Juraj Slafkovsky Out Three Months With Lower-Body Injury
The Montreal Canadiens have provided updates on several injured players, and none of them are good. Juraj Slafkovsky, the first-overall pick from 2022, will miss three months with a lower-body injury that does not require surgery. Jake Evans will also not need surgery, but is out for 8-10 weeks. Jonathan Drouin and Joel Armia will be out until the All-Star break (the Canadiens return to play on February 11), and Jake Allen will be out a minimum of a week.
A three-month timeline essentially ends Slafkovsky’s rookie season. The Canadiens will wrap up their schedule on April 13, unless a miraculous playoff run is made in the second half.
With that in mind, 39 games and 10 points are not totals the Canadiens had hoped for. The big winger failed to record a point in his last 15 games, posting a -12 rating during that time and recording just 11 shots on goal. He looked overmatched for long stretches, with many suggesting that he should have been playing in the World Juniors or AHL, instead of struggling with Montreal.
Now, he’ll have to work through this injury and try to come back more prepared in 2022-23, when the Canadiens will hopefully be more competitive. The team is 19-23-3 on the year and very well may position themselves at the deadline to lose as many games as possible down the stretch. They sit 26th in the league overall, and like every other team that isn’t in playoff contention, hope to get closer to the first-overall pick.
Mike Matheson Activated From Injured Reserve
January 17: The Canadiens have now activated Matheson off injured reserve, according to CapFriendly. The move came in time for him to return to action tonight against the Winnipeg Jets.
January 13: The Montreal Canadiens have been without Mike Matheson for most of this season. After suffering an abdominal strain in October that sidelined him for more than a month, he found himself injured again in December. He’s totaled just ten games for this new team this season, and just one in the last month.
Despite that, the 28-year-old defenseman has six points, which still ties him with Joel Edmundson and Jonathan Kovacevic, two of the team’s regular defensemen. He’ll be able to add to that total soon, as he donned a regular jersey at practice today, suggesting he has been cleared for contact. The veteran defenseman will add some stability to the back end when he returns, and give the team another supporting option for their young group.
For Matheson himself, there are some milestones to chase. He is six assists away from 100 for his career, and needs the same amount of points to hit 150. He won’t be able to reach 500 games after missing so many, but getting on the ice and back in shape is important, even if the Canadiens aren’t competing for the playoffs. Remember, Matheson is signed through the 2025-26 season, meaning he’ll still be around as Montreal starts turning the corner on their rebuild.
That is of course unless he’s flipped – which is also not completely out of the question. Defensemen with elite skating ability, offensive upside, and experience logging big minutes are difficult to find, and at a $4.875MM cap hit, Matheson may actually be an interesting target. He’s still on the right side of 30 and has found his game again after some struggles a few years ago. It might not be this year, but the Canadiens could be presented with an opportunity to flip him for some additional future assets, should he be able to stay healthy and productive.
Armia, Evans, Slafkovsky Placed On Injured Reserve
The Montreal Canadiens have moved three forwards to injured reserve, giving the designation to Joel Armia, Jake Evans, and Juraj Slafkovsky. All three will be out indefinitely, while additional testing is performed. In their place, Rafael Harvey-Pinard and Rem Pitlick have been recalled.
Sean Monahan has also been moved to long-term injured reserve as he continues to rehab, though the team does not he is “progressing well.”
Armia is dealing with an upper-body injury, potentially one suffered on a hit from Jacob Trouba on Sunday. The Finnish forward played over 18 minutes in the game, but now is obviously dealing with something that will keep him sidelined. Armia has just seven points so far on the season and has been a healthy scratch several times, as he struggles to reach the heights that he was playing at a few years ago.
Slafkovsky also played in that game, but saw just over nine minutes of ice time. The top prospect is dealing with a lower-body issue. It hasn’t been quite the season many expected of the big Slovak, as Slafkovsky has just four goals in 39 games. He has shown flashes of high-level scoring ability but is too often overmatched by the speed of the NHL. Several times this season he has been caught with his head down by a heavy check, something he will have to adapt to moving forward.
Evans, meanwhile, may be dealing with the worst injury of the bunch. It at least looked that way when he crumpled at center ice on Saturday, piled on after a faceoff scrum. The 26-year-old forward was playing the best hockey of his season but is now dealing with a lower-body injury that kept him out of Sunday’s game.
If you are a proponent of the “tank,” then losing three regular forwards might be time for celebration. But the Canadiens are also trying to build a culture under head coach Martin St. Louis, and losing Slafkovsky in particular doesn’t help that move forward. The team’s depth will be seriously tested, though Harvey-Pinard and Pitlick are capable replacements.
Gino Odjick Passes Away At 52
Unfortunately, there’s some very sad news to report on this Sunday. Legendary Vancouver Canucks enforcer and fan favorite Gino Odjick has passed away at 52, according to the team.
Odjick played in 444 games with the Canucks between 1990 and 1998 and was a member of the team that reached the 1994 Stanley Cup Final. He made a strong impression after being drafted in the fifth round in 1990, making the team the following year as a 20-year-old and playing 45 games.
Odjick’s best offensive season came during the 1994 run, where he chipped in a career-high 16 goals and 29 points. Throughout stops with the New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers, and Montreal Canadiens, Odjick maintained a hard-nosed game that resulted in 2,567 career penalty minutes in just 605 NHL games.
Vancouver Canucks chairman Francesco Aquilini spoke on the devastating news:
Gino was a fan-favourite from the moment he joined the organization, putting his heart and soul into every shift on and off the ice. He inspired many and embodied what it means to be a Canuck. Personally, he was a close friend and confidant, someone I could lean on for advice and support. He will be deeply missed.
He will be sorely missed by the Canucks community, and the PHR team sends their absolute best wishes to the Odjick family.
Jake Evans Suffers Lower-Body Injury
One of the interesting developments recently for the Montreal Canadiens has been the play of Jake Evans. The 26-year-old forward has taken over the second-line center role and was receiving more minutes than he has seen through most of his career. The top eight ice times of his seasons have all been since the start of December, with a 19-minute effort coming just two nights ago in a win against the Nashville Predators.
Unfortunately, he won’t come close to that number tonight. Evans left the game against the New York Islanders after getting landed on during a scrummed faceoff. He needed help to get off the ice and the team quickly ruled him out for the rest of the night with a lower-body injury.
With four points in his last four games, Evans was playing his best hockey of the year. If he’s out for any length of time, all of that momentum will be stopped, and he’ll have to try to build it back up down the road.
This isn’t a player that is headed to the open market or a potential trade candidate. Evans signed a new three-year contract in the summer to be part of the solution in Montreal. That $5.1MM deal was expected to pay him as a fourth or possibly third-line center, so anything more is a huge boost for the Canadiens. If he can keep playing like he has the last few weeks, they would be getting lots of value for his $1.7MM cap hit.
Hopefully, this injury won’t be as bad as it looks, and Evans will be back out there in the next few games. But if not, the team will have some minutes to fill, and not a ton of natural centers to take them.
Brendan Gallagher Out Six Weeks With Lower-Body Injury
It’s been a year to forget so far for Brendan Gallagher. With just nine points on the season, he’s on pace for the worst total of his career. Now, he might not even get close. The Canadiens have announced that Gallagher will miss a minimum of six weeks with a lower-body injury.
Gallagher, 30, had only recently returned from an injury that kept him out a month, playing three games before hitting the shelf again. The energy forward was once the heart and soul of the Canadiens’ forward unit, now he seems an afterthought as they move toward a new core without his help. There have been a lot of miles put on his body over the year, as Gallagher played a give-everything-you-have style nightly, going to war in the corners and in front of the net.
After scoring just seven goals in 56 games last season, and not completing a full 82-game schedule since 2018-19, it’s easy to wonder what the future holds for Gallagher in Montreal. Unfortunately, at least for Canadiens fans, a year before Marc Bergevin‘s time as general manager ended, he gave out a six-year extension to Gallagher that will keep him with the team through 2026-27. He carries a $6.5MM cap hit, and holds a six-team no-trade clause.
It’s hard to see any way that Montreal gets their money out of that deal, and while that isn’t a problem this season as they try for the first-overall pick, it could be in the future as they are trying to compete. The best-case scenario at this point is that Gallagher takes all the time he needs to get fully healthy and can come back to contribute down the road.
Montreal Canadiens Recall Jesse Ylonen
For the first time this season, the Montreal Canadiens have recalled Jesse Ylonen from the minor leagues. His addition brings in another young forward for Martin St. Louis to help mold as the team languishes at the bottom of the standings.
Ylonen, 23, was picked with the 35th overall selection in 2018, and played 14 games for the Canadiens last season. Scoring five points, he appeared to be in the mix for a more regular role this time around. Montreal added in the offseason though, bringing in Kirby Dach, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Sean Monahan in particular. That left the vacant roster spots few and far between, sending Ylonen back to the minor leagues.
The young winger has found success there, even on a struggling Laval Rocket club. Through 34 games, Ylonen has 27 points, trailing only Anthony Richard, who also recently got a chance with the big club.
Whether this recall lasts remains to be seen, but it’s about time the Canadiens see what they have in Ylonen. He’ll be a restricted free agent this summer and has just 15 NHL appearances to his name. Can he be a part of the future? Or is he nothing more than organizational depth? Getting him into the lineup is the only way to really find out.
Montreal Canadiens Return Anthony Richard To AHL
The Montreal Canadiens have opened up a roster spot by sending Anthony Richard back to the minor leagues following last night’s loss. The minor league veteran didn’t dress, and played fewer than five minutes against the St. Louis Blues in his previous appearance. No corresponding move has been announced.
Richard, 26, has been excellent this season for the Canadiens organization, first at the minor league level and then again filling in for the NHL club. He had 31 points in 27 games for the Laval Rocket before being recalled on December 18, and chipped in his first NHL goal a few days later.
The Nashville Predators fourth-round pick from 2015 only has nine appearances in the NHL over the years, but has been a strong minor league contributor for quite some time. His return will be a big boost for the Rocket, who are 13-16-5 on the year but playing better of late. Had Richard stayed much longer, he would have needed to clear waivers again before being sent down.
By doing it now, the club protects him from any poaching teams that might have interest, while also saving some money. Richard’s one-year, two-way deal pays him $750K in the NHL and just $300K in the minor leagues.
Latest On Joel Edmundson, Owen Beck
After a relatively hot start, the Montreal Canadiens’ season has seemingly gone off the rails. The team is mired in a six-game losing streak, and has lost nine of their last ten games. The team also came in last place in the entire NHL last season, but the difficulties that have hit the Candadiens haven’t stopped some of their players from wanting to remain a member of the NHL’s most storied franchise.
One of those players who’d like to stay is defenseman Joel Edmundson, whose contract is expiring at the end of next season. As reported by The Athletic’s Marc Antoine Godin, Edmundson has communicated a desire to remain in Montreal despite trade rumors featuring his name. (subscription link) The 29-year-old blueliner didn’t have the best season last year, but he remains a crucial member of the team’s leadership group and had an impressive campaign two years ago as the Canadiens made a run to the Stanley Cup final. One does wonder, though, if the Canadiens would be best suited to retain Edmundson beyond the trade deadline and into next season when instead they could potentially trade Edmundson to another team seeking a rental defenseman in order to net a younger player or draft pick.
- Canadiens prospect Owen Beck has been traded to another OHL club, sent to the Peterborough Petes as part of a major blockbuster deal. Beck, 18, was drafted 33rd overall by the Canadiens at the 2022 draft and has 40 points in 30 games in the OHL this season.
Riley Kidney Traded In QMJHL
- Montreal Canadiens second-round pick Riley Kidney was traded in a blockbuster QMJHL deal today. Kidney, who scored 100 points last season, was dealt to the Gatineau Olympiques in exchange for a 2025 first-round pick, Hurricanes draft pick Robert Orr, and forward Donovan Arsenault. This is the second time Orr has been traded this season, as he was acquired by the Olympiques in August.