that his ailment isn’t of the serious variety. Matheson will travel with the Canadiens to Las Vegas today for their upcoming road trip, which indicates that he will likely play in the next week in one of the three games on the trip. Arpon Basu of The Athletic has tweeted that the team is saying that Matheson’s injury is nothing serious.

Matheson missed much of the Canadiens training camp with an injury that seemed to linger for longer than expected. This was also the case for several of the injuries he dealt with last year, including the abdominal strain that occurred at a morning skate and eventually caused him to miss the first month of the season.

While Matheson’s injury frequency must be of concern, his play on the ice is not. Since a difficult final season with the Florida Panthers, Matheson has been extremely responsible and creative with the puck which has led to him posting solid offensive numbers in recent years. And should the Canadiens’ assessment be correct, Matheson will return later this week to hopefully continue his solid start to the season.

Kaiden Guhle To Return From Upper-Body Injury Tonight

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  • Canadiens defenseman Kaiden Guhle will return to the lineup tonight after missing the past four games with an upper-body injury, the team announced (Twitter link). The 21-year-old is in his second NHL season and logged more than 20 minutes a night in his rookie campaign.  With David Savard out of the lineup for at least the next six weeks, Guhle is likely to play a big role once again for a while.  Gustav Lindstrom will be a healthy scratch to make room for Guhle’s return.

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