The Canadiens had two notable absences from practice today, with forward Oliver Kapanen and defenseman Mike Matheson both out for different reasons.
Kapanen, who is on injured reserve, still hasn’t appeared in a game this season. TVA Sports previously reported that he’s dealing with a lower-body injury, but no further specifics have been made public.
The bigger issue in his case is the uncertainty. His availability has turned into a frustrating cycle of brief returns followed by more missed time, and there still isn’t a clear timetable for when he’ll be back.
Matheson’s situation is less alarming on the surface, since the team labeled it a treatment day. That doesn’t automatically point to a setback, and there’s no sign yet that anything major is going on. Still, Montreal is leaning heavily on him, so even a short absence gets attention fast.
The 32-year-old has been one of the Canadiens’ most heavily used defensemen, skating 23:42 against Nashville and 23:01 against Detroit. Only Lane Hutson has logged more minutes among Montreal defensemen. Matheson’s $6 million cap hit comes with that kind of workload, and while his -3 rating isn’t ideal, he’s routinely being asked to handle the other team’s top forwards.
That’s why the Canadiens can’t really afford to lose him for long. With Kaiden Guhle back, Montreal does have seven defensemen and a little more flexibility, but filling the minutes of a blueliner who regularly pushes past 23 minutes a night is a different challenge entirely.
As for Kapanen, the wait continues. The Canadiens still don’t have an answer on when he’ll return, and his absence is still being felt on the second line.
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Montreals penalty killers handled every Buffalo man advantage in the game, and the recent trend now matters as much as the result itself. The Canadiens have strung together a run of successful kills over their last two games, a welcome answer after early-season trouble with power-play goals against had put extra pressure on the rest of the roster. [Read more 🡒]