Headlines

Go To MLB Trade Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Canadiens Rumors

Montreal Canadiens Issue Injury Updates

at CDT | by 1 Comment

While the Montreal Canadiens have been better than many might have expected this season — they started off pretty well and are ahead of six teams in the standings, double-digit points out of the fight for the best chance at Connor Bedard — injuries have absolutely decimated whatever chance they may have had at staying on the periphery of the playoff chase.

Beyond the long-term, likely career-ending injury to Carey Price that has landed him on long-term injured reserve, the Canadiens have a whopping seven players on injured reserve and two in addition to Price on the long-term injured list. The players on those injured lists are star winger Cole Caufield, first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky, veteran Brendan Gallagher, talented rookie Kaiden Guhle, Sean Monahan, Jake Evans, Chris Wideman, Paul Byron, and Arber Xhekaj.

In addition to the players on the injured lists, there’s also Joel Edmundson, who remains on the active roster but hasn’t played in a month due to injury, leaving the Canadiens further depleted on their back end.

While these injuries have led to some interesting revelations, such as the impressive play of rookie Rafael Harvey-Pinard, they are also quite the frustration for a team looking to use the 2022-23 season as a valuable year of player development.

Today, the Canadiens announced some injury updates on a few important players. Firstly, the Canadiens announced that Xhekaj will undergo season-ending shoulder surgery next week.

Xhekaj seemed to injure his shoulder during a fight with Edmonton Oilers rookie Vincent Desharnais, and that injury will now end what has been an exciting rookie season for the defenseman.

The undrafted blueliner has worked his way up to be quite the rookie surprise in the NHL, playing with the kind of physicality and snarl that made him an instant fan favorite for those who frequent the Bell Center.

He flashed some more skill and talent beyond just his physicality than one might expect, and his injury means the Canadiens’ blueline and player development mission has been dealt a serious blow.

The one potential positive to note is that the Canadiens’ organizational apathy to whether they win or lose games for the rest of the season (coach Martin St. Louis has continually stressed the importance of player development over bottom-line results) has afforded them the freedom to make decisions that are in the best interest of their players’ long-term health.

Whereas a team in a Stanley Cup chase might hope that Xhekaj play through an injury in order to give their team the best chance at winning it all, the Canadiens can afford to let players such as Caufield and Xhekaj get a head start on their recoveries, which is definitely useful.

The second injury update the team issued is related to another breakout young talent: Kirby Dach. The team announced that Dach will not travel with the team to California, and will be out with a lower-body injury. Dach has been out since February 14th, with his absence first attributed to a non-COVID illness. The team then discovered that Dach’s illness symptoms were actually consistent with the effects of a lower-body injury, meaning now the team has yet another injury to manage.

Dach has flown past the career-highs in scoring he set as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks, and was making some major steps forward in his game under St. Louis’ tutelage. The Canadiens announced that Dach was out indefinitely with the injury, meaning the team will have to hope that he’s not another player whose season will be cut short.

Another injury update the team issued was that veteran forward Joel Armia is out day-to-day with an upper respiratory infection. Armia, who hasn’t played since February 21st, hasn’t yet been placed on injured reserve, leaving hope that he can overcome this infection and return to the ice relatively quickly.

A final injury update the team issued regards Edmundson, who as mentioned has not played in a month. The team announced that Edmundson will travel to California, and is expected to be at practice Monday as he nears a return. At this point, Edmundson’s return to the ice may be too late for him to figure in teams’ trade deadline plans, but he should bolster a Canadiens’ back-end that has looked quite a bit thinner due to injuries.

The Canadiens sent defenseman Corey Schueneman back to the AHL’s Laval Rocket last night, lending to the belief that Edmundson is nearing a return to the ice. Shueneman played four games for the Canadiens during this call-up, registering one assist and averaging 15:48 TOI.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Update On Sean Monahan's Status Expected Next Week

at CDT | by 4 Comments

  • The injury status of Montreal Canadiens center Sean Monahan remains unclear, according to a report by TSN’s Darren Dreger on Insider Trading. Monahan’s injury assessment is ongoing, says Dreger, and an update on his status is expected early next week. If the update is positive and Monahan is scheduled to return to the ice soon, teams in need of a veteran center could inquire about acquiring him before the trade deadline. The 26-year-old has recorded six goals, 11 assists, and 17 points in 25 games this season for Montreal but has missed nearly three months with a foot injury.

Montreal Canadiens Claim Chris Tierney

at CDT | by 5 Comments

The Montreal Canadiens have added a little veteran presence off the waiver wire, claiming Chris Tierney from the Florida Panthers. Joey Anderson and Justin Kirkland, who were on waivers with him, both cleared.

Tierney, 28, has played nearly 600 games in his NHL career, even if those have rarely been as a leading man. The depth forward has three points in 13 games with Florida this season, after scoring six goals and 18 points in 2021-22 with the Ottawa Senators.

Florida was able to slip him through waivers at the beginning of the year, but now that teams like Montreal are dealing with so many injuries, he wasn’t making it back to the minor leagues this time.

The Canadiens updated several players today, indicating that Joel Armia is out day-to-day and Chris Wideman will be out week-to-week. The most intriguing update had to do with Kirby Dach, who won’t travel with the team due to what the team is calling “illness-like symptoms related to a lower-body injury.”

Dach hasn’t played in a week now, and there is no clear timeline for his return. Montreal’s claim of Tierney makes sense in that context, given how few healthy bodies the Canadiens have. Signed to a one-year, two-way contract, he’ll be a UFA in the summer.

Joel Armia Leaves Game Against Devils

at CDT | by 3 Comments

  • The Montreal Canadiens have announced that forward Joel Armia has left tonight’s game against the New Jersey Devils. He left the bench relatively early in the first period, and at the moment it’s unclear the exact nature of what knocked him out of the game. Armia has had a difficult season, with just eleven points in 31 games. He’s had games where he’s looked quite good, but those games have been met with far longer stretches where he’s faded into the background of games. With the Canadiens already ravaged by injuries, they’ll have to hope that this new injury is a relatively minor one.

Trade Deadline Primer: Montreal Canadiens

at CDT | by 4 Comments

Halfway through February, the trade deadline looms and is just a few weeks away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Montreal Canadiens.

This season was supposed to be another transition one for Montreal after finishing last in 2021-22.  While the team has a few more points than some may have expected, they remain a team that’s squarely in the middle of a rebuild so that has gone as planned.

What hasn’t gone as planned is their injury situation.  The Canadiens are missing numerous regulars at the moment including a pair of veterans that were perceived as their top trade assets.  A return to action for those players in the next ten days or so could get them back on the radar but otherwise, it could potentially be a much quieter deadline for them than originally expected.

Record

23-29-4, 8th in the Atlantic

Deadline Status

Seller

Deadline Cap Space

$4.54MM in LTIR relief, 0/3 retention slots used, 46/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2023: FLA 1st, MTL 1st, MTL 2nd, MTL 3rd, MTL 4th, PIT 4th, VEG 4th, CGY 5th, MTL 5th, MTL 6th, MTL 7th
2024: MTL 1st, COL 2nd, MTL 3rd, MTL 4th, MTL 5th, MTL 6th, EDM 7th, MTL 7th

Montreal also has Calgary’s 2025 first-round pick which, through a series of conditions, could transfer in 2024 if it falls between 20 and 32 and the Canadiens elect to take it.  It could take until 2026 to be conveyed.

Trade Chips

All season long, Sean Monahan has been an expected trade chip.  When healthy, he is a capable middle-six center that can play both the power play and penalty kill.  The problem is that staying healthy has been a problem.  He suffered a foot injury in early December and was only expected to miss a few weeks originally but it is now two months and counting.  If he can get back playing, there will be some suitors as long as Montreal can retain 50% of his $6.375MM AAV.  However, it’s likely that the draft pick being offered will be a fair bit lower than the Canadiens were originally hoping to get and it would be prudent for them to try to put a condition in there based on games played.  If that’s the case, it’s possible that GM Kent Hughes flips the script and tries to work out a short-term extension with the 28-year-old.

Veteran defenseman Joel Edmundson has also been in trade speculation for a while.  He isn’t a rental as he has another year left on his contract with a $3.5MM AAV, a price tag that’s reasonable for someone that can log 20 minutes a night.  His physicality and ability to kill penalties would also be appealing, as would his playoff experience which includes two runs to the Stanley Cup Final since the 2018-19 campaign.  However, he has been dealing with recurring back injuries and that’s likely to deter someone from giving up a strong return unless he’s able to get back to action soon and be no worse for wear.  This might be a situation where the Canadiens opt to hold onto him for next year and try to get a better return for him as a rental.

Montreal also has a couple of pricey rental veteran forwards in Evgenii Dadonov ($5.5MM) and Jonathan Drouin ($5MM) that they will be willing to move.  Dadonov was traded at the deadline last season but the deal was eventually vetoed due to his no-trade clause and instead, he went to the Canadiens for Shea Weber’s contract last summer.  He has struggled this season (although he has seven points in his last 12 games) and at best, they’d be looking at a late-round pick with salary retention.  Drouin is in a similar situation and has struggled to put the puck in the net; his last goal came on January 1st, 2022.  That said, he has a dozen assists in his last 14 games.

In terms of other forwards with term that could go, Mike Hoffman ($4.5MM through next season) and Joel Armia ($3.4MM through 2024-25) are players they’d likely be willing to move.  However, with them being signed beyond this season, it seems likelier that any move they could make would be a lateral swap for a similar-priced contract, not one to necessarily add pieces for their rebuild.

Other Potential Trade Chips: F Paul Byron (LTIR contract), D Chris Wideman

Team Needs

1) Young Goaltending: Carey Price’s playing days are all but over and they have an NHL tandem that isn’t the greatest.  In the prospect pipeline, Cayden Primeau has shown flashes of upside but he’s far from a guarantee to be an NHL netminder.  The Canadiens have some late-round picks performing well at lower levels but they’re a few years away still.  A prospect that’s a bit closer to being NHL-ready would fill in a bit gap in their prospect pool.

2) AHL Help: With Montreal currently missing so many players, their organizational depth is being tested.  If they do move some veterans out, there will be roster spots that need to be filled and if those are covered by players currently in the minors, those spots will then need to be back-filled.  (Alternatively, they could agree to take some expiring veterans back and keep their current players in the minors.)  This isn’t a big priority in the grand scheme of things but with the Canadiens not having a lot of quality trade chips and the likelihood that their heavy lifting will come in the offseason instead, this is something that they can realistically strive for in the next couple of weeks.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Kirby Dach To Miss Second Straight Game

at CDT | by 5 Comments

  • The Canadiens announced (Twitter link) that center Kirby Dach will miss his second straight game tonight against Toronto due to a non-COVID illness. The 22-year-old tried to take part in the morning skate but left just minutes in.  Dach has had a breakout year in his first season with Montreal as he has 12 goals and 23 assists in 54 games so far, good for third on the team in scoring.

Canadiens Recall Corey Schueneman

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

With the Canadiens carrying just six healthy defensemen on their roster and Justin Barron leaving Thursday’s game early due to injury, they’ve brought up an extra rearguard as Sportsnet’s Eric Engels reports (Twitter link) that Corey Schueneman has been recalled.

It’s the third recall of the season for the 27-year-old who was brought up for a pair of short stints in October although he didn’t get into any NHL appearances during that time.  Schueneman has suited up in 43 games with AHL Laval this season, picking up five goals and 13 assists.  Schueneman does have some NHL experience under his belt, however, as he got into 24 games with the Canadiens last season where he picked up six points and 40 blocked shots while averaging 16:36 per night.

Early indications are that Barron should be able to play tonight against Toronto so Schueneman, a pending unrestricted free agent, is likely just being added to the roster as an insurance policy at this point.  To make room for him on the roster, defenseman Arber Xhekaj was placed on injured reserve.  He’s out indefinitely after sustaining an upper-body injury last weekend.  The team announced (Twitter link) that he’ll see a specialist next week with an update to come at that time.

Kirby Dach Out With Non-COVID Illness

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

Injury Notes: Pageau, Tinordi, Faber

at CDT | by 6 Comments

The New York Islanders are without one of their best depth pieces tonight against the Ottawa Senators. Jean-Gabriel Pageau is out for tonight’s game against his former team with an upper-body injury and is day-to-day, per the team.

Pageau sustained the injury at practice yesterday, says Stefen Rosner of NYI Hockey Now. Reportedly, Pageau was “clipped” during a drill and was slow to get up, yet stayed on the ice for the remainder of practice. The 30-year-old center has 10 goals and 29 points in 56 games this season. This is his first absence of the 2022-23 campaign.

  • Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Jarred Tinordi is out for the remainder of tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens with an undisclosed injury, the team said. The Chicago Sun-Times’ Ben Pope notes that Tinordi had fallen awkwardly on a shift in the first period. Tinordi, 30, was claimed on waivers by the Blackhawks at the beginning of the season and has suited up in 26 games, recording five points.
  • One of the best prospects in hockey on one of the best teams in college hockey is out long-term. The Athletic’s Michael Russo agreed with reports today that Minnesota Wild defense prospect and University of Minnesota captain Brock Faber is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Acquired from the Los Angeles Kings in the Kevin Fiala trade, Faber has 20 points in 30 games with Minnesota this year after representing the United States at the Olympics and World Junior Championships last season.

Arber Xhekaj Out Indefinitely

at CDT | by Leave a Comment

One of the bright spots for the Montreal Canadiens and their fans this season has been the emergence of Arber Xhekaj. The young defenseman basically came out of nowhere to make an impact at the NHL level, bringing an intimidating level of physicality to the rink every night.

Unfortunately, that rookie season may be cut short. The Canadiens have announced that Xhekaj will be out indefinitely with an upper-body injury suffered on Sunday against the Edmonton Oilers.

No clear timeline has been determined yet, but the injury appeared to be related to his right arm or shoulder after a fight with Vincent Desharnais.

Through 51 games this season, Xhekaj leads the NHL with 101 penalty minutes and has landed 159 hits to lead the Canadiens easily. Those numbers are despite averaging just 15 minutes a game on the back end, alongside several other of the Montreal youngsters.

Even though his toughness will stand out more than anything, Xhekaj has also impressed with real NHL ability. He has five goals and 13 points, even occasionally seeing some time on the powerplay. That is an incredible feat for an undrafted defenseman coming right out of junior hockey.

Pro Hockey Rumors is not affiliated with National Hockey League, NHL or NHL.com

Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

scroll to top